Foolishness in San Francisco

Warning: This is one of my rare political posts. If that doesn't float your boat, you can go read something else. I promise that I won't be offended.

I heard this on the radio today, and it just kind of pissed me off.

San Francisco has traditionally hated the military, and to some extent I think they hate the American way of life in general. But they really don't like the military. They also, apparently, don't like the notion of people choosing things for themselves, preferring to impose their views on the world and those around them.

What, you're asking, brought this on? Where's the goofy guy with the pictures of his kid? He's still here, believe it or not, but right now he's kind of honked off. It seems that the San Francisco school board voted last night (as I post this) to ban Junior Reserve Officer's Training Corps (JROTC) programs from their schools, phasing them out over the next two years. Never mind that 1,600 or so students and their families participate in the (very popular) programs, and tried fervently to keep them in operation. Never mind that the people of the school district never had the chance to vote on whether or not to remove the program. No, the school board decided to make a unilateral decision and ban JROTC.

"Sounds like you're taking this one a little personally, Patrick," I hear some of you saying. You're right, I guess I am. It just so happens, however, that not only am I a staunch supporter of the military, but I'm also a graduate of my high school's JROTC program, and a veteran of active duty with the United States Air Force. I'm extremely proud of both, so I get a little pissy when I see something so blatantly stupid and un-American going on.

Part of the reason I'm the man I am today is because of the lessons in citizenship I learned in my JROTC classes back in the day. There's more to it, of course; my parents had a little bit to do with it, after all, and there's always the influences I've gotten from the Bible and Mr. Rogers. The JROTC, though, had a big hand in shaping me, and I think I came out of the experience fairly intact and undamaged.

I'm sure there's more that I can say about this, but right at the moment I'm just so wogboggled by the stupidity of it all that I just can't put the words together properly. I think I'll stop now, and perhaps revisit this topic again later when I can figure out what the hell they're thinking out on that coast.