Here's a break from election stuff.
Last week I reported on the City of Berkeley against the Marines; where the City of Berkeley, CA has tried to get rid of the Marine recruitment center, calling them invaders and unwanted.
That got them a fair amount of attention. Negative attention. Read on to find out more!
The city counsel of Berkeley, basically, is trying to get rid of the Marines. They claim it's a form of protest against two things, 1) the War and 2) the don't ask don't tell policy.
Code Pink has been demonstrating in front of the Marine recruitment station, and the City Counsel gave them a perk only police, firefighters, etc. have: a reserved parking space in downtown Berkeley to protest. They have also physically blocked entrance to the recruitment center, physically trying to prevent people from entering the center. The cops had to remove them, after they had chained the door closed.
The mayor of Berkeley railed on the marines at a city council meeting recently, calling them "Bush's Gangsters," and "trained killers." Other council members said the Marines brought "horrible Karma" to the U.S., and that the Marines are known for "Death and Destruction .... and maiming." This appears to show that it's not just the gay thing that annoys the city council of Berkeley.
Reaction has been swift. The right wing has crashed down on Berkeley like a ton of bricks, and there are measures in Congress to take a bunch of federal funding from Berkeleyand redirect it to the Marines.
Now, after a week of outrages, Berkeley may be throwing in the towel. Two of the City Counsel members are trying to get the resolution declaring the Marines unwanted and invaders rescinded. One of them points out that Berkeley has come across as anti-Marine (Gee, you think?), and that perhaps that is not a good idea.
The same article points out the outrage is coming from their own constituents, not just the rightwingers across the country.
Code Pink, of course, hopes that Berkeley doesn't cave. They would much rather chain themselves to the door to prevent Marines from being recruited, while doing stuff like this. In addition, they have called Marines "Terrorists."
With friends like Code Pink, no wonder Berkeley is trying to fight off accusations they are anti-troop, not just anti-war.
As a side note, how do they explain the fact they are denying rights to the Marines by physically blocking the entrance to the center? Is this "progressiveness?" I hope not.