I’m relatively sure that majority of my Gentle Readers are familiar with the latest kittenish activities of that liberal socialist Utopia known to us lesser creatures as Berkeley, California.
For those who may have missed the fun, allow me to shed some light.
The City Council of Berkeley apparently has a genuine 15-body committee named — and I swear by Freyja that I’m not making this up — “The Peace and Justice Commission“.
In an effort to greatly expand the practice of punching hippies for fun and profit, the Berkeley Ministry of Justice — oh, I’m sorry, didn’t mean to cause Orwellian flashbacks there — the Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission decided to forward a recommendation to the main City Council of Berkeley, California regarding the Recruiting Station belonging to the United States Marine Corps located in that wee city.
No doubt the Gentle Reader is expecting a convoluted pronouncement following the current Liberal mantra of “Opposing The War, But Supporting The Troops”.
In this, the Gentle Reader underestimates the legendary, nay — Biblical — ability of the Berkeley City Council not only in packing the communal bong, but in drawing deeply thereof.
Allow me to quote:
RECOMMENDATION
(1) Direct the City Attorney to investigate and report back to Council within 60 days on City options for enforcing Chapter 13.28 of the Berkeley Municipal Code, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, with respect to military recruiting offices in Berkeley;
(2) direct the City Manager to send letters to the Marine Corps Recruiting Station at 64 Shattuck Avenue and to General James T. Conway, Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, advising them that the Marine recruiting office is not welcome in our city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders; and
(3) encourage all people to avoid cooperation with the Marine Corps recruiting station, and applaud residents and organizations such as Code Pink, that may volunteer to impede, passively or actively, by nonviolent means, the work of any military recruiting office located in the City of Berkeley.
Goodness.
I do note that Chapter 13.28 of the Berkeley City Municipal Code prohibits the City of Berkeley from contracting for services from any company that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation.
I had not realized that the City of Berkeley was contracting with the United States Marine Corps — matter-of-fact, I’m under the impression that the Marines are renting that office space from a private company.
Ah, well.
That must have been one really good bowl of Amsterdam Dark, because at the same time, the City Council decided to approve a dedicated, marked parking spot for Code Pink right dead-square in front of the Recruiting Station, as well as permission for a table on the sidewalk in front of the Recruiting Station — and a permit for a megaphone — every Wednesday for the next six months.
The (metaphorical) detonation by various Conservatives has been somewhat satisfying.
The best has to go to US Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, who is happily drafting legislation to rescind any earmark money directed towards Berkeley — about 2.1 million dollars worth.
Not that Berkeley’s co-conspirators on Capitol Hill will let this legislation slip by, but it does tend to warm the cockroaches of my heart.
As far as the Berkeley City Council reactions — well, once the Doritos ran out, Mayor Tom Bates offered to help the Marine Corp break their lease on the office. Apparently the landlord is a “very nice friend” of the Mayors. The Mayor also noted that the recommendation “did not adequately differentiate our respect and support for those serving in the armed forces and our opposition to the Iraq war policy.”
Well, it’s nice to know that’s cleared up.
I am ashamed to report that Mayor Bates is former United States Army.
Yesterday, following the Berkeley City Council mandate, three protestors chained themselves to the door of the Recruiting Station and scuffled with those attempting to enter, reportedly for about seven hours before the Berkeley PD cut them loose and hauled them off.
That, folks, provides the final element of the classic offence of Sedition — not that anyone on the Berkeley City Council is going to get arrested for it.
*sigh*
Nice to dream, though.
LawDog
I’m a longtime reader of yours, Mr. Dog (I first found your writing at TFL). I am also a graduate student at UC-Berkeley. And I’ve been to the recruiting station in question. It was about a year ago, and I remember being amazed that the place wasn’t surrounded with protesters back then. I would like to point out that it took the Code Pinkos a good six months or more to even notice the recruiting station, despite the busy downtown location and the big sign above the door.
Thank you for helping to call attention to this ridiculous situation. I hate this town.
“Yesterday, following the Berkeley City Council mandate, three protestors chained themselves to the door of the Recruiting Station and scuffled with those attempting to enter, reportedly for about seven hours before the Berkeley PD cut them loose and hauled them off.”
Gotta love the Marines, they even have hippies for you to punch as you walk in the door.
Didn’t you hear? That’s part of the new standards.
If you can’t beat your way through a wall of hippies, the Marines don’t want you.
Now you know why those of us who had the misfortune of growing up around the SF Bay Area always referred to that particular burg as “Berzerkeley”. I am SO glad I got out when I did! (By joining the Army, when not many girls did.) California has pretty much taken over by socialist pinkos.
I’m in favor of holing up federal money from the whole state of California…. Along with water and power… JimB
Gee, and here I thought the military did not discriminate on the basis of sexual preference (male, female or ungulate) so long as you kept quiet about said preference. Although I do understand ungulate recruitment numbers were down last year, for all branches.
LittleRed1
The whole lot need to be invited to a lease burning party in a city building, and then be introduced to Mr JDAM the hard way followed by a visit form an AC -130 for a firepower demo on the city building coordinates. Notice I intentionally chose 2 of the most precise pieces of military we have to reduce collateral damage.
http://www.manbottle.com/humor/hey_osama/pacifists
What to do if you happen upon a peace rally by stupid, naive, hemp-shirt-wearing college idiots, to teach them why force is sometimes needed:
1) Approach dumb rich ignorant student talking about “peace” and saying there should be, “no retaliation.”
2) Engage in brief conversation, ask if military force is appropriate.
3) When he says “No,” ask, “Why not?”
4) Wait until he says something to the effect of, “Because that would just cause more innocent deaths, which would be awful and we should not cause more violence.”
5) When he’s in mid sentence, punch him in the face as hard as you can.
6) When he gets back up to punch you, point out that it would be a mistake and contrary to his values to strike you, because that would, “be awful and he should not cause more violence.”
7) Wait until he agrees that he has pledged not to commit additional violence.
8) Punch him in the face again, harder this time.
Repeat steps 5 through 8 until they understand that sometimes it is necessary to punch back.
I think the National Guard should refuse to go near Berkeley if some disaster (fire, flood, earthquake, terrorist attack) hits them. Just stay away and let the hippies take care of them.
All federal aid should be cut off to that wart on the buttcheek that is California.
Funny,
I didn;t realize it was the United States Marine Corps who passed the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” rule — I thought that was the United States Congress on the request of President Clinton.
Under Chapter 13.28 of the Berkeley Municipal Code, the City of Berkeley is not permitted to accept any funds or services from teh United States government, since it is the US government AS A WHOLE that practices the discrimination the city so abhors. . .
Jim DeMint should simply slip a rider into a bill referencing “to assist in the enforcement of Chapter 13.28 of the Berkeley Municipal Code”, and let it slide on by. . .
Go Sen. DeMint!
Seriously, this is one of the good guys up in Washington. I have never gotten a form letter from his office when I have sent in a letter voicing my opinion. Heck, the only time we have ever had a difference of opinion on policy, he (or one of his staffers) sent me a packet showing the statistics on what the rest of the state was saying about it to him, and showed me that I was in the minority, and he was right for sticking to his beliefs and the beliefs of most of his constiuents.
Remember the name, if you ever see or hear of him running for office or up for confirmation for any cabinet position, support him in anyway possible.
If one can’t beat their way through a wall of hippies, one should ask the nice doctors to cut one’s life support, ’cause you’re clearly on the way out anyway. 😉
Well, rick r., when Berkeley goes up in flames from a terrorist bomb or at-home unrest, I guess you can do without the National Guard and assorted other government-supported rescue operations while you argue the finer points of who did what.
I’m 54, If I can beat my way through the WOAH (wall of asshole hippies) will they let me enlist? Or do I just get a Semper Fi bumper sticker?
And seven hours to get them away from the door? Didn’t they have a sawzall?
I’m SO glad I don’t live in CA.
This what I don’t understand about Berkeley and San Fran.. All the military does really is do what cops do, stop people form messing with ones person or stuff, on a larger scale. Why don’t they show us the error of our ways and disband their P.D. By now it should be so enlighted there that they are not needed.
So, can we reprogram the missile defense system so it won’t engage inbounds which are targeted on Berkeley? And as I said somewhere else, please remember that ourside of the coastal cities, Califonia tends to be more “western” than “west coast” politically speaking. Check out the county-by-county election maps of the state sometime.
“the whole state of California”
Please have some mercy for those of us who are relatively sane but still have to work in the state. As was pointed out. Most of the insanity is isolated to to coastal regions (see 2000 map here http://www.nationalatlas.gov/printable/elections.html#list
and note that “Blue” is conservative in this map.
Also Tom McMahon lists CA among the most republican states.
http://www.tommcmahon.net/2007/07/which-state-is-.html
CA “would need to vote straight Democratic until the year 2012 to flip over to become an All-Time Blue State.
Bob
When I was in college, it was suggested in Geology 314 that eventually the San Andreas Fault would fracture and slide the west side of it off into the Pacific. One can only hope it will hurry up.
LawMom
LawMom, All us Conservatives and gun owners and all could get together and help it break off. I’ve heard two suggestions I like.
1- We all line up along the fault line and jump up and down good and hard.
2- We line up all doziers D-8 and bigger, drop the blades and start pushing.
Either of those after we evacuate any real Americans living behind enemy lines.
Anonymous said…
Well, rick r., when Berkeley goes up in flames from a terrorist bomb or at-home unrest, I guess you can do without the National Guard and assorted other government-supported rescue operations while you argue the finer points of who did what.
And the problem with that would be. . . ?
They don;t want the protection of teh United States government — let ’em have anarchy.
It’s the same further north, too . .. . most of the geographical area
goes conservative, and the cities ignore them and do as they please.
In most cities Satan himself could win, as long as he ran as a democrat
(which probably isn’t that far from the truth, IMHO).
Look at the last goobernatorial election is Washington state: the
democrats demanded recount after recount when they lost, until they got
the results they wanted, then shut down the recounts despite proof of
massive numbers of illegal votes . . . not to mention “losing” ballots
from conservative precincts.
–Webfoot Logger
Amen to that on election sleight-of-hand here in Washington.
My precinct was one of those missing a couple hundred votes between second and third recount, while several hundred absentee ballots from Capitol Hill (mini-Berkeley) would supposedly “found” on somebody’s desk.
The county election manager that was put on the stand and was shown to be a complete incompetent wasn’t even dismissed by the rather complicit Sims county administration.
Excuse me Rick R., but anarchy doesn’t want ’em either.
(Of course, I’m referring to the classical definition of anarchy.)
–TR
ACK, the city council is SUPPORTING Code Pink-0???
Excuse me while I gag for a minute.
Those idiots and “please drop dead” Fr*d Ph*lps get my dander up in about the same degree.
IDEA!!! Let’s lock both batches up in a cage match ala TV wrestling.
Cant we get a law worded like….
“Anyone phisicaly impeeding the recruitment efforts of an Armed forces recruter shall be arrested and tried in a military tribunal for treason (providing aid[reducing manpower of one of our armed forces] to our foes)”.
Standard plea bargin should be deportation to ven. or russia.
Once the first few swing or take blindfolds word should get around…
I have no problem at all with you being dead, wounded, or otherwise mangled, by people run amok, rick r. Apparently you don’t, either, and since-gods be praised!- I don’t live in California, I can happily call in the National Guard, and assorted military any time I feel the need. You do without.
I have tried counting to 100. I have tried deep breathing. I tried to go to, but could not find, my happy place. Now I am simply BLEEDING FROM MY EARS!!!!! S**T. Good thing I am here in TX cuz I’d be under the Berkley jail by now. One giant can of WHOOP ASS needs to be opened. Bah….
I am among the Kalifornicated who’s jaws frequently drop in awe of the incredible idiocy of many of our political “leaders” in this state.
Recently we discovered that Gubernator Schwarz-an-egger signed a bill that requires schools to allow “gender confused” children to use restrooms and locker rooms designated for the physically opposite sex. That means that any high school boy caught in the girls bathroom just has to claim he is unsure of his gender and he is permitted then to use the restroom from then on.
Berkeley needs to rely on Code Pink for all disaster relief and emergency services for a while until the remaining population (if any) is ready to rejoin the human race.
My district representative in Washington is Wally Herger. I wrote to him and asked for his take on Berkeley’s actions and asking him to do whatever he could to support Congressman DeMint’s bill.
It is easy to say that we get the representation we deserve. Many of us vote in every election only to see the huge cities in this state dominate the election results.
Please, on behalf of those of us who remain rational and are stuck in this foul mess, write your Representatives and Congress Critters asking them to help end this farce.
A bill’s been introduced in the Senate (Semper Fi Act of 2008) to deny federal funds to Berkeley over this.
http://www.kten.com/Global/story.asp?S=7832341
Write your senators and congressman and encourage them to support it.
What would it cost to rent a billboard right before the University Avenue exit from I880?
This sign needs to go up there:
(splitting because blogger doesn’t allow long url lines)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Image:Checkpoint_Charlie.jpg
I heard about this on talk radio earlier this week, and I just got the bleeding from my ears to stop. NOw I am so gald I wrapped my head in duct tape. It didn’t stop the explosion, but at least I can find all the pieces.
I tell my wife that I wouldn’t want to live in a world without liberals because we need the offsetting balance to conservatives, but I think both sides could do with some trimming out at the far fringier edges of the groups.
The US military these days does nothing but support a bunch of dumbass Gomers who can’t cut it in the real world. I wouldn’t extend a loan to any of these dropouts, so why am I being forced to pay every year for their little kill-Iraqi conquest? Fuck our troops, I want a refund.
LawMom, All us Conservatives and gun owners and all could get together and help it break off. I’ve heard two suggestions I like.
1- We all line up along the fault line and jump up and down good and hard.
2- We line up all doziers D-8 and bigger, drop the blades and start pushing.
Triggering earthquakes: ur doing it wrong.
What you need to do is, drill down all along the San Andreas fault line, and pump in massive amounts of water, enough to increase the water pressure and lubricate the fault line. Seriously, check the link for background.
http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~enadin/Writing/ES_WaterQuakes.pdf
“The US military these days does nothing but support a bunch of dumbass Gomers who can’t cut it in the real world. I wouldn’t extend a loan to any of these dropouts, so why am I being forced to pay every year for their little kill-Iraqi conquest? Fuck our troops, I want a refund.”
Yeah, it’s easy to see why this post was anonymous.
Aside from my desire to engage in a flame-fest, this individual is obviously completely clueless as to why most of us still speak English in this country. I suggest that we take up a collection to give him his refund with the stipulation that it be in the form of one-way airfare to the country of his choice.
“I suggest that we take up a collection to give him his refund with the stipulation that it be in the form of one-way airfare to the country of his choice.”
Yeah… maybe he’d like Iran or North Korea better.
Berzerkley isn’t all that unique. I just got off recruiting duty here in Oregon. They have “Anti Recruiting Teams” that get equal or more time in the High Schools and at school board meetings, and man, do they spout some tripe.N o we’re not allowed to go to the school when they’re there. Open dialogue migh be counterproductive don’t you know…nothing like having some fat, zit-faced Xboxer tell you you’re immoral.
I’ve a really radical idea for the Berkleyserkers: if you’re a pacifist, DON’T ENLIST.
Being from a long line of Scots-and we all know about THEM-who have fiercely defended their right of choice for centuries, someone telling me what to do, or preventing me from doing it just really fries my ass.
I don’t like the war in Iraq; I think it’s unwinnable. However, the military has answered their Commander in Chief’s call to arms, and put their lives on the line. For that alone, we owe them respect.
Don’t tell the Marines it’s unwinnable. They seem to be doing just fine over there. As are the Army, Air Force and Navy.
Long yes, the only way it would be unwinnable is if you pull us out before we are done. And by the by that and political constraints are the only reason we have ever “lost” a war.
Let us take the gloves off and hurt these bastards if you want it done quicker.
Thanks for your support 😉
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCXqYvJ0DaA
There is a YouTube link that allows you to see first hand these..ahem…individuals.
I signed the petition, not that I think it will work either LD but, by gum, I’m going to at least TRY to get something done!
In case anyone is still interested in the Berkeley hijinks:
Last night (Feb 12), the Berkeley City Council voted to rescind point 2 of the resolution. So the city will not be sending a letter to the USMC calling them “uninvited and unwelcome intruders.” Note that the city council only rescinded the part about sending the letter. I guess that means the city is still going to try to kick the Marines out, and Code Pink gets to keep its free parking space and noise permit.
By the way, the recruiting station in question is an officer selection office. I don’t know if that matters in this debate, but it is a fact that I have not seen mentioned in any of the news reports. (In case you’re wondering, the nearest enlisted recruiting station is in a shopping mall about ten miles away.)
Berkeley is run by Totalitarians,not Hippies.I knew some of the original hippies,and had the unpleasant experience of being teargassed in church during the “peoples park” riots.The church was across the street from PP…I have met Medea Benjamin and some other “code pink” types.Like the “Communists” I met they all seem to be able to afford very comfortable lifestyles,enjoy being “Morally Superior” and are not amenable to reason.They also DO NOT LIKE FREEDOM.If you really question them about the second amendment you will find that they are afraid of “Those People Having Guns!”.They also don’t like the rest of the Bill Of Rights…I registered Republican in 1971 and joined the NRA in 1970.I respect their Rights to dissent,and DEMAND that they respect mine…and others.These are rich Grandstanding hypocrites,but i would consider pissing on them if they were afire,because I am a compassionate Conservative.