Yes Java is as quick as anything else once it is up and running; the point GP was making was getting to this warmed up state is what makes people perceive java as slow.
A situation that only occurs if one doesn't make use of JVM that cache JIT code like IBM J9, or willing to pay for an optimizing AOT compiler like Excelsior JET.
Also another example is those that perceive the JVM as slow due to using it with Clojure, when the slowness in this case is caused by the Clojure implementation itself.
Aren't you great. As a java developer I am well aware of them too. For most people java == java applets; or "hello world" with `javac Hello.java` and then `java -cp. Hello` followed by some interminable wait while all the apparatus of the JVM is marshalled for the sole purpose of emitting a static string and then exiting. And by interminable I mean 2 or 3 second but still.
Even in more enlightened scenarios a REPL on jruby is just eye-wateringly painful unless you've all the "secret speedups" enabled.
In many more modern development cultures such secrets are generally looked upon as "Yak Shaving".
But on perceptions: naive perceptions don't justify a false statement. So why draw focus to them, why excuse them? Facts trump perceptions.