Berkeley City Council Doing Its Anti-Democracy Bit

[deadbeater]

So Berkeley is against the troops because they reserved the parking in front of a recruiter shop to an anti-war group; isn't that what you are trying to say?
A city doesn't have to give comfort to a recruitment shop, if the majority in the city disagree with military policies.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Not giving comfort does not allow harassment.

[Grendel T. Troll]

Originally Posted by deadbeater

So Berkeley is against the troops because they reserved the parking in front of a recruiter shop to an anti-war group; isn't that what you are trying to say?
A city doesn't have to give comfort to a recruitment shop, if the majority in the city disagree with military policies.

Cool. I love it when cities think they're better than Federal agencies. If that's true, we need to cut all Federal funding from the area so they will, no longer, be contaminated by organizations that offend them.

Ahh, I love it when a bankrupt state screws with the ones that can help bail them out.....

[aimeecc]

Originally Posted by deadbeater

So Berkeley is against the troops because they reserved the parking in front of a recruiter shop to an anti-war group; isn't that what you are trying to say?
A city doesn't have to give comfort to a recruitment shop, if the majority in the city disagree with military policies.

First, its not the point of giving the parking spot to anti-war protesters and not giving comfort to recruiters. Its beyond that. They actually voted 6-3 to declare that the recruiting station "is not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders." Wow. Calling recruiters intruders? Un-welcoming a federal office space? That's what a recruiting station is.

Furthermore, on top of giving a parking space to an anti-war movement, they also gave them loudspeaker priveleges - something not given to the recruiters. I'm no lawyer, but I believe this to be unconstitutional. The government cannot give one group favor over another. If they give code pink a parking spot and loudspeaker privileges, they need to give the same privileges to the recruiters, then to the pro-gay-in-the-military movement, then to the pro-recruiter movement, then to the 'I don't know what I'm protesting but I'm here' movement.

Also, as the article points out, the 'don't ask, don't tell' is a federal policy, nothing the Marines control. And furthermore, active duty personnel are not authorized to state political opinions while in uniform, nor are they allowed to insult the president, nor can the campaign (in or out of uniform) for a candidate. Active duty have two choices: support Bush, or keep their mouth shut if they disagree.

The article is dead-on - the proponent of free speech is muzzling the Marines.

I actually knew a USMC Major that went to Berkeley. Great officer. Never would have guessed he went there by looking at him with a high-and-tight haircut, but exceptionally bright and very thorough.

Funnier is the fact DoD funds a lot of research at Berkeley, to include research on eyes and breast cancer.

New York Post
February 4, 2008

Muzzling The Marines

By Dale McFeatters

The city council of Berkeley, Calif., where the Free Speech Movement was born, has decided that some people deserve more free speech than others and the U.S. Marines don't deserve any at all.

For about a year, the Marines have had a recruiting station in Berkeley and the council wants it gone, voting 6-3 to declare that it "is not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders."

To underline the point, the council voted to support the weekly protests of Code Pink, the group of mostly women whose cringe-inducing war protests have done so much to trivialize the anti-war movement.

To help Code Pink members be even more annoying, the council reserved a parking place for them in front of the recruiting station one day a week and granted a sound permit that lets them use loudspeakers one day a week for four hours.

News accounts say that at one recent demonstration, a sparse group of protesters -- generally, it is said, there are about a dozen, not a great showing for a place like Berkeley -- shouted at the station, "Drive out the Bush regime!" Probably not a lot of thought went into that slogan since they seem to be calling for the Marines to mount a military coup, probably not what they had in mind.

The city council seems to have two objections to the Marines: They are icky militarists, which the Marines would probably not dispute; and the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy toward gays, which is unfair.

Indeed, the council is exploring ways of enforcing the city's law prohibiting sex discrimination against the Marines. The left and particularly the academic left seems unable to grasp a critical point about "don't ask, don't tell": It is not some policy the military dreamed up, but a matter of federal law, enacted by Congress in 1993 and signed by Berkeley fave Bill Clinton. Take it up with Congress, not some recruiting sergeant.

One final point: The young people of Berkeley, although perhaps less disposed to than people elsewhere, have every right to join the military -- many of them may find it a satisfying experience, even a career -- and the Berkeley city council has no business impeding them.