In case you have been missing the news over the last couple of weeks, those dregs of pond scum, otherwise known as the Berkely, California city council, voted to tell the Marine recruiters to get out of town.
The city manager was directed to send a letter to the U.S. Marine Corps saying they are "uninvited and unwelcome intruders" in the city. This, while members of the Corps are serving in harm's way.
Now, everyone has the right to free speech. They have a perfect right to oppose the war. I am certainly not a fan of the way the war has been prosecuted. It has been FUBAR since Saddam's statue was toppled. However, directing this childish, ignorant, schoolyard tripe at volunteers serving their contry in time of war is about 5,000 feet left of reprehensible.
Today, we find that the council has reversed itself . . . sort of. They are rescinding their request - without apology, I might add. It seems that two unintended consequences surfaced. First, an uproar of about 8.5 on the Richter scale erupted, and second, it seems that some $3 Million of their state-supplied transportation funds and $2.3 Million in Federal earmarks would be on the same bus out of town.
I'm not sure which had the larger effect, but seven of the nine council members were suddenly opposed to the ordinance they had passed just two weeks earlier. How does the old joke go? We know what you are . . . we're just negotiating the price. Speech may be free, but often, it is not without consequence.
"The Marines ought to have better sense than to come here."
- Councilmember Betty Olds
Bitch, I hope you never need them . . .
Oh. Look who showed up at the protest.
