Part #2, Chaos continues in Berkeley, found here.
Hat Tip to Stephen Kruiser because while I was moving he left me an email and I have to agree with him completely that if Berkeley makes the Marines in their city unwelcome,they should not nly have all federal funding stripped, but they should also not be allowed to receive ANY military help for any reason and yes, that includes the Coast Guard for their oil spills since the Coast Guard IS a military group.
The Berkeley City Council voted late Tuesday to give Code Pink a designated parking space directly in front of the recruiting station, as well as a sound permit for once-a-week protests. It also approved a separate resolution calling the military recruiters "uninvited and unwelcome intruders" and declaring that the office - which opened quietly in December 2006 - is not welcome in the city.
Even the City Council is not of one voice on the matter.
The vote to award the Code Pink parking spot was 8-1, and the condemnation resolution was 6-3. On Thursday, the polarized emotions that went into those votes had not abated.
"I'm ashamed of my vote," said Councilwoman Betty Olds, who helped approve the parking spot but not the condemnation. "The protesters should have free speech - this is where Free Speech was born, after all - but to tell the Marines they are not welcome is shameful. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't even go for the parking spot."
Simple solution in my eyes, let the Marines leave, give Berkeley no federal funding and make it a mandate that if Berkeley suffers any disaster, natural or otherwise, via an earthquake, another oil spill, which they begged the Coast Guard to help with last time, THEN criticized them, or if a terrorist attacks Berkeley-- NO help, nada, zip, zilch.
Let them fend for themselves...period.
Berkeley has the right to free speech, rights given to them BY our military that fought, bled and died to assure it to them.
The American Legion weighs in and tells Berkeley, "The Marines Are Not The Enemy":
"Osama bin Laden couldn't have said it better," American Legion National Commander Marty Conatser said of the Berkeley City Council Resolution, which tells the Marines that they are not welcome there. "Disgraceful, disloyal, ungrateful. These words are too kind in describing the actions of the public officials in Berkeley, who voted for this disgrace. Nonetheless, our Marines continue to bravely serve and in so doing, allow Americans to spout such foolishness. 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."
Conatser, the leader of the nation's largest veterans organization, was referring to a measure passed by the Council 6-3 Tuesday, that tells the U.S. Marine Corps that one of its recruiting stations is "not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do as uninvited and unwelcome intruders."
The City Council marched in complete lock-step with radical anti-war group Code Pink in attempting to drive out Marine recruiters from its San Francisco suburb. The City Council also voted 8-1 to give Code Pink a free parking space in front of a recruiting station, along with a free sound permit for protesting once a week. Marine recruiters at Berkeley have faced harassment from protestors who regularly block nearby sidewalks, generate excessive noise and disrupt business.
"I have been a recruiter in the National Guard and I know that it's tough duty, with long hours," Conatser said. "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."
Read the rest and good for them.
Michelle Malkin points out Senator DeMint's statement as the backlash starts to hit Berkeley:
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) released the following statement in response to the decision by the City Council of Berkeley, California to evict the U.S. Marine Corps Recruiting Station from the city.
“This is a slap in the face to all brave service men and women and their families. 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. 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.”
Remember these are the people that defaced the recruiting center in Berkeley and that Gathering of Eagles turned the tables n the code pinkos and Move America Forward have both gone toe to toe with these ingrates.
The bottom line is that the people of Berkeley and even code pinkos have the right to free speech and to say anything they want....so do I.
They are lower than scum and nothing but hate filled people that claim they want peace and I say.... GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT, in full.
No funds. No help. Nothing.
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