Saturday, February 02, 2008
Berkeley Mayor, City Council And Code Pink Manifest Anti-Military Rhetoric And Hatred
Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates
From The Associated Press via the Contra Costa Times, "Berkeley council says Marine recruiting center is not welcome":
... the Marines in Berkeley have got to go.
That's the message from the Berkeley City Council, which voted 6-3 Tuesday night to tell the U.S. Marines that its Shattuck Avenue recruiting station "is not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders."
[...]
In a separate item, the council voted 8-1 to give Code Pink a designated parking space in front of the recruiting station once a week for six months and a free sound permit for protesting once a week from noon to 4 p.m.
Councilman Gordon Wozniak opposed both items.
The Marines have been in Berkeley for a little more than a year, having moved from Alameda in December of 2006. For about the past four months, Code Pink has been protesting in front of the station.
"I believe in the Code Pink cause. The Marines don't belong here, they shouldn't have come here, and they should leave," said Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates after votes were cast.
[...]
The recommendation to give Code Pink a parking space for protesting and a free sound permit was brought by council members Linda Maio and Max Anderson.
Code Pink on Wednesday started circulating petitions to put a measure on the November ballot in Berkeley that would make it more difficult to open military recruiting offices near homes, parks, schools, churches libraries or health clinics.
[...]
Some employees and owners of businesses near the Marines office have had enough of the group and its protests.
"My husband's business is right upstairs, and this (protesting) is bordering on harassment," Dori Schmidt told the council. "I hope this stops."
An employee of a nearby business who asked not to be identified said Wednesday the elderly Code Pink protesters are aggressive, take up parking spaces, block the sidewalk with their yoga moves, smoke in the doorways, and are noisy.
"Most of the people around here think they're a joke," the woman said.
Wozniak said he was opposed to giving Code Pink a parking space because it favors free speech rights of one group over another.
"There's a line between protesting and harassing, and that concerns me," Wozniak said. "It looks like we are showing favoritism. We have to respect the other side, and not abuse their rights. This is not good policy."
Ninety-year-old Fran Rachel, a Code Pink protester who spoke at the council meeting, said the group's request for a parking space and noise permit was especially important because the Marines are recruiting soldiers who may die in an unjust war.
"This is very serious," Rachel said. "This isn't a game; it's mass murder. There's a sickness of silence of people not speaking out against the war. We have to do this."
Anderson, a former Marine who said he was "drummed out" of the corps when he took a stand against the Vietnam War, said he'd love to see the Marines high tale it out of town.
"We are confronted with an organization that can spend billions of dollars on propaganda," Anderson said. "This is not Okinawa here; we're involved in a naked act of aggression. If we can provide a space for ordinary people to express themselves against this kind of barbarity, then we should be doing it."
City Council Members Linda Maio and Max Anderson
What the hell is a ninety-year old wrinkled prune - and likely incontinent gasbag - like Code Stinker Fran Rachel doing spending her time calling the Military "mass murder(ers)"? Is this what a 90-year old woman looks forward to each day?
Code Stink, unfortunately, has a right to Free Speech. Their message, in my opinion, is nothing short of hate speech. The most offensive and egregious offense from Code Stink is that they don't even acknowledge that the only reason they can say what they say is because men and women have put their lives on the line so they have the freedom to do so.
I'd brand all Code Stink members as pigs, but that is an injustice to pigs because pigs serve a purpose.
Maybe terrorists will select Berkeley as the target of an attack. Let Bates, Maio, Anderson and Code Stink defend themselves.
Code Stink is infected and diseased with full-blown, inoperable, rabid hatred.
Council Member Wozniak - a sane voice in the midst of insanity
Mr. Wozniak is a brave individual challenging the status-quo of cowards like Mayor Bates and Council Members Maio and Anderson. It sounds to me as if Anderson has an axe to grind with the Military because he was booted out of the Marines. You don't suppose this chip he's been carrying on his shoulder has anything to do with how he voted, do you?.
Tell us again, Liberals and Progressives, how you support the Military but don't support their mission in the "illegal occupation of Iraq."
Above image found at Move America Forward. Go there and sign the anti-Code Stink petition.
©2008
Labels: Berkeley Haters
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