Jon Carroll { Semper Infidelis In Berkeley }

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 2/7/8 | Jon Carroll

[SmithL]

Berkeley is really sorry. It turns out that it didn't want to pick a fight with the Marines. More precisely, it turns out that it didn't want to be seen as picking a fight with the Marines, because all the right-wing zanies in the blogo-radio-sphere will have something to rant about. And they need ammunition just now.

It's a bad season for the right wing. None of the candidates left standing adheres to the conservative orthodox line in every matter. The right-wingers are realizing that there are lots of Latinos who vote, and a nice anti-immigration rally will not play with them. Even those who are concerned with leaky borders are put off by the vitriolic rhetoric. Small-tent Republicanism doesn't really have a future.

Plus, there are a lot of evangelicals who think that poverty and environmentalism are appropriate issues for Christians to care about. They have a genuine desire and feel an obligation to help the least fortunate among us and to be good stewards of the earth.

Christians adhering to Christian doctrine; that's not what Karl Rove had in mind at all. Karl Rove was a "being rich is good for you and poor people lack virtue" Christian. It's a comforting gospel for the comfortable. Just shut your eyes and vote Republican.

And yet, it's not playing in Peoria. It had its chance, and oh, my, look where it got us. Have you checked out the president's proposed budget? Have you considered that maybe printing money will not get us out of this hole? They're printing money in Zimbabwe, and toilet paper costs $417 a roll. Instant karma is going to get you. Really, it is.

But I was writing about Berkeley, which is being silly. Not that "Berkeley" is a single entity - far, Lord knows,

[2ndDivisionVet]

The petition

We, the undersigned condemn the Berkeley City Council’s treasonous attack on US Marine Recruiters stationed in their city. We ask that Congress cut off funds from any and all municipal entity within the confines of the city of Berkeley, California, until such time as the city council withdraws it’s action.

The City Council has voted to tell the Marines their downtown recruiting station is not welcome and “if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome guests.”

The measure passed last week by a vote of 8-1.

The council also voted to explore enforcing a city anti-discrimination law, focusing on the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

In a separate item, the council voted, also 8-1, to give the Marxist protest group Code Pink a parking space in front of the recruiting office once a week for six months and a free sound permit for protesting once a week.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/cutoffberkeleynow

If you wish to, please share with your friends or e-mail to your address books. If I already pinged you, consider that I have both CRS and Oldtimer’s disease...

[abigailsmybaby]

Boy, if all these words rambled around in his head like they spilled out on paper, I’d say it sucks to be him. I think he’s schizophrenic.