Personally, I love air shows and I enjoy the Blue Angels; I'm happy to see them every year (they're certainly better than Folkfest or Fat Tuesday or any of the annoying parades we get every summer). And just imagine if the Defense Dept's budget was tied up in airshows instead of munitions: they could've never contemplated the war in Iraq.

"The Blue Angels are extra-disruptive!"

Since you only deal in sarcasm, please know that I take the things you write very seriously. Especially when it comes to dogs or (overall, harmless) tradition.

1. Unlike planes coming into SeaTac or Boeing, they're flying at high speed and very low altitude over heavily populated areas of Seattle.

2. The noise they subject on the entire city is unacceptable. Have your airshow, fine, but do it out in Sammamish where there's nobody around to be harrassed except miles of strip malls.

3. The whole point of the airshow is to serve the military's ends. For us peace-loving tree-hugging homos and hippies in Seattle, that means reminding us exactly what country we live in. For everyone else, that means salivation and foaming at the mouth at our awesome military might. It's PR for the military, and will always help their budget more than it drains it.

Way to build inclusivity, DavidG. Now me and my East Side Stranger-reading brethren will have to start supporting the war, voting Republican and buying Ford Expeditions.

Honest to god, one of the only things I've come to dislike about living in WA since moving her four years ago is the hip, condescending attitude some Seattleites consider de rigeur towards the East Side.

Do unto others, man. Or, in more draconian terms, a helpful reminder: if the East Side votes Republican, you get Republican Senators and Governors. If we vote Democratic, you get Democratic Senators and Governors.

It's not just dogs and babies crying, it's tons of jet fuel wasted, summertime traffic, congestion and pollution, and blatent promotion of death and distruction at taxpayer expense.

If Seattle can't ban this, no one can. And if no one can, I'm worried.

I'm not a war monger either; I'm a unapologetic lefty who was against the war in Iraq from the beginning. Most displays of military might just make me roll my eyes.

I can't really argue that there is risk involved with the show. In my case, the risk that I'll die from being impacted by a Blue Angel is worth the enjoyment. It's not the only calculated risk I take in life, and hardly the riskiest. I can understand how someone who hates the show would feel differently. Anyway, It would be a sad day for me if the show got banned.