Americans Challenge the Berkeley City Council

This isn't going to be your average Berkeley City Council meeting tonight.

Americans from across the country are rallying in support of the Marines today, giving the Berkeley City Council notice that they don't appreciate its treatment of our heroes.

Background:

The City of Berkeley, California has passed two resolutions attacking the United States Marine Corps, calling the Marines, “uninvited and unwelcome intruders in the city.”

The Berkeley City Council voted to condemn the Marines on Tuesday night (January 29th) as part of a campaign by anti-war activists to shut down a U.S. Marine Recruiting Center located in the city of Berkeley.

The votes by the Berkeley City Council were immediately condemned by Move America Forward (website: www.moveamericaforward.org), the nation’s largest grassroots pro-troop organization.

“It is disgraceful that in the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement, anti-military activists would attempt to silence the same military men and women who serve this country and give their lives to protect the free speech rights of all Americans, including these ungrateful and despicable people on the Berkeley City Council,” said Melanie Morgan, Chairman of Move America Forward.

The actions by the Berkeley City Council followed continuous protests by Code Pink and other anti-military organizations that vandalized and defaced the U.S. Marine Recruiting Center in September 2007.

One of the two resolutions passed by the Berkeley City Council last night granted a parking spot in front of the Marine Recruiting Center to be used by anti-military activists to harass Marine recruiters. The anti-military activists would not need to apply for a sound permit for the next six months – allowing them free reign to disrupt the day-to-day operations by the Marines.

...“We have hundreds of thousands of military men and women serving honorably overseas to protect our freedoms. Imagine how they feel when they go to turn on the news and see that they are being stabbed in the back by shameful people here at home, it’s disgraceful!” said Catherine Moy, Executive Director of Move America Forward.

In response to the despicable actions of the Berkeley City Council, Move America Forward has organized a pro-troop rally.

* DATE: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2008

* LOCATION: 2134 MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. WAY – BERKELEY, CA - CLICK HERE for MAP

* TIME: Council Meeting Begins at 7:00 PM
(We are asking people to be there early, however – if possible, start arriving by 5:00 PM)

*** Also… If you can, please join us for our “picketing” of the City Council Chambers. We will be out there at 2134 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way beginning at 5:00 AM for the morning news. We will have a presence all throughout the day – the next newscasts are at 12:00 Noon, so we’ll want a good size presence at that time as well.

* UPDATE: It turns out Mayor Tom Bates, who says that the City Council didn't mean to offend the Marines (oh please!!!) has joined Code Pink in their pickets in front of the Marine Recruiting Center in an attempt to harass them and force them out of town. The protestors called our Marines "war criminals."

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Read about Code Pink's efforts to target military recruitment in Berkeley.

"Our goal is to have clear zoning regulations for military recruiting and to put citizen pressure to shut down on the existing recruiting station that is just blocks from Berkeley City College, UC Berkeley, and Berkeley High School." ~ Berkeley Community Peace Activists

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Contact the City of Berkeley via Phone or Email. Let Mayor Bates and members of the City Council know what you think.
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Berkeley mulls new vote on Marines

Officials in this liberal city may soften their anti-recruitment stance toward the U.S. Marines in the face of widespread criticism.

The Berkeley City Council drew a deluge of disapproval nationwide in January when it voted to advise the Marines that their downtown recruitment office was not welcome and that they would be considered "uninvited and unwelcome intruders" if they chose to stay.

On Tuesday, the council was scheduled to consider a second resolution put forward by two council members that would rescind the letter and draw a line between opposing the war in Iraq and "our respect and support for those serving in the armed forces."

...Pro-troop group Move America Forward sponsored one rally, holding signs that said "Stop Bashing Our Boys." On the other side, anti-war group Code Pink held bouquets of flowers and waved signs saying "Peace Now" and "Bring Our Troops Home."

"This is very personal," said Lonnie Piet, of Sacramento, who joined Move America Forward's protest. Piet, whose son is a Marine, said he wants a personal apology from council members and Code Pink. "The Marines have the right to recruit anyone, anywhere," Piet said.

"We want to ask the Marines to not recruit in our community. The majority of citizens here are fervently against the war," said Code Pink protester Cynthia Papermaster, who has lived in Berkeley since 1965. "We're not against the Marines, but against what they're recruited to do."

These Code Pink activists are so selfish.

They want no war, so they want no recruitment.

Fine. Do they also want no protection from America's enemies, protection that our military provides?