“The last of the 14 Lewis and Clark-class cargo ships that General Dynamics NASSCO is building in San Diego will be named after Cesar Chavez, the late civil rights and labor leader. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus will visit NASSCO on Tuesday afternoon to make the formal announcement. Some members of the Chavez family are expected to be in attendance, says NASSCO, which recently laid the keel of the ship.”http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/may/16/navy-ship-be-named-after-cesar-chavez/
My opposition to this is definitely not racial. Its not about not wanting to honor a person that some consider a civil rights leader and a union activist.
Its about not naming a naval vessel after a controversial figure. What if an extremely conservative President is elected and he wants to name a ship after David Duke?
Sounds extreme but we're opening up the door with nonsense like this. Time to set some kind of limit on this. Unless the person was killed in combat then he must be dead for at least 100 years before he can be honored this way.
Something has to give on this stupidity!
But whats worse is that this smacks of using the Navy in an overtly political way.
How can I say that you ask? Because the President's support among Hispanics is ebbing. He's delivered a speech to them and received no bounce in his support. Am I off the mark when I suspect that this is a bone tossed to a valued constituency?
