....the nutbags in Berkeley have been at war with the US Marines for the past year. Like the true liberal jerks that they are, they don't really like the people's input much.

Berkeley Councilmember Dona Spring said she supports the wording of the initiative, but said she would prefer the issue be passed by council so it can be enacted faster rather than waiting for the initiative to be placed on the ballot in November.

"I think we should just go ahead and pass it," she said. "We can't take everything to the voters."

But some proponents are hesitant to pass the ordinance through the council because they feel it might be watered down by other council members.

Dear Lord! Let's not let everyone have a say! Some of them might have an opinion different than ours!

What traitorous jerks. Living in the land of the free they fight for tyranny and oppression.

And sure enough, the council has passed two resolutions, one of which calls the US Marines "uninvited and unwelcome intruders" in the city. The other grants Code Pink a permanent parking space right in front of the Marine recruiting station.

It's time for a major California earthquake. All federal funding for the city of Berkeley should be withheld until they relent. If liberals want to play hardball, it's time for them to find out that two can play.

For their despicable actions, the city of Berkeley goes in the Hall of Shame.

Tags: liberals scumbags communists anti-war traitors

....now that the city of Bezerkeley, California has felt the full wrath of patriots nationwide, they are reconsidering their recent action against the Marines. They've said, "Oh, wait! You thought we meant we hate the troops??? No..no...that's not it at all...We're opposed to the war, but we support the troops. No, really, we do! Please, please don't take away our allowance."

Putzes.

UPDATE: This is how Beserkeley supports the troops. Notice how helpful the police are at enforcing the law.

Tags: anti-war bozos Berkeley liberals reconsider

....than "Freedom isn't free". The city of Berkeley, California is now finding out just how true that aphorism is. Their exercise of freedom is now costing them dearly.

Dear Mayor Bates,

In that you and your city have chosen to gravely insult the brave men and women, who have indeed bought you that right with their blood, I am informing you that my company will no longer do business with any of our current suppliers located in the Berkeley, California metro area.

In that my company is in international resort real estate development, and do business with and am associated with, developers and investors worldwide, I am informing all of my contacts, associates and patrons that we will no longer do any business of any sort with anyone living in the Berkeley area.

In that we/MDG Resorts are currently building a state of the art mega-yacht marina, all of the suppliers of Marina equipment, all owners of Yachts , all suppliers of Yacht materials & supplies, all yacht brokers and all tangential yacht business purveyors will likewise be informed that we will not do any business whatsoever with anyone from the Berkeley area.

Likewise all suppliers of building materials, both interior and exterior, currently associated with any of our several resort developments (Brisamar 300+ villas and 200+ condos: Porto Hussong, www.portohussong.com 500+ condos, 180 slip mega-yacht marina) both of which I might add have international recognition by virtue of glowing reports in Robb Report, Wall Street Journal, Yacht World, Forbes.

I will likewise inform all of our investors, most of whom are very wealthy yacht owners, casino owners, high net worth international businessmen, of our decision to essentially boycott all products and providers located in, or associated with in any way whatsoever, Berkeley, Ca.

Trust me when I say that having been in the real estate development business for over 35 years, our list of contacts and associates is long and very, very impressive. We, and I personally, are going to recomend that they ALL along with us boycott your city, its purveyors, suppliers, and businesses and CHARITIES of every kind.

You have every right to choose to take the obnoxious anti-military stance you have taken, and as stated, that right was bought for you with the blood of better men than you.

I too have every right to do all that I can to insure that your city suffers consequences arising from that obnoxious, sickening stance.

Cordially,

Brian G Dennard
_____________________________________________
Good Morning "Code Pink Corps"

Our company has just completed an analysis of the funds we have spent during 2007 within the city limits of Berkeley. The number was larger than I expected: $230,716. This amount is broken down in the following categories:

Meals and meeting expenses: $43,807; Printing, copies and imaging services: $36,954. Shipping expenses $18,534; temporary employment $103,954; Office supplies and equipment purchases: $27,467.

Our expenses above in Berkeley increased by about 12% this past year. We have budgeted a similar increase for 2008.

Because of the actions of "CodePink" and the Berkeley City Council we find that we must now exercise our 'freedom to act' and not do business within the City of Berkeley any longer. Over the next five years, the City of Berkeley will lose just from our organization from $1.4 to $1.7 million in business.

We will still grow our business successfully but we will fulfill our service needs, including meals and meeting expenses, at locations OTHER THAN BERKELEY. We are also encouraging our colleagues and business associates to do the same. Many will not be as direct as we are in communicating to you our actions.

While we regret that this action will hurt many worthy individuals and businesses in Berkeley, we are sure to gain a more friendly business environment elsewhere as our business continues to thrive.

Gee, ain't freedom and free markets great?

You've made your decisions ... we have made ours.

Karl G

From my good friend Del.

Tags: Berkeley consequences despicable Code Pink

....for Bezerkely.

Dear Mayor Bates,

I have read with disbelief the news that the Berkeley City Council has passed resolutions in which the city is apparently condemning our Marines. To say that our Marines are "uninvited and unwelcome intruders in the city" is, in my opinion, nothing short of shameful.

As the proud mother of a currently serving U.S. Army soldier (who has served in Iraq and is scheduled to return for a second tour) I find this type of treatment of our military despicable. I have read your bio and I see that you yourself were a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserves. How can you let this happen having been a part of our great military?

Without our armed forces, who do you think will protect Berkeley's long standing history of free speech and radical behavior towards our country/government? Does anyone there truly believe that they could do/say any of the things that have traditionally come from Berkeley in any other country in the world? Wake-up!! Disagree with what our military is doing if you must, but to shame, ridicule, condemn, and ostracize our soldiers is not the way to show your disagreement. However, based on Berkeley's history, I can hardly expect better.

I am proud to be an American. I am proud that my son is defending this nation, even for the likes of the people of the Berkeley City Council, but I am ashamed and appalled that this action is taking place in my county. It is your freedom to do this, but just remember, it is the very people you are forcing out who have died for and continue to stand, and die, for that freedom! Sounds as if your community is a bit ungrateful, or totally uneducated on how their freedoms came to be, as well as apparently blissfully unaware that those freedoms would come to an end should our country be overtaken by any other nation. The only thing standing between who we are now and our country being taken over by another nation is our armed forces.

I am sure that this letter, if even read by you, will probably not make one bit difference to you or your City Council. But being that this is America, and that I do have the freedom of expression, I felt compelled to voice my displeasure and disgust at the actions taking place in Berkeley. You can be sure if I lived anywhere in the vicinity, I would be a part of the counter-protest groups supporting our Marines, in specific, and our troops in general.

You can also be sure that I will exercise my freedom by choosing to NEVER spend one dime of my money within the limits of Berkeley. And, yes, I do get to California and the area around Berkeley from time to time so this is not a hollow comment. I know that my "drop-in-the-bucket" lack of spending will not be noticed by you or the Council, however I am sure I am not the only one who will exercise this freedom to emphasize their opposition to the stand Berkeley is taking.

If you read this, thank you for your attention.

Mrs. ******
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
and hizhonor's response was....

Dear ******,

Thank you for your e-mail. I understand that the action taken by the Berkeley City Council regarding the Marines recruiting center has drawn significant national attention.

Let me be absolutely clear that this is not about the men and women who are serving our country in our armed forces. I am a retired U.S. Army Captain and I respect the choice of those who are serving our country.

However, this community strongly opposes the war in Iraq and the foreign policy of the current administration. I believed from the beginning that this was an unjust, illegal, and immoral war of choice.

A year ago, the U.S. Marines established a recruiting office within a few blocks of our local high school, community college and university. Since then, community members who oppose the war in Iraq have been exercising their free speech in protesting the presence of the Marine recruiters. Pro-war protestors have also attended to exercise their free speech rights.

On January 28th, the Berkeley City Council took action to waive the permit fee for anti-war protestors one afternoon a week. Any group, whether pro- or anti- war, can obtain such a permit. In addition, the City Council indicated its desire for the Marine recruiting station, as a visible symbol of the war, to be relocated.

I understand that there are people across the country that may not agree with this action but it is the Berkeley City Council's responsibility to represent the will of the people of Berkeley.

I also understand that the language proposed to the Council did not adequately differentiate our respect and support for those serving in the armed forced and our opposition to the Iraq war policy. I will be working with the Council to clarify that language at our next meeting.

I hope that our country will end the war in Iraq soon and bring our troops home safely. We are truly fortunate to live in a country that can tolerate and accept a range of views and opinions and I respect your feelings on this issue.

Mayor Tom Bates

Yes, Mayor, we fully understand what you "meant" to say and how you "support" the troops. And you are now beginning to understand how we support the troops — by refusing forevermore to spend one damn dime in your fine city.

We wish you the best of luck with the rewording of your resolution. Rest assured it won't change our position one iota, because we're quite certain we understood you the first time. (Hat tip, again, to my friend Del.)

Tags: Berkeley Marines Council resolution

....redux.

Today, U.S. Senators James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia), Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-Oklahoma), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and David Vitter (R-Louisiana) introduced the Semper Fi Act of 2008. The bill would rescind over $2 million in hidden earmarks for Berkeley, California in the 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill, and transfer the funds to the Marine Corps. U.S. Congressman John Campbell (R-California) is introducing a companion bill in the House of Representatives.

Note to Bezerkeley: this is known as "bringing the pain". Your lefty politicians are going to be hard pressed to oppose this bill — it would be political suicide to do so.

You wanted a fight? Now you've got one. Good luck with that. (Hat tip to Don Surber.)

Tags: Berkeley Marines Semper Fi Act earmarks

....the liberal Berkeley City Council is doing the two things liberals do best; wimping out

As six Republican senators devised a plan to yank $2.3 million in federal funding for Berkeley programs, the mayor of the famously liberal city apologized Wednesday for his hard stance against a Marine recruiting center.

Two City Council members vowed to soften their stance as well.

At their Tuesday council meeting, leaders will discuss scrapping a letter that might be perceived as targeting the center or the Marines.

The letter said that the recruiting center was not welcome on Shattuck Avenue and that the Marines were uninvited and unwelcome intruders.

“That letter will probably be pulled back and maybe more moderate language will be put in place which is appropriate I think,” said Berkeley mayor Tom Bates.

“Subtly stated in the resolution is perhaps an impugning of the soldiers fighting for us in Iraq and other places,” Berkeley City Councilman Laurie Capitelli. “And that was never the intention but that really needs to be cleared up. As I walked to my car that night I realized I regretted it and I had made a mistake.”

and whining.

“There’s really no correlation between federal funds for schools, water ferries and police communications systems and the council’s actions, for God’s sake,” said Bates, a retired U.S. Army captain. “We apologize for any offense to any families of anyone who may serve in Iraq. We want them to come home and be safe at home.”

No relation between what a city does and whose tax dollars fund its services? Strange "logic" that, Mr. Mayor.

A companion "Semper Fi" bill has been introduced in the House as well. Naturally, Democrats representing the area are lining up against it, but the same can't be said for the majority of Democrats, who have remained silent about the brouhaha, clearly recognizing the dangerous trap in defending the indefensible.

Tags: Berkeley council Marines Semper Fi

....to post this letter from Brian Dennard.

On Jan 31, 2008 I wrote a letter to the Mayor of Berkeley stating my position regarding his and the City Counsel's position on the USMC recruiting station.

I passed that letter along to a couple of Marine handball buddies. They passed that email/letter to the guys who play in the Semper Fi handball tournament at MCRD, who passed it along to, who passed it along to, etc.

In my wildest dreams I never envisioned the response I have received. I now spend ALL DAY answering my cell phone acknowledging that yes, I really did write "THE" letter, and receiving personal thank yous from Generals, Majors, Colonels, SGTs, PVTs, CEOs, COOs, talk show hosts, and average everyday American Patriots. I had over 220 phone calls yesterday and am up to the same today at 2:30 p.m.
Likewise I spend the balance reading emails from the same sort of people.

I am humbled to a degree that is hard to state clearly. I am emotionally overwhelmed with the positive response to my letter and want to thank everyone who has called me or emailed me to state their support.

My intention was never to shine the spotlight on me, it was to cause, to whatever degree I could, great fiscal discomfort to the city of Berkeley in retaliation to their un-American, cowardly and despicable stance that the US Marines are unwelcome, and uninvited intruders in their city.

If in my small way I helped light a fire that now appears to be blazing across the nation, I am proud of that, but I am more proud of the fact that I could , at a time when our heroes are fighting against those who would destroy us, help focus some attention to the vast debt, and undying respect, that we as a nation owe to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces.

Respectfully,

Brian G Dennard

Brian, you may recall, wrote a letter to the Mayor of Berkeley that was widely disseminated in the blogosphere. He sent me this the other day, and I just now remembered to post it.

Tags: Berkeley Marines uninvited unwanted consequences

....and on and on and on. And this from my good friend, Del.

The lovely quote below from one of the Code Pink representatives in regard to the heavy flak bursting over Berkeley really sums up the ignorance and selfcenteredness of the moonbats.

"I was under the impression that we have the right of free speech," said Xanne Joi of Code Pink. "To me, I thought free speech meant you get to say what you want without recrimination."

Apparently she is way too dumb to understand that freedom of speech means you get to say what you want (barring "Fire!" in the theater, outtright slander, or calling for crimes to be committed), but that (here's the tough part) then, omigod, OTHER PEOPLE get to say what THEY want, even to
(gasp) disagreeing strongly with what you said. And freedom to act within the law means you get to demonstrate and act the way you wish, and then, believe it or not, OTHER PEOPLE get to counter demonstrate and act the way they wish within those same laws.

Obviously it is actually unfair, abusive, and a perversion of all that is right and holy for those OTHER PEOPLE to dare to disagree and act out their disagreement in any way, so poor Xanne Joi is in desperate need of a group hug now, and probably some PTSD therapy for a while. We can all ring some meditation bells or light a small candle for her in this, her hour of duress and disillusionment.

The really good news about this whole incident is that it reveals so clearly and so publicly just how far out the Code Pink people and the other idiots who support them really are. It makes more middle of the road Americans conscious of the true idiocy and anti-American stance of the moonbats, and takes big chunks away from their credibility. Let's hope for more stunningly stupid public comments from them.

But Del is a Marine and a conservative. Look what the San Francisco anti-war liberals have to say.

"I guess they've never heard of free speech," Berkeley City Councilwoman Dona Spring told The Chronicle as she defended the council's 6-3 vote to tell Marine recruiters that they are not welcome in Berkeley - and that if the Marines stay, they will "do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders." The council also voted 8-1 to give the anti-war Code Pink organization a designated parking space directly in front of the U.S. Marine Corps' 64 Shattuck Ave. recruiting office and encouraged Code Pink to "impede" Marine recruitment.

It's pretty clear that Spring has heard of free speech, but she has no idea what it is.

It's one thing for Berkeley to pronounce U.S. troops, who put their lives on the line every day to defend America, as unwelcome. That's protected speech - that signals Berkeley residents' disdain for U.S. troops. It's also the sort of rude we're-better-than-the-rest-of-America action that invites outsiders to wonder if a city that tries to divorce itself from military recruitment deserves the benefits that the federal government bestows.

Apart from that, the Berkeley vote was the antithesis of free speech.

When government officials pass a law to impede the political expression of nonbelievers, as the Berkeley pols did on Jan. 29, they are wielding the club of government to suppress dissent. They are abusing their authority.

At least some liberals get it. Clearly Code Pink and their sycophants on the Berkeley city council do not.

Tags: Berkeley Council Code Pink idiots

....the true attitudes of the people of Berkeley become public knowledge. Here's some videos so you can see for yourself how the people of Berkeley and their city council and Mayor really feel about the Marines and the United States.

An ex-Marine Council member calls Marines "trained killers".

Code Pink obstructs access to the Marine recruiting center and the police do nothing.

Just in case it's not yet clear to you who these people are: "Marines are war criminals" and (re WWII) "What the hell were we doing in Hawaii anyway?" and "What's wrong with communism?"


Tags: Bezerkeley videos anti-American bullies communists

....you will wake up with fleas.

Merchants learn that electing lunatics is bad for business.

The Oakland Tribune story makes it seem so unfair that Berkeley is losing business because its city council hates the military. As I read his words, I could almost hear the tears fall from the eyes of Ted Garrett, CEO of the town’s chamber of commerce.

Hotel reservations are being canceled.

“Folks are upset,” he said. “Unfortunately, they are blaming the businesses.”

Gee, ya think?

We've given the anti-war bozos a free ride for forty years. Now they can't fathom how anyone could be upset by their exercise of their freedom of speech. After all, they've been spitting on our military all this time, and no one has said a thing.

Note to Bezerkeley businessmen. This is how freedom works. You get to do what you want. We get to do what we want. Don't like the results? Then don't continue down the same path.

Tags: Berkeley bozos depression freedom payback