If you're going to San Francisco
The Battle of Britain became legend. What about the Battle of Berkeley? There's one brewing now around the issue of Leftist groups protesting a Marine recruiting station in that city.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports:
Hundreds of protesters from across the country and the political spectrum are expected to descend on City Hall with bullhorns, drums, banners and plenty of vitriol in anticipation of the City Council's debate over the Marines' recruiting station in town.
The ruckus started last week when the council voted to send a letter to the Marines, calling them "unwanted intruders" for opening the recruiting center on Shattuck Avenue last year. At the same time, the council granted Code Pink a parking space and a sound permit to make it easier for the peace group to conduct protests outside the center.
On Monday, Councilwomen Betty Olds and Laurie Capitelli introduced an item for this week's meeting, asking the city to retract its statements about the Marines and clarify that the city is against the war, not against the armed forces.
"We're starting to get people coming in from all over the U.S.," said Catherine Moy, executive director of Move America Forward, one of several pro-military groups planning an all-day protest Tuesday at Maudelle Shirek City Hall. "People are pretty upset. We want to avoid clashes, but it could be really, really big. We don't really know what's going to happen."
Peace groups, disgusted that the council would cave in to pressure from the pro-military groups, plan to host their own rally, an "emergency 24-hour peace-in vigil," complete with singing, drums and dialogue.
If anybody in the regular Belmont Club crowd is going, send in emails describing what transpires.
posted by wretchardthecat at 2/10/2008 03:38:00 PM
17 Comments:
May we assume that the Berkeley police department will once again absent itself from this looming confrontation, given that has been its reaction so far to the law-breaking activities of the Code Pink people?
I hope that it will be a really , really big confrontation. In the end, City Hall will be swept up and placed in the dust bin.
A dream come true for the ghost of Roger Ailes. A better set of commercials could not be imagined.
"Hillary (or Obama) wouldn't vote for the Marines over the hard-left Code Pink. When it came time to side with America or the hate-America crowd, Hillary (or Obama) sided with those who hate America. Senator McCain proudly voted AGAINST Berkeley and FOR the Marine Corps. Senator McCain will stand up for America against the lunatic left and terrorists abroad. Paid for by Elect John McCain." McCain's voice/image: "I'm John McCain and I approved this message."
Lovely. Howard Dean must be thrilled. The downside of a distributed party and movement. Someone can drag you into a fight you didn't want. Dems can't vote against the Republican measure to strip earmarks. Fun times for all.
Let's hope that zombietime shows up and does one of his superb reports. For those of you who do not know his work, go to zombietime.com and check out some of his reports from the San Francisco Bay Area front in the culture wars.
The zombie who posts SF hijinks reports on LGF is, I think, a lady zombie.
Could be two different zombies in SF I suppose, a boy zombie and a girl zombie.
I wish that I was either young with a lot of time on my hands or retired with a lot of time on my hands. I would be so there.
I too, wish I could be there.
The pro-troops crowd needs to out-number the anti-everything crowd.
The Berkeley Police will aid the anti-everything crowd. They will be quick to arrest a pro-troops person and very slow to arrest an anti-everything person.
Jules Crittenden notices that support and admiration for Osama Bin Laden are plummetting. I'll venture that had he not been defied, Osama's popularity would still be sky-high.
It's a sad fact that many people are secretly cowed. They'll cheer the bully. That's just human nature. But they'll cheer the bully only while he's winning. The moment one of his victims turns the tables the bully soon sees how little support he truly has.
That's how it is in Berekely. Think of it. If the Left can't win in Berkeley then where on God's green earth can they?
Speaking of Zombies ht Sam
San Francisco is such a pretty city too.
Why is it that these losers/freaks/rejects left over from the 60's always congregate around some of the best places.
Actually most of the "...loser/freaks/rejects..." live in Berkeley because they can't afford to live in San Francisco.
Fat Man said:
"Let's hope that zombietime shows up and does one of his superb reports. For those of you who do not know his work, go to zombietime.com..."
While surfing zombietime, look out for the photo of the two naked degenerates inflating their scrotums. Before I saw that in zombietime, I didn't think it humanly possible.
Shivermetimbers said:
"San Francisco is such a pretty city too. Why is it that these losers/freaks/rejects left over from the 60's always congregate around some of the best places."
San Francisco has always attracted a "different" crowd. For years it has been city policy to go easy on "victimless crime" and the "homeless". Mercy and charity are noble traits but San Franciscan city politics brought those qualities to ridiculous extremes. Years ago, the S.F. police chief announced that he would no longer seek the arrest of prostitues because their activity constituted a "victimless crime". A few weeks later the city was innundated with whores and the resident tarts began complaining that the price for their services had dropped to almost nothing due to supply exceeding demand. A couple years ago the geniuses running the city council announced that they would pay every bum (homeless person) in town a few hundred dollars a month to maintain a minimum standard of living. Naturally, a few weeks later the city was innundated with bums. The new dole provided by the city was immediately turned into heroin and went straight in the bum's arms. San Franciscan politics can be so predictable.
"It's a sad fact that many people are secretly cowed. They'll cheer the bully. That's just human nature. But they'll cheer the bully only while he's winning. The moment one of his victims turns the tables the bully soon sees how little support he truly has."
Osama bin Laden
"... when people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature, they will like the strong horse."
Moral: make sure you are the strong horse.
I'm so close, but so unable to go.
It's maddening, I tell you.
No doubt the mayors of Denver and St. Paul (the cities hosting the Dem and GOP conventions, respectively) are at least privately rooting for the pro-Marines folks to keep the Leftists occupied in Berkeley well into September, after the conventions have come and gone.
Every Leftist protestor who comes to "defend" Berkeley is one fewer Leftist protestor who can make trouble elsewhere. How's that for "flypaper" strategy?
This is a Rovian trap for the Lefties.
Moving the Marine Corp Recruiting station from Oakland to Berkeley.
Brilliant.
This puts the focus on the anti-war crowd and their tactics plus,
Most Dems in the House will be forced to support the Marines
And the Commandant of the Marine Corps can score big PR points by asking Congress to allow the school lunch program for Berkeley to be funded - cause the Marines are not bullies who steal lunch money.
I don't know what the current legal standard is, but this is an excerpt from the Laws of War: General Orders No. 100 drawn up and promulgated on orders of President Lincoln in 1863:
Art. 156.
Common justice and plain expediency require that the military commander protect the manifestly loyal citizens, in revolted territories, against the hardships of the war as much as the common misfortune of all war admits.
The commander will throw the burden of the war, as much as lies within his power, on the disloyal citizens, of the revolted portion or province, subjecting them to a stricter police than the noncombatant enemies have to suffer in regular war; and if he deems it appropriate, or if his government demands of him that every citizen shall, by an oath of allegiance, or by some other manifest act, declare his fidelity to the legitimate government, he may expel, transfer, imprison, or fine the revolted citizens who refuse to pledge themselves anew as citizens obedient to the law and loyal to the government.
Whether it is expedient to do so, and whether reliance can be placed upon such oaths, the commander or his government have the right to decide.
Art. 157.
Armed or unarmed resistance by citizens of the United States against the lawful movements of their troops is levying war against the United States, and is therefore treason.
(From the Yale Law School Avalon Project website)
Citizens of Berkeley might want to consider these things.
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