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Posted on 10/12/2001 7:44:31 AM PDT by RGSpincich

Published Friday, October 12, 2001
Berkeley politician criticized for quote

City Councilwoman Dona Spring says the UC Berkeley student paper misquoted her
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By Greg Cannon
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
BERKELEY -- City Councilwoman Dona Spring will push a council resolution calling for an end to America's bombing in Afghanistan, but she said a news article that quoted her as denouncing the United States as a "terrorist" nation "drastically misquoted" her.

"I never denounced or condemned the U.S.," Spring said in a telephone interview Thursday. "I just asked for the bombing to cease."

The Daily Californian, the UC Berkeley student paper, quoted Spring as saying, "The U.S. is now a terrorist." The article, which received national attention, was based on a Monday interview with Spring and the council's Tuesday meeting.

Janny Hu, the paper's editor-in-chief, said she reviewed the reporter's notes after getting a call from Spring.

"We stand behind what was written," Hu said. The paper ran a letter from Spring in Thursday's edition in which she sought to clarify her position. Spring also posted a version of the letter on her city Web site.

The story has prompted e-mails and more than a hundred phone calls to City Hall expressing outrage over the resolution and attendant comments.

Spring floated an emergency resolution at the council's Tuesday meeting calling for the city to send letters to the nation's leaders asking a stop to the bombing in favor of nonviolent efforts to end terrorism.

The resolution failed to get the six votes needed to consider emergency measures. But it did get five votes, enough to pass it at next Tuesday's meeting, where it will be on the agenda.

While Spring challenged the accuracy of some elements of the Daily Californian article, she said other statements attributed to her were accurate but regrettable.

The story quotes her as saying U.S. actions are "terrorist attacks" in the eyes of the Taliban. Spring said Thursday that she was speaking of the view of Afghan citizens. "I do regret even mentioning the Taliban because it is a murderous regime," Spring said.

This week's vote fell along the schism between five liberal council members and their four more moderate colleagues. The minority, lead by Mayor Shirley Dean, issued a statement Wednesday disavowing Spring and those who voted with her.

The statement refers to the Daily Californian article and says that moderate council members are "stunned by (Spring's) recent statements." Informed Thursday of Spring's contention that some quotes were inaccurate, Dean said she has no reason to doubt that Spring did say or would say the words attributed to her.

"I don't doubt it from the kind of things I've heard her say," Dean said. She did not point to specific statements.

The moderates' statement goes on to say that they are "saddened" that their colleagues would "use such inflammatory language." It concludes by saying that times call for "more thoughtful responses and not for inflammatory rhetoric from the '60s."

Spring said the moral imperative of the resolution remains and she will push for its passage next Tuesday after rewriting it to try to avoid inflaming emotions.

"I just felt that I had a moral obligation to do whatever I could to stop the violence," Spring said.

The Daily Californian story was mentioned on OpinionJournal.com, the opinion and editorial Web site of the Wall Street Journal, where the story was featured in a daily roundup of Web stories under the heading, "Berkeley's Useless Idiots."

"It has been one thing after another, and it puts Berkeley in a bad light," Dean said. She said a lot of negative national attention has her concerned that loose talk of a boycott might coalesce into a "Boycott Berkeley" campaign.

Dean's office had received more than 100 phone calls on the matter from those in Berkeley and beyond by Thursday morning. She said political opinion in Berkeley is more varied and complex than the council majority and the national media portray it to be.

Dean noted unanimous council support for a resolution commending Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, for the lone vote against giving President Bush military authority to combat terrorism. Dean said she disagreed with the vote, but respected it as a reflection of Lee's personal convictions.

Attention to Spring's resolution marks the third time in a few months and the second time since Sept. 11 that the city has drawn nationwide attention, much of it negative.

In August, a ceremony involving local Boy Scouts and Scouts from Japan was moved after Councilman Kriss Worthington criticized the Scouts for banning gays. News coverage prompted hundreds of calls and e-mails from across the country.

More letters and e-mails came in last month when, in the wake of Sept. 11, the city banned large flags from its firetrucks, citing safety concerns. Worthington appeared on "The O'Reilly Factor" on the Fox News Channel to discuss the issue. The city soon altered the policy to allow flags.

"The media loves to distort and sensationalize about Berkeley," Spring said.

Retinal terrorism

Glad they didn't show the rest of it.

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