Who else thought that the B-29 flyover was in very poor taste at the Little League World Series?

[taterguy]

Nice way to intimidate the little Japanese kids though

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. If the Japanese elections go the right way, they will also soon be flying them

and making war again, just like us.

[Oeditpus Rex]

2. I didn't see it, but...

Y'think any of the kids realized the significance? Still, it was probably shown in Japan, too.

Was it "Fifi," the Commemorative Air Force's -29? That's the only one I know of that's still flying.

[taterguy]

3. They borrowed this one

I wish I had Tivoed it

[Oeditpus Rex]

4. Even if the Enola Gay is still airworthy

they'd have a hell of a time getting it out. :D

[taterguy]

5. The roof is retractable

You vastly underestimate American ingenuity

[Oeditpus Rex]

6. Ah, yes

They roll back the roof and lift it out with four Sikorsky Skycranes. :D

[taterguy]

7. All worth it for the expression on those kids faces

I've never seen home field advantage used more effectively to psych out an opponent.

[Oeditpus Rex]

8. Little League psyops!

Maybe the Georgia catcher is trash-talking the Japanese hitters: "You ever watch 'Jake and the Fat Man,' little boy?"

[taterguy]

10. And when the Japanese catcher did the same thing to the American hitter . . .

The hitter just got confused because he couldn't speak a word of Japanese :)

[KinkyDem]

22. nope

The hanger doors on the far end are big enough to drive a 747 through though.

As best I could tell, the door pivots up and into the hanger when it opens. The door is 60 feet tall.

[taterguy]

23. But wouldn't it be cool if it was?

[KinkyDem]

21. Walking the cat walk at the Hazey Center ...

a few weeks ago i found myself suddenly nose to nose with her.

"OMG!" I say, "is that REALLY it?"

A woman and her husband, both apparently old enough to remeber The War, say in unison, in whisper "Yeah. That's her."

Shivers I tell you. A very strange experience.

[BellaB]

9. I am new to the forum

but it seems to me that some posters go out of their way to find something offensive about things that are not offensive at all.

[Rabrrrrrr]

11. And some go out of their way to waste keystrokes insulting others.

:shrug:

Welcome to DU, I guess.

[taterguy]

12. Welcome to DU, since you're a newbie I'll cut you some slack

The Lounge is where people try to generally get away from hyper-sensitivity.

It's where people make, uh, stupid jokes.

I could have posted this in GD just to see how long it took for people to realize I was just kidding but that would have been mean to the Mods and the newbies :)

[Oeditpus Rex]

13. You don't think Japanese who know their country's history

might not find a B-29 flyover offensive, particularly at an event that's supposed to embrace different cultures? :shrug:

If the Yankees had an exhibition game in Tokyo vs. the Yomiyuri Giants and there were a flyover with Zeros, Vals and Kates, I guess Americans wouldn't even blink, huh?

[skygazer]

19. Actually, as ignorant as most Americans are about history

They'd probably think it was wonderful. :eyes:

[BellaB]

30. History is just that, History

While we should learn from History, at the same time we should also never forget it.

[BellaB]

29. Actually

No I wouldn't, I always love to see old military aircraft fly.

[KinkyDem]

20. Welcome to the lounge

uh ....

Yeah.

[Ptah]

25. Please vote in my poll.

[taterguy]

26. Garth Brooks is the spawn of Satan

Which has nothing to do with the serious issues being discussed in this thread so I'm not sure why I'm even posting it.

[Ptah]

27. Are you saying that Tennessee Ernie Ford is Satan?

[taterguy]

31. I"m saying that there's no relation between Ford and Brooks

Sorry for the confusion

[cobalt1999]

14. Considering how little Japan teaches anything about WWII

I doubt the kids made the connection. Their grandparents and great-grandparents may have been intimidated, but I don't believe they were playing.

[Oeditpus Rex]

15. They were likely watching (n/t)

[cobalt1999]

16. Maybe.

However the OP asked about intimating the children. I doubt the children were intimidated, they were probably fascinated like all kids are with airplanes.

[taterguy]

17. The OP asked if the flyover was in poor taste

English?
Do you speak it?

[cobalt1999]

18. Okay, then no I don't think it was in bad taste.

[DS1]

24. Yes. Totally tasteless

Everyone knows the Japanese don't play bingo

[alarimer]

28. Isn't that the kind of plane that dropped the atom bomb?

and they are playing a Japanese team.

Then, yes, that's deeply offensive. But our country sucks with its warmongering, hyper-patriotic posturing so I am guessing no one is surprised by this totally tasteless, revolting act.

My God, whoever made this decision really sucks. Must be a Republican piece of shit (I know that's redundant).

[taterguy]

32. Ya know what also sucks about our country?

The fact that it's sunk so far down that some folks actually thought I was serious when I made my OP

[GOPisEvil]

33. Well, in all fairness, this flyover could have been scheduled months ago.

It's possible this is just an unfortunate circumstance.

[taterguy]

34. Which opponent would a B-29 flyover been appropriate for?

My inquiring mind wants to know

[GOPisEvil]

35. Curacao.

The Netherlands

Was it a great idea, given the possibility the Japanese team might be the international representative? No. However, I suggest that it was an unfortunate result of a decision not fully thought out, not a nefarious plot to intimdate the Japanese players.