I Wish I Were In Paris

From war to peace and politics to gossip, if we have an opinion on something we'll share it here.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Treasonous? Hell No!!

I'm so sick of the pro-war, pro-death, pro-military braindead idiots in this country. They're pathetic!!

Showdown looms in 'treasonous' Berkeley

(CNN) -- Military supporters descended on Berkeley early Tuesday, demanding the famously liberal California college town rescind its vote that says Marine recruiters are "not welcome in this city."

The pro-military demonstrators were met by anti-war protesters who had camped out overnight, setting the stage for a dramatic showdown late in the day when the City Council is to discuss whether to revoke its previous vote.

"Their treasonous action, especially at this time of war right now, is not acceptable," said Mary Pearson, a spokeswoman for the group Move America Forward.

"It's very, very important for everyone to stand united ... to give our Marines and all of our military the greatest respect and honor that they deserve."

Before the sun was even up, about 300 demonstrators -- both pro-military and anti-war -- were already standing toe-to-toe in downtown. Many traded jeers and sneers.

"Code Pink doesn't stand for us," one sign said, held by a man in military fatigues. Signs held by anti-war activists read, "End the War" and "Bring the troops home now."

The City Council is to meet at 7 p.m. PT on whether to take back its previous measure urging the Marine recruiters to leave town.

"If recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders," the measure says.

It went on to say the council applauds residents and organizations that "volunteer to impede, passively or actively, by nonviolent means, the work of any military recruiting office located in the City of Berkeley."

Ever since the council measure, protesters with the anti-war group Code Pink have camped outside the Marine recruiting office on Shattuck Avenue, singing peace songs and chanting slogans for an end to the Iraq war.

Republican lawmakers in Washington fired back last week, threatening to recall more than $2 million of federal funding to the city as well as money designated for the University of California-Berkeley, the campus that became a bastion of liberalism during the Vietnam War.

The Marine Corps has said it has no plans to move its office, which is located about a block from the college campus.

Whether the City Council reverses course remains to be seen.

Max Anderson, a Vietnam war veteran who serves on the council, said he fully supports the measure to get Marine recruiters out of town -- despite receiving more than 8,000 e-mails, most of them harsh in tone, on the matter.

"If the aim was to shut us down, get us to back up, get us to eat our words, get us to retreat from our position with the war, they can forget that," he told CNN Monday.

He said he was recruited by Marines after he graduated from high school in 1963 and was promised that he and his friends would serve together. But once they enlisted, he said, they were separated and shipped off to Vietnam.

"We're not against the Marines per se," he said. "We're against this war. We're against the mechanisms that support this war and send our young people over there."

Kriss Worthington, a progressive Berkeley activist and council member for 11 years, believes the council overreached.

"The inflammatory language in the City Council item is really outrageous -- not just to right-wing people, but to mainstream liberal people and even to some peace activists who have said they're insulted that the city would have such language," Worthington said.

He said Berkeley owes an apology to the military and to the peace movement "for having such embarrassing language allegedly trying to promote peace."

"When you make a colossal blunder, you can't just sort of ignore the mistake and go about your way. You have to do something to fix it," Worthington said.

First of all, fuck you!! The city council and the city of Berkeley is not "treasonous". They were exercising their First Amendment rights to free speech, as well as exercising their right to deny entry to people that they don't want in their city. Every city does it!! Does that make every city in the United States "treasonous"? No!! If the city of Argus, California said that they didn't want military recruiters or a military recruiting office in their city, would we even be talking about it? Hell no!! And here's why!! We wouldn't be talking about Argus because nobody knows where the hell that is except for those who live there. It's not Berkeley, the "liberal" city. Argus doesn't grab the attention of people. My apologies to anyone who may be reading this from Argus. I just picked your city off of a map!!

The pro-military people are stupid. They don't get it!! This was about telling the military recruiters to get the hell out of Berkeley. These are the people who lie to your family members and friends to get them to join the military. They promise them the world, and don't deliver on their promises. They tell them that they won't have to go to war, but once they've graduated from BT (that's Basic Training) their asses are shipped off to war. These are the people who show up at high schools and colleges doing everything they can to try to recruit students. I've seen it first hand at the Catholic college that I attended a few years ago. I find it rather disingenuous of the college to have a pro-life stance yet they allow military recruiters there who are there to promote war and ultimately, DEATH!! What's next? Recruitment at pre-schools or in the delivery room when you're giving birth so that they can sign your newborn up for military duty that will come into effect when they turn 18?

This is not about supporting the troops, although I don't get how one can be pro-war and still "support" the troops. This is about taking a stand against these thugs who will say and do anything to make their quotas. They don't give a shit about who they're signing up. They don't give a shit if that recruit lives or dies once he or she leaves their office. Ask a recruiter who they've signed up. I bet you anything that they can't even tell you one thing about that person, including their name. We are nothing but paperwork and a number to these people. Don't you get it?

When are we supposed to speak out against the military and this government if we're not supposed to do it now because we're "at war"? Are we supposed to do it ONE HUNDRED years from now when most of us if not all of us who are alive now will be dead, and we're still "at war" with Iraq, Afghanistan, and who knows who else?

My dad was in the military before I was born. Had it not been for problems with his ship, he would have been sent to Vietnam. Had he not stood his ground and refused to be a medic in the military, he would have been sent to Vietnam. He didn't have a choice to say no to the military. He was drafted. We have choices today!! We can stand up and tell them HELL NO!! My dad may be a Veteran, but I don't respect what the military stands for. The military stands for death and destruction. I don't support that!! I can't support that!! And I will never support that!!

Labels: , ,

4 Comments:

  • At 3:39 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I've read many articles and blogs on this issue and it seems as if most people are missing the point. If Code Pink wants to protest against the Marines, whatever. I guarantee you the Marines really don't care. But what Code Pink and more importantly, the City Council who gave them free parking, have demonstrated is their ignorance on issues of governance and policy. That would worry me more if I was a Berkley resident. (Thank God, I'm not) The Marines and other servicemembers serve a civilian government that carries out policy. This is not a miltary running amuck! If you truly want to change the policy, vote! Or if you feel a need to protest, protest in front of the Capital Building, not in front of some recruiting office. Again the Marines could care less - they've recruited, served and died for this country for over 200 years and will continue to do so for another 200. God bless 'em and all who serve. These protestors and the city council have embarrassed themselves by showing how ignorant they are about how this country is run. I laugh at them, not for what they believe - that is their right as Americans but how they go about it. I'd recommend that they revisit their endstate and how they want to get there. Get smart - read the Constitution and then come see me when you're ready. Another fine example of how incredibly dense our elected officials really are - think about that when you vote next time!

     
  • At 4:51 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I certainly understand your frustration. "Treasonous" is quite a dramatic stretch for those exercising their rights.

    But it's important to realize that protests against recruiters are pointless, and dare I say, shameless. Decisions are not made -- and influence is not exerted -- at this level. These military men and women (moms, dads, brothers, sisters) are doing exactly what Americans pay them to do -- and the Berkley folks are beating them down on a personal level for it. THAT is heinous. I think this goes to your question: you can support the troops without supporting the war because they aren't the one's who decided for or against it; they're merely the ones who volunteered to defend YOUR interests as articlulated by the government YOU elected. I assure you that most of our service members in Iraq would be more than happy to be doing something else.

    Leaders of these protests need to accept due responsibility for leading what in many cases are groups of ignorant people trying to do the right thing. Organizations like Code Pink need to protest the decision makers responsible for continuing the war instead of their neighbors -- military men and women in the community -- who tomorrow may be the same people stopping very bad people from harming them.

    As a final note, most recruiters actually form very close relationships with the young men and women they enlist -- and their families. This is a necessity now more than ever in the recruiting business. From there, it is a normal occurance for these two service members -- and their families -- to continue correspondence through basic training and for years afterward. Many of these recruiters know that they will likely serve elsewhere with the same person they enlisted following their rather short (3 year) stints as recruiters.

    I hope we, together as Americans, can learn to become a little more educated on how our own government and military operate before throwing stones in the future.

    -My apologies for an "anonymous" post; experiencing technical difficulties. Spider Rider.

     
  • At 6:26 PM, Blogger ParisL0ve2 said…

    Most people are NOT missing the point sir!! In case you haven't noticed, Code Pink and others who protest do go after the "elected" officials. Sadly, their protests are cut short because apparently people in this country think that they don't have a right to free speech or to protest.

    Do you not have a television? Code Pink shows up at Congressional hearings all the time and they're thrown out. Those who protest elsewhere are often thrown in a "free speech zone". Funny, I didn't know that your free speech rights existed only in designated areas.

    Good, the Marines don't care!! Whoopee!! If the Marines don't give a damn, why is it that so many people have their panties in a wad because someone had the balls to stand up to the MILITARY? Hmm? Oh that's right!! They're anti-American. They're not supporting the troops. They're treasonous. Blah...Blah..Fucking...Blah...

     
  • At 6:45 PM, Blogger ParisL0ve2 said…

    Anon, for the record, the military is NOT defending MY interests as articulated by a government that I elected.

    First of all, I didn't elect any members that are currently serving in any political office because they're all WORTHLESS!!

    Second of all, how exactly is the military serving my interests in Iraq, Afghanistan, and any other country that they currently have troops in? Iraq did nothing to me. The INNOCENT people that the United States military has murdered on the orders of this government did nothing to me.

    Afghanistan did nothing to me. The INNOCENT people that the United States military has murdered in Afghanistan on the orders of this government did nothing to me.

    Following orders is not an excuse that I will ever accept!!

    The jackasses running for President now are going to deliver nothing but more of the same. Clinton wants to go to Iran. Obama wants to go anywhere, including into a nuclear armed Pakistan. McCain wants to "bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" as he so famously sang it!! Huckabee wants to go anywhere.

    Are you willing to be suckered in by some military recruiter who is going to promise you the world, and then send your ass to murder more innocent people because they don't have the balls to stand up to this government and say HELL NO?

    Isn't there a little oath you take about protecting this country against enemies foreign and DOMESTIC? I think that a government who knowingly lies to send you to war is an ENEMY. And since it seems that the military including recruiters aren't willing to defend this country against a DOMESTIC ENEMY, they need to get the hell out and stay out!!

     

Post a Comment

<< Home

 
People Who Are Violent to Animals ... Rarely Stop There
Palm Springs Real Estate
Air Filter