I have no professional opinion to offer on the suitability of bottlenose dolphins to defend the west coast submarine fleet from terrorist attack. But I do have to say that if this is the quality of thinking that goes into opposing their deployment to Puget Sound, the mammals should be just fine:
Activists at Thursday night’s hearing near Seattle carried large placards saying “Will Knit for Dolphins.”
“It’s just a ridiculous idea. I mean, you know, they’re not cold-water dolphins. And I think a lot of people are opposed to using animals for war,” said Leigh Calvez of Bainbridge Island, Wash., who has been among the most vocal opponents.
Ms. Calvez, who lives in Puget Sound is opposed to the idea of protecting nuclear powered submarines from terrorist attacks in her own back yard. Because that would protect the ecosystem.
Where do these people come from?
What can I say, many of my former neighbors in the Puget Sound region are far more shallow than the waters thereof.
And when I saw the post title “Deeply Stupid”, I almost expected a reference to my name…
These people come from a mindset with three major beliefs, with this prioritization:
1) The US military is evil
2) The US is evil
3) Humanity is evil
Thus it is logical and good to oppose:
1) The US military
2) The US interests
3) Humanity
QED
Edward is spot on. What is astonishing about this thinking is how widespread it appears to be in major population centers like Seattle and San Francisco. One could (naively) expect that these population centers would reflect a level of intelligence commensurate with their geographic, cultural, economic and educational significance. Perhaps what is happening is that the “idiot fringe” represented by the 1-2-3 mindset has somehow gained far more attention than is merited by its credibility. So what if a few “activists” raise a fuss? Why care at all about them if their arguments are stupid, especially if they are marginalizing our ability to conduct national defense? Furthermore, why glorify their public idiocy with more publicity? It is far past the point in time when we should be licensing the media to ensure professionalism. After all, we license gun owners, lawyers, doctors, accountants, engineers and many others not to restrict their rights, but to ensure their performance meets basic standards to protect the public interest. We need this protection for the information presented to us, by which we form opinions and critical decisions.
Another nephew I have is a 20 something product of his culture. Explains ad nauseum to neanderthal Uncle how the “white man had caused so much evil” that it is just desserts, etc.
As if somehow we all deserve it – what ever “it” is.
And such mindsets are running our country.
I’m rather proud of how far we’ve come in a generation in leaving old attitudes behind.
Somebody please tell me not to give up. I’m failing.
Where do these people come from?
Same place the Snail Darter, Spotted Owl and Pelosi’s mice lovers come from–our public schools.
Well, they are definitely not going to be cold. little known fact is that when we take the dolphins up north, they wear wetsuits made out of baby seal skin and if it gets really cold, then we put them in whale blubber.
geez, these people
Thanks, Claudio. You made my day.
Reminds me of a wonderful bumper sticker I saw in the mid-70s:
“Nuke the Gay Whales”
Due to communist suppression of news from the west (since they didn’t want the populace to be depressed about how bad capitalism was) I was not aware of the “nuke the gay whales” sticker, along with the dog’s name on Brady Bunch, and most of 70s trivia. So I had to look it up and came across this one..
If you hate logging, try wiping with a pine cone. Or a spotted owl.
a new favorite
And folks wonder why those of us on the East side of that state are so adamant on trying to chop the state in half just this side of the Cascades!
That was “Nuke the Unborn Gay Baby Whales” IIRC.
Nuke the Unicorns!
I saw a t-shirt that said “Nuke the Unborn Gay Whales for Jesus” in San Francisco around 1990.
Well, to start with, a dolphin is a fish, and good eating, and has his image on submariner badges. We’re talking about porpoises, here.
And, yup, I hear they’ve been trained to swim up to unauthorized human swimmers seeking to, say, apply a file to leading edges of sub screws, and jam their tummies full of carbon dioxide. That has to hurt.
I just want the porpoises, and the humans, who serve for us, to be properly looked after when retired.
I doubt Flipper would care if she knits or not. He would care if we nuke the Whales, but only very briefly.
Well, if not the Bottlenose, then the Dall Porpoise would fit the bill. We have plenty of those in the Sound, and they just love to race passing boaters. Gorgeous creatures. Look like baby Orcas they does…
[...] Neptunus Lex has a protest against the use of Navy dolphins to protect against an attack on submarines stationed in Portland, Oregon in “Deeply Stupid“. [...]