Berkeley facilitates protests outside recruiting center

[thedrifter]

Berkeley facilitates protests outside recruiting center
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Feb 2, 2008 7:17:36 EST

BERKELEY, Calif. — Local officials in this liberal city say it’s time for the Marines to move out. The City Council voted 8-1 Tuesday to tell the Marines their downtown recruiting station is not welcome and “if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome guests.”

The council also voted to explore enforcing a city anti-discrimination law, focusing on the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

In a separate item, the council voted, also 8-1, to give protest group Code Pink a parking space in front of the recruiting office once a week for six months and a free sound permit for protesting once a week.

Marine Capt. Richard Lund of the recruiting office declined comment on the council action.

The recruiting office opened in Berkeley about a year ago, operating quietly until about four months ago, when Code Pink began regular sidewalk protests.

“I believe in the Code Pink cause. The Marines don’t belong here, they shouldn’t have come here, and they should leave,” said Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates.

Code Pink is circulating petitions to get a measure on the ballot in November making it more difficult to open military recruiting offices in Berkeley if they are near homes, parks, schools, churches, libraries or health clinics.

Some employees and business owners aren’t happy with the weekly protests.

“My husband’s business is right upstairs, and this [protesting] is bordering on harassment,” Dori Schmidt told the council. “I hope this stops.”

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Article published - Feb 3, 2008
BERKELEY Marines plan to stay put



While anti-war protesters chained themselves outside a Marines recruiting center in Berkeley, a spokesman for the Corps said the Marines do not plan to abandon the office even though the City Council has officially rolled up the welcome mat.

The City Council voted Tuesday to tell the Marines that if its recruiters choose to stay in their rented downtown space "they do so as uninvited and unwelcome guests."

Gunnery Sgt. Pauline Franklin said Friday that while the Corps respects city officials' right to free speech, the Marines would not be leaving.

Conservative bloggers and Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina, lashed out at Berkeley following Tuesday's resolution.

DeMint said he would draft legislation to strip the city of federal money, including funds destined for UC Berkeley, for school lunches in the Berkeley Unified School District and public safety.

Berkeley police arrested three of the protesters who chained themselves together and blocked people trying to enter the recruiting station. They were cited for misdemeanors and released.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Snub of Marines draws criticism
Berkeley mayor softens criticism, offers lease help
By Doug Oakley, STAFF WRITER
Article Created: 02/02/2008 02:37:59 AM PST

Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates offered Friday to help the U.S. Marine Corps leave town by negotiating an end to the lease for their recruiting station, even as he backpedaled on a City Council resolution declaring the Corps "uninvited and unwelcome intruders" in the city.

In the face of an onslaught of pro-military criticism from around the country, Bates, a retired Army captain, also issued a statement that said the City Council's resolution Tuesday night "did not adequately differentiate our respect and support for those serving in the armed forces and our opposition to the Iraq war policy." He said he would ask the council to modify the resolution at its next meeting, scheduled for Feb. 12.

A Marines spokeswoman said Friday that the Corps has no intention of abandoning its space at 64 Shattuck Square, which has been the subject of protests for months.

In an interview Friday, Bates said he has received more than 1,000 e-mails on the resolution, mostly from "the right wing that has really seized up on this and mobilized to pound us."

"I spoke with the landlord, who is a very nice friend of mine, and the Marines have a year and a half to go," Bates said. "I'm sure if they wanted we could work it out (so they can leave) without penalty. The situation there has disrupted the whole block."

Bates said he wants the council to rewrite its item to focus on three issues: that Berkeley does not support the Iraq war, free speech is honored in Berkeley, and "given
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our druthers, we would like the Marines to relocate."

"We are against the war in Iraq, and when you put a recruiting station in our midst, people are going to use that symbol as a way to oppose it," Bates said. "If pro-war people want to come here, we'll give them a permit, too."

Gunnery Sgt. Pauline Franklin said the Corps "appreciates" the fact that the City Council is exercising its right to free speech.

"I can't predict the future, but I will tell you at this point there is no reason for us to leave," Franklin said Friday. "We take an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States, and part of the Constitution is the right of free speech, and the fact that they are exercising their rights solidifies our resolve to continue what we are doing."

The council voted 6-3 Tuesday to tell the Marines that their recruiting station is not welcome in the city. In a separate vote, the council supported the women's peace group Code Pink by giving it a designated parking space in front of the recruiting station once a week for six months and a free sound permit for protesting once a week from noon to 4 p.m. The council also voted to explore enforcing its law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation against the Marines.

Councilwoman Linda Maio said the council should have read the item asking the Marines to leave more closely before it acted.

"I don't think any of us paid enough attention to it, and people want to rewrite it to more accurately portray our sentiments," said Maio, who supported the resolutions. "We really do have a great deal of concern for the people in our military, and we don't want to be critical of the sacrifices they are making."

Councilman Max Anderson, who said he received an honorable discharge from the Marines, maintained he "absolutely" wants them out of Berkeley.

"People are trying to spin it that we're against the troops, but what we're talking about is this hideous war," Anderson said.

On Friday, 40 Berkeley police officers arrested three protesters from the anti-war group World Can't Wait who chained themselves to the recruiting station and tried to prevent people from entering. They were taken to the Berkeley jail, issued misdemeanor citations and released. Protesters scuffled with at least five men who tried to enter the recruiting station.

Berkeley City Attorney Zach Cowan and City Councilman Gordon Wozniak were seen watching the protest with the police on the opposite side of the street. Wozniak opposed the council's action.

U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., has threatened to introduce legislation to strip the city of federal funds — including money going to the University of California, Berkeley, money for school lunches in the Berkeley Unified School District and money for public safety — as a result of the City Council's vote.

"This is a slap in the face to all brave service men and women and their families," DeMint wrote on his Web site. "The First Amendment gives the city of Berkeley the right to be idiotic, but from now on they should do it with their own money.

"I am currently drafting legislation to ensure that American taxpayers aren't forced to pay for this insult by rescinding all of the earmarks for Berkeley in the Omnibus Appropriations bill, and to transfer the funds to the Marine Corps."

A spokeswoman for Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., called DeMint's comments "just plain wrong."

"Sen. DeMint may not like what the Berkeley City Council has to say, but to punish the children, police, first responders and the university for something they had nothing to do with is just plain wrong," said Natalie Ravitz, Boxer's spokeswoman.

A spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, said the congresswoman would also fight any attempt to strip her district of funding.

"She's very focused on making sure federal funds are delivered to the district and support the programs that are needed in the district," said Cleve Messidor, who could not say whether Lee supported the council's action.

Ann Cooper, director of nutrition services for Berkeley Unified, called DeMint's threat to pull $87,000 earmarked for the nutrition education program shameful.

"For somebody in the government, an elected official, to take away a program that's not only helping kids in Berkeley but is a model for kids across America, is just a travesty," Cooper said.



Staff writers Shelly Meron and Lisa Vorderbrueggen contributed to this story. Contact Doug Oakley at doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Is there a way not to get ****ed off about this--UPDATE!
Posted By Deebow



UPDATE 17:51 PST: This keeps getting stranger, however, it is unlikely to let up. My vote is for a Marine Security detachment from FAST Company should be sent to aid them. (h/t Weasel Zippers)

As the right-wing blogosphere railed and a U.S. senator vowed financial retaliation against the Berkeley City Council for its effort to boot the Marine Corps out of town, three anti-war protesters ratcheted up pressure from the left by chaining themselves Friday to the front door of the downtown Marine recruiting office.

Note to Berkeley City Council and Code Pink: Decisions have consequences...

UPDATE: U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., says the City of Berkeley, Calif., no longer deserves federal money.

DeMint was angered after learning that the Berkeley City Council voted this week to tell the U.S. Marine Corps to remove its recruiting station from the city's downtown.

"This is a slap in the face to all brave service men and women and their families," DeMint said in a prepared statement. "The First Amendment gives the City of Berkeley the right to be idiotic, but from now on they should do it with their own money."

"If the city can’t show respect for the Marines that have fought, bled and died for their freedom, Berkeley should not be receiving special taxpayer-funded handouts," he added.

DeMint said he will draft legislation to rescind any earmarks dedicated for the City of Berkeley in the recently passed appropriations bill — which his office tallied to value about $2.1 million. He said that any money taken back would be transferred to the Marines.

Among the earmarks identified are:

— $975,000 for the University of California at Berkeley, for the Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service, which may include establishing an endowment, and for cataloguing the papers of Congressman Robert Matsui.

— $750,000 for the Berkeley/Albana ferry service.

— $243,000 for the Chez Panisse Foundation, for a school lunch initiative to integrate lessons about wellness, sustainability and nutrition into the academic curriculum.

— $94,000 for a Berkeley public safety interoperability program.

— $87,000 for the Berkeley Unified School District, nutrition education program.

I think the best comment, well, I won't spoil it...

Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway scoffed at the news,

I wish the Senator luck. I hope he wins his battle. Hitting them in the pocket book for over a cool million smackers sounds like a good start.

And the battle continues....

Ellie

[thedrifter]

The Marines vs Berkeley: The Peace and Justice Commission behind the actions - How bad is it?

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/f...rom=blog_last3


Ellie

[thedrifter]

In Berkeley, push to rescind letter to Marines

Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

(02-04) 18:52 PST Berkeley -- A week after blasting the Marines as "unwelcome intruders" in Berkeley, two City Council members want the city to back off the declaration that ignited the wrath of the nation's right wing and inspired a Republican senator to try to sever Berkeley's federal funding.

Council members Betty Olds and Laurie Capitelli on Monday proposed that Berkeley rescind its letter to the U.S. Marine Corps that stated that the downtown Berkeley recruiting center "is not welcome in our city," and publicly declare that Berkeley is against the war but supports the troops.

The City Council will vote on Olds' and Capitelli's two proposals at its meeting next Tuesday.

"I think we shouldn't be seen across the country as hating the Marines," said Olds, who voted against last week's proposals. "If you make a mistake, like we did, you should admit it and correct it and move on."

The brouhaha started last week when the council passed two items condemning the Marine recruiting center on Shattuck Square, which opened about a year ago. The first called on the city clerk to send a letter to the Marines telling them they're unwelcome, and the second item granted Code Pink a parking space in front of the recruiting office every Wednesday afternoon and allowed the group to operate a loudspeaker.

After the items passed, the council was besieged with criticism from right-wing groups and military supporters. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., proposed that the federal government cut off funds for Berkeley, including lunch programs, ferry service and UC Berkeley.

Olds said she heard from hundreds of people angered by the city's action, including many in her Berkeley hills district.

"People are so mad about this. They have relatives in the service, and now they think they're not welcome in Berkeley," she said. "My twin brother was a Marine in World War II. He'd be turning in his grave if he saw this."

The council appears split on the idea of backing down. Some council members said the original proposals inadvertently insulted veterans and those currently serving in the military. Others said Berkeley should stand by its convictions.

"People are used to Berkeley taking a stand for peace, but you have to do it intelligently," said Councilman Kriss Worthington, who voted against sending the letter calling the Marine Corps unwelcome. "You don't want to slap one group in the face and then, the next minute, slap the other group. I think we have an obligation to be thoughtful and sensitive and not be counterproductive to the cause of peace."

Councilwoman Dona Spring said the council should not be cowed by the volume of hate mail and threats.

"I still oppose the Marines recruiting in Berkeley because it's one way of protesting this wasteful war," she said. "Our military policy is a shambles. But we're not in opposition to the Marines; we oppose the policy that directs the Marines."

Meanwhile, the Code Pink protesters said they were disappointed that Berkeley might rescind its letter to the Marines.

"I hope they're not acting out of intimidation," said Code Pink spokeswoman Medea Benjamin. "Berkeley is a city of peace, and a recruiting station does not fit Berkeley's values."

Mayor Tom Bates, a former Army captain, said it probably wouldn't hurt if the council clarified its position.

"It's a symbol, but there are consequences to symbols," he said. "A lot of people think we're anti-Marine, but there's a difference between the warriors and the war. This is an attempt to clarify that."


E-mail Carolyn Jones at carolynjones@sfchronicle.com.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Berkeley officials look to make amends
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Feb 5, 2008 11:37:13 EST

BERKELEY, Calif. — Two Berkeley City Council members want the city to rescind a declaration that says the Marine recruiting center is not welcome in Berkeley.

Council members Betty Olds and Lauri Capitelli have proposed backing off the anti-Marines declaration and publicly declaring that Berkeley opposes the war in Iraq but supports the troops.

The controversy erupted last week after the City Council passed an item condemning the Marines’ downtown recruiting center. The declaration angered right-wing groups and prompted a Republican senator to try to cut off federal funding for Berkeley.

The City Council will vote on the new proposals next week.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Council might retract statement on Marines
BERKELEY: Members to vote Tuesday on item calling recruiters 'intruders' that sparked national outcry
By Doug Oakley

STAFF WRITER
Article Launched: 02/06/2008 03:04:10 AM PST

Two Berkeley City Council members want to retract an official statement that the U.S. Marines and their recruiting station are "uninvited and unwelcome intruders" in the city after the action sparked a national uproar.

Their item will come before the City Council on Tuesday.

But Betty Olds and Laurie Capitelli, who wrote the proposal, did not move to rescind three other related items the council approved this past week: calling on residents to impede the work of any military recruiting station in the city; asking the city attorney to investigate whether the Marines violate city laws banning discrimination based on sexual orientation; and giving the protest group Code Pink a free weekly parking space and sound permit to protest in front of the Shattuck Avenue recruiting station.

"I would prefer they recruit somewhere else, but they have a constitutional and legal right to be here," Capitelli said Tuesday. "If they decide to be here, then there are actions (protesters) can take, and the Marines will have to decide whether that's an acceptable price to pay to be in Berkeley. That's their decision to make, but not the City Council's decision."

The council decided by a 6-3 vote last week to ask the Marines to abandon their office by a 6-3 vote last week. Council members Olds, Gordon Wozniak and Kriss Worthington voted against the item. A spokeswoman for Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates said Tuesday that he would vote to rescind the statement.

The council's action has
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generated outrage from across the country, and Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., threatened last week to try to strip the city of federal funds.

Councilwoman Linda Maio said she will introduce an item of her own next week regarding the Marines. Maio said she welcomes "any member of the military" to be in Berkeley, but she does not support the recruiting station.

"That's an important distinction to make," Maio said.

Councilman Gordon Wozniak, who voted against all the items involving the recruiting station, said he would have to think about the new item.

"It's not clear a majority of the council will change its viewpoint on this," Wozniak said. "I think the item needs some clarification. I support what they are trying to do. We should also apologize."

Wozniak said he still doesn't like the idea of "giving a parking space to a protest group right in front of the place they are protesting, regardless of whether it's the Marines or an abortion clinic. It's intimidation and harassment."

Worthington said he had not yet seen the new item.

"I'm a strong supporter of the peace movement, but I think it's important to show support for our veterans and the people risking their lives in the military today," Worthington said.

Councilwoman Dona Spring said she is not backing down from her earlier position that the Marines should get out of town.

"I'm going to try to work to amend this resolution to make sure we're expressing our full opposition to the military policies and that we do not feel it's appropriate for any military recruiting to be done in Berkeley," Spring said. "I definitely feel the message to the Marines should be, 'You need to go,' and I'm not backing down on it."

Councilman Darrell Moore said Tuesday that he had not decided how to vote on the item by Olds and Capitelli.

Councilman Max Anderson said Friday that he had not changed his position and "absolutely" wants the Marines out of Berkeley.

Meanwhile, the pro-military group Move Forward America announced in a news release it will stage a daylong protest against the City Council on Tuesday in response to the council's actions last week.

E-mail Doug Oakley at doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Berkeley's Marines offensive

Debra J. Saunders

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

"I guess they've never heard of free speech," Berkeley City Councilwoman Dona Spring told The Chronicle as she defended the council's 8-1 vote to tell Marine recruiters that they are not welcome in Berkeley - and that if the Marines stay, they will "do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders." The council also voted 6-3 to give the anti-war Code Pink organization a designated parking space directly in front of the U.S. Marine Corps' 64 Shattuck Ave. recruiting office and encouraged Code Pink to "impede" Marine recruitment.

It's pretty clear that Spring has heard of free speech, but she has no idea what it is.

It's one thing for Berkeley to pronounce U.S. troops, who put their lives on the line every day to defend America, as unwelcome. That's protected speech - that signals Berkeley residents' disdain for U.S. troops. It's also the sort of rude we're-better-than-the-rest-of-America action that invites outsiders to wonder if a city that tries to divorce itself from military recruitment deserves the benefits that the federal government bestows.

Apart from that, the Berkeley vote was the antithesis of free speech.

When government officials pass a law to impede the political expression of nonbelievers, as the Berkeley pols did on Jan. 29, they are wielding the club of government to suppress dissent. They are abusing their authority.

Code Pink does not limit its activities to protesting the war. Code Pink also blocks access to the recruiting office, members have chained themselves to the door - which constitutes an attempt to infringe on the rights of those who, despite a barrage of anti-war propaganda, nonetheless want to become Marines.

Code Pink is the anti-war equivalent of anti-abortion protesters barring women from access to abortion clinics - a crime compounded by the City Council's support of this suppression.

Oh, but it's different, supporters argue, because Berkeley is anti-war. All those high-school lectures about free speech existing to protect unpopular viewpoints evaporate when you're on the popular side. What's the point of having power, after all, if you can't use it as a club to silence those with whom you disagree?

I know many Berkeley residents oppose the war and still are embarrassed that Berzerkely once again has gone over the top. Too bad their reasonable voices are lost in the loud, obnoxious censorious lefty cacophony.

"We're not condemning the men and women who serve, we are condemning the U.S. policy that is teaching the Marines and other military people to torture, oust other countries' political leaders and do other evil things," Spring also told The Chronicle. It's typical Berkeley doublespeak: Spring isn't against the troops, she's just accusing them of evil.

When I asked Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain what he would do, if elected, about the Berkeley vote, McCain said he would use the bully pulpit to criticize Berkeley, but: "I think Berkeley is Berkeley, a unique place in America."

Sen. Jim De Mint, R-S.C., had a tougher take. "If the city can't show respect for the Marines that have fought, bled and died for their freedom, Berkeley should not be receiving special taxpayer funded handouts," De Mint wrote on his blog. De Mint has found some choice earmarks - $975,000 for the Cal Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service, $243,000 for the Chez Panisse Foundation - that, while not city projects, made De Mint's list.

Lest you think the De Mint approach is far-fetched, consider Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's answer to a question posed by NBC's Tim Russert at a debate last month. "There's a federal statute on the books which says that, if a college or university does not provide space for military recruiters or provide a ROTC program for its students, it can lose its federal funding. Will you enforce that statute?" Russert asked.

Both Clinton and Obama answered that they would enforce the Solomon Amendment, which first passed in 1994 when Bill Clinton was president.

The idea was: With federal funding comes responsibility. Except the Berkeley City Council feels it owes the American military nothing but disrespect.

You see what free speech has become in Berkeley. It's not the free expression of competing ideas. It's free for lefties only - and for them, speech without consequences.

E-mail: dsaunders@sfchronicle.com.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg.../ED44URQ0B.DTL

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Why Boycotting Berkeley is Important
by Nicholas Provenzo (February 6, 2008)




I watched the video of the January 29th meeting of the Berkeley City Council where resolutions were passed telling the Marines that they are "unwanted and uninvited guests" with in city limits and applauding those who work to disrupt the Marines from their mission. As I watched the video, I was struck by the brazen irrationality of a Council where pet ideologies are allowed to take center stage and where the publicity-seeking of a few malcontents is allowed to parade as the informed opinion of an entire community.

For example, according to Berkeley City Councilmember Maxwell Anderson, the Marines are little more than "the President's own gangsters" with a shameful history of "naked aggression." This man, who by his own proud admission was thrown out the Marines in the 1960s, called Marine recruiters "liars" who entice our youth to become racist killers. As judged by the fact that Berkeley City Council's passed his resolutions, the majority of the City Council shares Anderson's opinion.

If Councilmember Anderson and his fellow council-members were private citizens, one would care little what they have to say; their absurd ravings can be easily dismissed on their face. But these are not private citizens; they are members of a legislative body that by duty represents all the citizens of their community. These are individuals who have been given a special moral and legislative mandate; a mandate that they have chosen to hijack for their own benighted purposes.

Now as I point out in the online petition I drafted calling for an economic boycott of Berkeley and the suspension of all federal and state payments to the city, the City Council's wrath is grossly misdirected. Even if one chooses to oppose the current war, one must acknowledge that the Marines are not a policy-making body; their efforts are completely guided by the President and the Congress. To attack the Marines is grossly unfair; it essentially demands that the Marines ignore the very Constitution that they pledged their lives to defend.

In fact, the irony of the City Council's anti-Marine resolutions is that if one were to take their spirit completely to heart, one would have to advocate the mutiny of the Marine Corps; even if various hippies, beatniks and other gray-haired relics of the '60s that reside in Berkeley deny it, their can be no other real conclusion. The City Council has declared that at least in principle, it rejects the federal union.

My question then is just who are these individuals to think that the rest of us need them or are under any obligation to tolerate their ridiculous antics? Why should any part of our lives go to support the representatives of a city who hold that our Marines are racist murderers, and that the federal Constitution should be brazenly usurped, and that a local government has any mandate to involve itself in national affairs?

After all, the anti-Marine resolutions are the product of a Berkeley "Peace and Justice" commission; a commission that exists to deliberately involve the city in ideological issues that are utterly un-germane to the management of the city. Why should the rest of us subsidize it (or the citizens who vote to make it possible) though our tax dollars?

I thought that it was telling when it was reported that one of the recipients of federal spending in Berkeley went apoplectic when it was announced that U.S. Senator Jim DeMint would seek to cut Berkeley's federal earmarks. According to the Oakland Tribune, Ann Cooper, director of nutrition services for Berkeley Unified, DeMint's threat to pull $87,000 earmarked for her nutrition education program is "shameful."

"For somebody in the government, an elected official, to take away a program that's not only helping kids in Berkeley but is a model for kids across America, is just a travesty," Cooper said.

I say Cooper's rage is wholly misdirected. She should look no further than her city's leaders for someone to blame for the threat to her pork-money (money that I might add neither she nor anyone else in America has a right to receive). Her leaders feel no reticence in attacking the Marines, so I say it is high time those of us who love, honor and respect the Corps stand up and say that such a position comes a price. If the city of Berkeley will not have the Marines, its people should not expect any of the other accoutrements that come with living within our union.

In the broadest sense, the outcry against Berkeley City Council's actions is not about the war (or even about the Marines). It is about what life in a constitutional republic should be, and which leaders are responsible for what actions. As a local government, the Berkeley City Government has grossly overreached its legitimate mandate and it has done so in an obnoxious and offensive way.

In the name of justice, it's time to expose this for what it is: treason against the Republic itself.

A Petition in Support of the U.S. Marine Corps
http://capitalismcenter.org/Advocacy...on/default.htm

Ellie

[thedrifter]

by Michelle Malkin

Berkeley Vs. America, Again
February 06, 2008 02:00 PM EST




The troop-bashers in Berkeley are at it once more. But this time, the rest of America lashed back. Message to the Left Coast: It's not the 1960s anymore.

On Jan. 29, the Berkeley city council passed several measures targeting the lone Marine recruitment office in town. The anti-war harridans at Code Pink have been picketing the center for months. Last fall, they defaced the building by slapping a sign that read "assasination" (sic) in the military office window. Instead of rising to defend the recruiters' property rights, the city council and mayor voted to sabotage them further. They granted Code Pink special parking privileges directly in front of the Marines' workplace to facilitate their protests -- and also offered them a free sound permit for six months.

In the home of the free speech movement, the peace and love mob abused the power of government to help drive the Marines out of the city. They proceeded with zoning changes to treat recruiting centers like porn shops. They encouraged residents to continue to impede the recruiters' work. Never mind federal law making it a crime to willfully obstruct the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States. If that weren't blood-boiling enough, the Berkeleyites put the troops under further siege by voting to send a letter to the U.S. Marine Corps calling them "uninvited and unwelcome intruders."

Video of the council meeting showed city officials trashing the Marines as "the president's own gangsters" and "trained killers" who are known for "death and destruction and maiming." One of the council members complained that our men and women in uniform were responsible for "horrible karma." Mayor Tom Bates offered to "help" the Marines evacuate.

But, of course, they continue to argue shamelessly that they're not against the troops. Just against President Bush's policies.

Only one council member, Gordon Wozniak, opposed the Code Pink measure -- pointing out that the council was bending the rules, intentionally setting up a confrontation between the group and the recruitment office, and "showing favoritism." He was outnumbered, 8-to-1. Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin and her minions gloated over the vote and turned up at the recruitment center to rub salt in the wound: "We are the defenders of democracy, the upholders of the Constitution. If it weren't for people like the people in Berkeley, standing up for what they believe, we'd be living under Hitler."

Her thugs defaced the recruitment center again -- this time with a banner of bloody handprints stretched across the window as recruiters tried to do their jobs.

In another decade, Berkeley would have gotten away with this intolerant, illiberal, un-American power trip. But in the age of the Internet, talk radio and YouTube, word of the siege at Berkeley spread like lightning. And citizens across the country weren't willing to look the other way. The San Francisco-based Move America Forward, led by talk show host/conservative activist Melanie Morgan, launched an online petition protesting the city council measures. Republican Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina moved to strip Berkeley of pork barrel spending worth $2 million.

The American Legion mobilized as well. National Commander Marty Conatser lambasted the votes: "The American Legion not only strongly condemns this action by the City Council but also believes that a sincere apology is in order to all Marines, past and present. What these recruiters do is essential to our national security. Without recruiters we have no military. And I don't think we can count on the flower children from Berkeley to protect this nation when it comes under attack. They have to remember that Marines are not the enemy; the terrorists are."

After feeling the heat, not just from veterans, military families and troop supporters outside of Berkeley but also from their own embarrassed citizens, the council is waving a partial white flag: Two council members will move to rescind the obnoxious letter and Code Pink privileges next week. It seems a little light bulb went off in Councilwoman Betty Olds' head: "I think we shouldn't be seen across the country as hating the Marines."

Too late. The city's "horrible karma" is on full display. Sit back and watch Berkeley be Berkeley? No more.

Michelle Malkin is author of "Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild." Her e-mail address is malkinblog@gmail.com.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

[thedrifter]

Lawmakers aim to punish Berkeley over anti-Marines stance
REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS RETALIATE BY PUSHING BILL TO CUT FEDERAL SUBSIDIES
By Doug Oakley
Bay Area News Group
Article Launched: 02/07/2008 01:50:00 AM PST



A move to strip Berkeley institutions of federal funds is going forward in Congress in retaliation for last week's city council vote telling the Marines their recruiting station is not welcome in the city.

Meanwhile, Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates issued an apology Wednesday to those who serve in the military for any personal offense taken by the council declaration.

Six Republican senators and an Orange County representative are introducing companion bills called the Semper Fi Act of 2008 that takes away $2 million, including funds from the University of California-Berkeley and a local foundation that provides lunches to the Berkeley Unified School District.

The Senate bill was introduced Wednesday by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C.; Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.; Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.; Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas; Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla.; and Sen. David Vitter, R-La.

Rep. John Campbell, R-Newport Beach., introduced a companion bill in the House.

The bills seek to take away $243,000 from the Chez Panisse Foundation, which provides school lunches for Berkeley public schools, and $975,000 from UC-Berkeley's Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service to create an endowment and catalog of papers of Rep. Robert Matsui, a press release from DeMint's Washington office said.

A spokesman for DeMint said Wednesday that the bills would also seek to remove other earmarks, including nearly $1 million for a new ferry
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service and funds for public safety.

"Berkeley needs to learn that their actions have consequences," DeMint said in the release. "Patriotic American taxpayers won't sit quietly while Berkeley insults our brave Marines and tries to run them out of town."

Mayor Bates, a retired U.S. Army captain, said "There's really no correlation between federal funds for schools, water ferries and police communications systems and the council's actions, for God's sake. We apologize for any offense to any families of anyone who may serve in Iraq. We want them to come home and be safe at home."

Two Berkeley city council members this week said they would ask the council on Tuesday to rescind the item declaring the Marines "uninvited and unwelcome intruders."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Semper Fi, Berkeley
by Sen. Jim DeMint (more by this author)
Posted 02/06/2008 ET
Updated 02/06/2008 ET


When you mention "Berkeley, California" to most conservatives, they picture a leftist community of graying hippies, radicals, and protesters. Activities in the last few weeks have only reinforced this image.

The City Council of Berkeley last week voted to ask the U.S. Marine Corps to vacate their recruiting office in town, and that if they chose to stay they did so as "uninvited and unwelcome intruders."

During debate of the resolution, one council member called the Marines "the President's own gangsters" and "trained killers." Another said the Marines had given the country "horrible karma" and said they had a history of "death and destruction." In a document drafted to support the resolution against the Marines, the council stated: "Military recruiters are sales people known to lie to and seduce minors and young adults into contracting themselves into military service with false promises regarding jobs, job training, education and other benefits."

After voting to insult the men and women who fight and bleed for their freedom, the City Council cast another ridiculous vote in favor of giving the radical protest group Code Pink a parking space directly in front of the Marine Corps recruiting station. They also voted to give Code Pink a sound permit for protests in front of the Marine Corps building. The City Council stated in the resolution that they "encourage all people to avoid cooperation with the Marine Corps recruiting station" and to "applaud" Code Pink for working to "impede, passively or actively" the work of the Marines Corps in Berkeley.

Code Pink is a fringe organization that distinguishes itself by attacking American policy, while defending dictator Hugo Chavez. The group is so disrespectful that they have no problems demonstrating in front of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Medical Center with signs reading "Maimed for a lie."

The council's resolution sparked an escalation of anti-Marine protests. Code Pink organizer Zanne Joy points to the City Council as justification for the escalation. She said that "anything legal is justified if it succeeds in persuading the Marine Corps to move its recruiting station out of Berkeley." According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Code Pink protesters have been heard shouting at young men who are trying to enter the recruiting station, "You guys are just cannon fodder!" and "They want to train you to kill babies!"

It is sad to see a city like Berkeley moving so far left. Thanks to its elected leadership
the city in which, as a young naval officer, the legendary World War II Pacific Theater Commander, Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz established the Naval ROTC in the fall of 1926 is now sadly a shell of its former self.

This is disappointing, but in a republican form of government, it must be up to local voters to change their leadership.

However, this particular case became the business of all Americans when they insulted our troops while coming to the federal government asking for special taxpayer-funded handouts. Over $2 million was secretly tucked away for Berkeley earmarks in the 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill, projects that were never voted on or debated.

I do not believe a city that has turned its back on our country's finest deserves $2 million worth of pork-barrel projects. So, I will introduce legislation to revoke the funding.

Included in the $2 million worth of pork are some particularly wasteful projects.

One earmark provides gourmet organic lunches to schools in the Berkeley School District. While our Marines are making due with MREs of Sloppy Joe and Chili with Beans, the organization Chez Panisse is getting federal tax dollars to design meals that promote "environmental harmony." Chez Panisse's menu features "Comté cheese soufflé with mâche salad," "Meyer lemon éclairs with huckleberry coulis" and "Chicory salad with creamy anchovy vinaigrette and olive toast."

Are we to understand that the city that has been home to many of the country's most rich and famous cannot afford to pay for its own designer school lunches?

Another $975,000 earmark is for the Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service at U.C. Berkeley, which may include cataloging the papers of Congressman Robert Matsui. Is it really necessary to tax the paychecks of Marines so we can earmark nearly $1 million for a school that is already sitting on a $3.5 billion endowment?

Let me be clear, my bill does does not cut off all federal funds to the city of Berkeley, though I am sure most Americans would feel that is justified. My bill merely rescinds wasteful earmarks. Berkeley is free to compete with other towns and cities across America for merit-based federal grants.

Actions have consequences. When the Berkeley City Council decided to insult the Marines in a time of war, it was a $2 million decision. Especially in a time of war, we cannot just allow cities to play insulting games at our troops' expense while continuing to shower them with congressional favors.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Editorial: Council goes berserk with assault on Marines
Craig Lazzeretti, Editor of The Berkeley Voice
Article Launched: 02/07/2008 04:29:30 PM PST

GIVE BERKELEY credit for one thing. It certainly knows how to keep itself in the national spotlight, even if it means perpetuating its "Berserkeley" stereotype. Any time the city starts to fade as a real or perceived center of liberal radicalism, you can count on an out-of-control City Council to make some outrageous pronouncement that instantly becomes the subject of scorn from coast to coast.

And so it was with the council's declaration last week that the Marine Corps recruiting station on Shattuck Avenue "is not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders." That must have been somewhat like the statement the Japanese made when the Marines had the nerve to step foot on their beach at Iwo Jima during World War II.

Not surprisingly, the response to those incendiary comments was immediate and overwhelming. Our initial story at ContraCostaTimes.com generated 160,000 page views and more than 2,000 comments in the first two days. The neocons across the country seized on the resolution the same way they seized on those bogus intelligence reports about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction back in 2002.

This week, a group of Republican senators introduced a bill to strip the city of federal funds, including money earmarked for the Berkeley school district and UC Berkeley, which have absolutely nothing to do with the positions of the City Council (just ask the university, which is being sued by the council over its athletic training center project). Talk about guilt by association.

His inbox overflowing with outrage, Berkeley Mayor and former Army Captain Tom Bates performed a neat tactical maneuver: simultaneously retreating and advancing on the council's senseless action. He issued a statement late last week saying the council would revisit the declaration on Tuesday because the original version "did not adequately differentiate our respect and support for those serving in the armed forces and our opposition to the Iraq war policy."

At the same time, he made clear he still wants the Marines out of town by offering to help negotiate an end to their lease with their landlord, whom he noted is a close friend.

Those mayoral connections sure come in handy at times like these. It was sort of like telling a neighbor you've been feuding with for months that you really like him after all, so much so that you'll even help find him a new place to live.

The trouble, of course, with the council's flawed logic is that the U.S. Marine Corps does not set U.S. policy in Iraq or anywhere else. It had nothing to do with the decision to invade Iraq in 2003, and it will not decide when we leave. Its operations also extend far beyond Iraq, many of which are more humanitarian than military in nature. Does the council oppose the Marines helping the downtrodden in Africa as well?

Whatever the council's intention, this declaration and the other items it passed targeting the recruiting station are directed squarely at a branch of the U.S. military, and therefore the men and women who wear its uniform. An item seeking to enforce the city's policy against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation against the Marines was equally ludicrous (they didn't create don't ask, don't tell; Bill Clinton did). Gordon Wozniak should be anointed the council's voice of reason for being the only one to oppose each and every item concerning the recruiting station last week.

"I understand that there are people across the country that may not agree with this action but it is the Berkeley City Council's responsibility to represent the will of the people of Berkeley," Bates said in his statement.

I don't believe for a moment the council's action represents the will of most of the city's residents. It represents the will of a radical, intolerant fringe group that dominates city politics and is out of step with sensible progressives here and across the country. If you don't believe me, just read some of the letters from Berkeley residents on this page.

The Web comments we received to Doug Oakley's stories were nearly universal in their condemnation of the council's action. A poll we posted at ContraCostaTimes.com on the issue had generated 285 responses as of Thursday morning; 274 respondents said they opposed the council's action. I guess the 11 people who said yes are the ones who represent "the will of the people of Berkeley."

Certainly, many of the comments and votes came from hawks who have backed the war from the beginning and still believe it is a good idea. But opponents of the war also were outraged by this blatant attack on the U.S. military. And for good reason.

I would argue that those in the anti-war camp have even more reason to be disgusted and indignant over the council's action. From the beginning, we have fought the ridiculous notion that our opposition to this war is a slap at the men and women of our armed forces who sacrifice so much. Many of us also have loved ones in uniform, or veterans of the armed forces, whose commitment to preserving our freedoms we cherish immensely.

When the council makes a statement calling the Marines "intruders" in its city, and encouraging people to impede their activities, it not only insults the men and women at that recruiting station but all who wear the uniform of our nation's armed services across the world - and, by extension, their families, friends and loved ones.

It was also telling that the office of Rep. Barbara Lee - perhaps the leading anti-war voice in Congress - expressed no support for the council's action while vowing to fight any effort to strip the city of federal funds. When even Lee thinks you've gone too far in making an anti-war statement, that's saying something.

Of course, Lee's silence is not surprising. The council just provided fresh fodder in an election year for the pro-war crowd that seeks to keep us in Iraq indefinitely, equating any attempt to leave with a lack of support for the troops.

It looks as though there will be an attempt by some on the council, perhaps a majority, to rescind the "uninvited and unwelcome intruders" item on Tuesday. But how about all the other insults the council heaped upon the Marine Corps through various votes? Is it going to tell the Marines they are now welcome to stay while still encouraging people to impede their mission with the help of a free parking space and noise permit?

If the council really cares about influencing public opinion and ending the war in Iraq, it will retract all its actions concerning the Marine recruiting station next week and replace them with a sincere apology to the Marines and other branches of our armed forces.

And let Code Pink search for a parking space like everyone else who has the nerve to increase our dependence on foreign oil by driving downtown.

Craig Lazzeretti is editor of The Berkeley Voice and The Journal of Albany, El Cerrito and Kensington. Reach him at 510-262-2724 or clazzeretti@bayareanewsgroup.com

Ellie