# One of the U.S.'s fifty largest cities is to be destroyed. Argue the case that City X not be it. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 1, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073 "2012-01-01T19:41:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RedWood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f08c70/32.png) [@RedWood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedWood)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/21 "2012-01-01T23:13:08Z")
Spare Oakland! Why make Gertrude Stein right after so many years??? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/22 "2012-01-01T23:17:48Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > Can we try to make a case _against_ a city? That’s addressed in the OP. > [@](#): > > I mean, Wichita should be destroyed. Is that even close to being in the top 50? ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/23 "2012-01-01T23:22:57Z")
Please spare Seattle. It’s simply too pretty to die. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_With_The_Golden_Gun)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/24 "2012-01-01T23:24:27Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Is that even close to being in the top 50? It’s number 49 according to Wikipedia. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/25 "2012-01-01T23:41:15Z")
Will the destruction stop exactly at the city limits, just as the definition of city in the link you provided does? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/26 "2012-01-01T23:57:16Z")
> [@Al\_Bundy](#): > > You don’t say specifically, but I assume the people will be destroyed as well and can’t escape. Since we supposedly espouse equality of man as a nation, the choice has to be the city with the least population. Case closed. There is little to argue about except the actual population count. > > Your stipulations really have us cornered. I can see the opportunity of a choice or two that would provide a net improvement if we could lobby successfully for their demise. That would obviate the goal of the Martians in punishing us. Those beings are pretty dam smart to hide the cheese this long. No, all people are equal under U.S. law procedures only and not anything else. This is alien law and has no such bounds. It is strictly logistical unless you are from some sort of radical religious sect like secular humanism that likes to engage in philosophy with no practical meaning. Some clumps of people are worth more than others otherwise we would all end up broke in our terms doing aid to the 3rd world. The same is true on a lesser scale within the U.S. or any place and it isn’t due strictly to population size. Sometimes it is time to cull the herd and they are making us do it but giving everyone a chance to defend each one until one has to go like a perverted reality show. I spotted a few names on the list I cannot defend honestly but saying those are against the rules. I can honestly defend most of them. I have a special hate for Seattle despite the fact I have never been remotely close to there. It just rubs me the wrong way based on the people I have known from there and the media coverage. However, Boeing and Microsoft are vitally important to U.S. health so it can’t be the one to go. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/27 "2012-01-02T00:04:42Z")
1. Take aliens to Phoenix (or Fresno? at least that one has agriculture though). 2. Say, “that’s why the rest should be spared.” 3. Profit. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/28 "2012-01-02T00:12:54Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > 1. Take aliens to Phoenix (or Fresno? at least that one has agriculture though). > > 2. Say, “that’s why the rest should be spared.” > > 3. Profit. I am not the OP but people keep cheating. It is about defense, not sacrificial lambs. We all have those. Come on, defend something passionately for some reason even if you don’t live there. Picking something to destroy is easy and that is against the rules. Defend one that currently has no defense. Imagine you are the defense attorney for a person on death row only in this case, it is several hundred thousand people or many more. Why should they be spared? ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/29 "2012-01-02T00:35:16Z")
Raleigh, NC Our TV signals extend far into space, surely you’ve seen The Andy Griffith Show. Do those seem like the kind of folks that you want to vaporize? Why don’t you come on in and have some of Aunt Bea’s peach cobbler. Just came out of the oven. Here, you can take my seat. Opie, it’s not polite to stare like that. Now you apologize to these charmin’ fellas. Say, have y’all been to Huntsville, Alabama? I think you might find the place to be of interest. Here, let me print out a Google map for you. Lookit that, it’s got the [del]target[/del] GPS coordinates there on it, so you can just input that in your Tom-Tom and zip by there tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/30 "2012-01-02T01:14:47Z")
Seattle. Seattle is the most [beautiful](http://www.google.com/search?q=beautiful+Seattle&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=kQMBT4WRLong2QWo_vi4Ag&ved=0CFIQsAQ&biw=1866&bih=970). It’s very [healthy](http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/22/america-fit-cities-lifestyle-health-healthy-cities_slide_41.html?thisSpeed=15000) and tech savvy. We are also very friendly and helpful. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/31 "2012-01-02T01:20:58Z")
Fine. Oakland: supposedly the NOAA said it has the best weather in the country. And really nice weather, not just “hot.” Tons of nice and diverse food, maybe some of it matches Martian food. Large nature areas left unlike some cities. Overblown crime statistics don’t deter aliens. ---
**Author:** ![UFC\_Is\_Sux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/46a35a/32.png) [@UFC\_Is\_Sux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UFC_Is_Sux)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/32 "2012-01-02T01:26:12Z")
And remember kids, the rules clearly state that you’re trying to persuade the **President** to name the city to be flattened, NOT the Martians. The Martians aren’t going to give a damn what you think - they are going to act on the President’s recommendation (if he provides one) or flatten ALL of them. So having reminded you of that, Chicago and Washington DC are probably going to be wasted choices. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/33 "2012-01-02T01:46:59Z")
Washington D.C. should be the city obliterated. It’s filled with bloodsuckers. Second choice is Las Vegas. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/34 "2012-01-02T02:01:41Z")
The list of Top 50 cities has places which are clearly redundant – we don’t really need Los Angeles/Long Beach, Phoenix/Mesa, Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington, and San Francisco/San Jose/Oakland. I’ll argue passionately for Los Angeles, Phoenix, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Francisco – and what the heck, San Jose – and let the President draw his own conclusions. ---
**Author:** ![azraiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@azraiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/azraiel)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/35 "2012-01-02T03:32:05Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > Can we try to make a case _against_ a city? > > I mean, Wichita should be destroyed. > > 1: it’s only the lower end of population, so less people would suffer > > 2: would anyone even miss Wichita? As a native Kansan, I’m compelled to answer… No. Not at all. Well, okay. It has some awesome disc golf courses. But if the aliens could contrive to obliterate it while all of the Koch brothers were home, I wouldn’t weep. And Seattle has the airplane thing covered. Oh, and for the OP. 49 cities would be missed much more than Wichita. That’s my case for keeping those 49. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/36 "2012-01-02T03:56:33Z")
Nuking DC would be profoundly foolish - while the government exists, it can capitulate, and democratic states are unlikely to resist in the face of the casaulties our Martians could inflict. Once the US has capitulated, governing it through existing structures (centered in Washington) would be a simpler matter than building an occupation government from scratch. For that matter, our new overlords can simply compel the existing government to cooperate (on pain of more city-nuking) without troubling to occupy the Union. Nuking DC just doesn’t make sense, especially as the first city to be nuked. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/37 "2012-01-02T05:34:47Z")
The aliens should only be allowed to take out Long Beach if they can do so without doing any damage to any of the surrounding cities - and that’s going to be really tough to do, since the Port of Long Beach (the second busiest port in the U.S.) is right next to the Port of Los Angeles (the busiest port in the U.S.) Oh, and it’s not one of the top fifty, but it’s also going to be a trick hitting Long Beach without hitting the City of Signal Hill (pop. 11,000), completely enclosed within Long Beach. And the California State University system maybe isn’t the most prestigious, but it is the largest senior system of higher education in the U.S. It’s got its HQ in, why, Long Beach of all places. And there’s probably lots of other reasons to spare Long Beach, but I forget what they are just now. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/38 "2012-01-02T19:40:44Z")
Spare Seattle because it has the Space Needle and Bill Gates who’s probably the closest we have to your ilk. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/39 "2012-01-02T20:57:17Z")
If I were to try to defend my birth city, I’d simply mention to the president that Omaha was a pretty easy electoral vote in an extremely red state in 2008. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/40 "2012-01-02T21:07:41Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > spare Detroit. it’s not like anyone would notice the difference anyway. Alternatively, nuke Detroit so that a whole new city with new infrastructure could be rebuilt and the place could be fixed, already! > [@azraiel](#): > > As a native Kansan, I’m compelled to answer… No. Not at all. Well, okay. It has some awesome disc golf courses. But if the aliens could contrive to obliterate it while all of the Koch brothers were home, I wouldn’t weep. > > And Seattle has the airplane thing covered. > > Oh, and for the OP. 49 cities would be missed much more than Wichita. That’s my case for keeping those 49. Boeing, Airbus and Bombardier all outsource parts from Wichita’s manufacturing plants and Bombardier does test flights on their new planes there, not to mention design and assembly for Learjet, Cessna and Hawker-Beechcraft, among others. Little known secret - a lot of manufacturers make parts for each other. Also, I know a guy from Wichita named Rex. He’s the only Rex I know, and so should be spared just so that I can continue to say “I know a guy called Rex.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073.md?page=3)