From AOL: http://news.aol.com/...
As I am sure everyone has heard, the City of Berkeley California has allowed the organization Code Pink, to commandeer a parking spot once per week in front of a Marines Recruiting center in efforts to protest the Iraq war and keep locals from risking their life in the Marine Corps. The city counsel also sought legal advice on how to oust the recruiting center calling them "uninvited, unwelcome intruders".
This of course has sparked outrage among conservatives and conservative bloggers saying this action prohibits the Marines right of free speech. Of course the Berkeley protesters accuse Marine recruiters of lying to prospects and saying anything to get them to sign on the line which is dotted. Code Pink states they are merely exercising their 1st amendment rights and trying to save the lives of local men and women. Michelle Malkin, Stop The ACLU and every other insignificant blogger with a "support the troops" or bald eagle banner on their site have all started petitions to get the City to allow the Marine's their 1st amendment right to conduct business where they please.
What I am wondering, now that everyone is convinced that the Marine's 1st amendment rights have been violated and a community has no say in which types of organizations can conduct business in that community, is when they will realize what one liberal city is trying to do to a conservative cause, conservatives have been doing to everyone else for years. Is Michelle Malkin now going to sign a petition to get all the protesters spitting on women trying to get a pap smear at Planned Parenthoods to stop protesting and give up their 1st amendment rights? (not that spitting is a first amendment right) Is Michelle Malkin also going to contact the local governments of every dry county in the United States to force them to allow the sell of alcoholic beverages in their communities and allow liquor stores and other establishments to sell liquor or do communities have a right to establish their own standards? Are they also going to fight for the rights of strip clubs to open near elementary schools in any affluent suburban community they wish and operate on Sunday mornings until 8am because hey, anyone can run any type of business anywhere they please, right? Are they also going to petition to allow sex shops, adult bookstores, and porn retailers to do business in places like Mississippi and South Carolina and exercise their 1st amendment rights? Are they also going to petition the protesters of these establishments to not exercise their 1st amendment rights in protesting and create hate filled blogs calling them traitors?
The God-bobs outside of Planned Parenthood (when they aren't bombing them) say they are there to save lives which is exactly what Code Pink and the city of Berkeley would say when they protest a Marines recruiting station. It's not like the city or the protesters wouldn't allow a Marine to set foot in their town, they are just protesting the recruitment and recruitment methods which sends so many bay area residents to their death in a useless, endless war and it's also a way for them to tell the military what they think about it's involvement in Iraq. Sure, their time would be better spent protesting the people who lied and made the decision to send those Marine's to Iraq but after all, why have the Marine's at all if there's no freedom of speech and expression for which to fight?
In otherwords, if you think that a business like a Marines recruitment center has the right to do business where ever they please, no matter the consequences, then you have to also be behind every strip club, porn shop and liquor store who decides to do business in conservative, religious communities. If you say that local communities are free to set their own standards of the type of businesses which will operate in their town then shut the fuck up about Berkeley.
Your morals tell you that granny can't make up her own mind about whether or not to buy a dildo or have a have a glass of wine and their morals tell them that we shouldn't be sending 18 year old kids to their deaths in Iraq. There's no difference!