fred wrote on Feb 28, 2006 9:02 AM:Again. Who works for who?

G wrote on Mar 16, 2006 7:46 AM:"Postering" What, like putting up posters around town...?

Bill wrote on Apr 3, 2006 11:25 PM:Well Rusty, you have totally "missed the runway" on this one.You obviously don't know what it takes to build, re-locate and create a MCAS from the ground up. That, my uneducated friend takes years, not a couple of months. Then the all knowing airport commission has to reconfigure and rebuild the "new Lindbergh". How long will that take given the current fiscal condition of this great city and county??? Take that and "poster" it where it counts.

Tom wrote on Apr 4, 2006 9:29 AM:What Rusty and others who buy into the "Be a good neighbor" argument miss is that Miramar is not just a today issue. The Marines are here because San Diego wanted them. Badly. The post-Cold War recession of the 90s hit San Diego hard. Lots of people lost jobs and housing prices fell through the floor. Knowing that the military provided a recession-proof economic engine when the rest of the economy goes south, the region’s civic leaders fought long and hard to grow its military presence during every past round of base closures. San Diego gained as the military gave up a lot of land in California: Fort Ord, Fort MacArthur, George, Castle, and Mather Air Force bases, San Francisco and Long Beach Naval Bases, and the El Toro and Tustin Marine Corps Air Stations to name a few. Why did the Marines come? Because Miramar sits smack in the middle of the best training range complex in the world. As a result of sixty years of base closures, 67% of the nations military training ranges are in CA, AZ, and NV, located mostly over either the desert or open ocean. Established in WWII, they could not be replaced today because developers and Nimbys across the nation have made that impossible. The Marines understand development and encroachment. They live with it every day. That's why they are staying. As for being good neighbors- San Diego couldn't have better. Show me a developer who personally gives as much substance back to his nation as a Marine PFC or a Navy Hospital Corpsman. Give Back? Lots of short memories out there. How about Camp Matthews… you know it as UCSD. How about East Camp Elliot... you know it as Tierra Santa. So stop whining, Rusty. You’ll still be able to catch a plane to Cancun when the mood hits. Smarter people than you or I have already figured out how to make Lindbergh and San Diego prosper for another fifty years... it's a secret called bigger planes.

USMC Silent Ranks wrote on Apr 5, 2006 2:52 PM:Postering.....That's the biggest lie I've ever heard. I think people who say that haven't heard the "term freedom isn't free", (a popular phrase you can find on bumper stickers of many cars of military supports all over ).Our troops give us something back everyday....it's alittle something called freedom. While we get to sleep in warm beds at night they sleep in holes in the ground, or if their lucky a bed that's not a comfortable as our own. While we grumble about the comute to work they travel in convoys down roads unknow to them praying that there are not IED's along the road. While we stand at the fridge debating on what's for dinner they eat MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat...and if you've never had one BELIEVE me you don't want to try one, lol). While we gather with friends and family they sit alone missing their loved ones and re-read letters that where sent to them thinking of how much they miss their loved ones. These men and women put their lives on the line so that you can live care free and bitch about how they don't give anything back. In terms of not giving anything back to the community....that is also a lie. I won't tell you how many times I have seen people (not only from my home base) but from other bases out there not just donating their time but there dollars to the community, just because their not standing on a soap box shouting I'm a Marine doesn't mean their not doing anything. Why am I writing this? For one simple reason because I'm tired of seeing my own being used, abused and put down while giving us one of the greatest gifts in life....FREEDOM.

Voice of Reason wrote on Jul 13, 2006 3:51 AM:The military isn't free either. An adverse impact to San Diego's economy affects the national tax base, and an inadequite airport will have this affect. Get over yourselves and your "Freeedom isn't free" garb. This isn't Nazi Germany.

Ken wrote on Oct 12, 2006 5:31 PM:Please knock off the Nazi stuff before it gets any further. Please. The fact is that while places that would have been prime for a new airport WERE available, the Airport Authority and it's past incarnations stubbornly and stupidly stuck to the idea of grabbing Miramar. If you think noise and traffic in Mira Mesa, Scripps Ranch, etc. is bad now, I can't wait to hear the people complain if it became a commercial airport so I can say - be careful what you ask for. Remember that when Miramar was built it was "in the middle of nowhere" (no offence to Poway, etc)so as not to bother people. Does anyone remember the Two-View Drive-in (I think that is how it was spelled)? When there was that drive-in between Madison High and A-1 Metals and almost nothing else except 395?

John wrote on Nov 10, 2006 1:03 PM:Great comment Tom! Accurate and loaded with facts that can be researched. Not much more to add other than the Marines stewardship of the land at Miramar and Camp Pendleton preserves the natural habitat of various endangered species. If or when the developers get thier hands on these few remaining stretches of undeveloped land you know what will happen, local government won't care because they will be getting fatter off the property tax money which they are not getting now. Finally, Ken hits a bullseye, the airport commission went for the easy target instead of working for thier money.

Kenneth wrote on Apr 23, 2007 1:51 PM:What a ridiculous commentary to float at this point in time. No doubt it was the creation of the amaturish former Airport Planning Commission whose member{s} could not come up with a realistic or plausable solution for a new airport site and were rebuffed by the voters.