And here we go.  People are starting to gather and get vocal.

Before I report on the latest let me say one thing.  Dissension is an American tradition.  Even the “symbolic gestures” passed by many local communities are traditions of free speech and discourse that I appreciate, and I defend…in principle.  In other words, I vigorously defend the rights of American Citizens to protest, to pass initiatives and to complain.

However.

Freedom of speech works both ways.  I have the freedom of dissent too.  I have the freedom to see what they do and hear what they say and to protest them.  The fact they are engaged in a free speech activity is not cover and shield against retaliation and counter demonstration.

In the case of the Military, Berkeley and Code Pink can harass and protest the Marines within the confines of the law and even alter existing law to harass them a bit more.  Whether or not that is a violation of various Federal laws is a matter for lawyers and Judges to determine.

But, Berkeley and Code Pink must remember that they too are subject to protests in retaliation, whether in the form of boycotts, public displays of disgust and legal action.

One thing I have noticed quite often in these situations is that people tend to think free speech creates a vacuum of protection and sanctity.  It doesn’t.  In fact it is not a protection of legal action at all, which means the vandalism committed by Code Pink is subject to criminal prosecution.

Free speech is not a protection against consequence.

In summary, if they have a right to do what they do, I have the same right to do what I do, and to join the other bloggers in their efforts to protest them.

Now, the latest, via Michelle Malkin:

Berkeley backlash building: American Legion, Sen. DeMint weigh in

The backlash against Berkeley’s anti-Marine, anti-troop measures is building. The American Legion and Sen. Jim DeMint weigh in tonight. Keep it up. Send a message to Berkeley: We’re not in the 1960s anymore.

DeMint to Berkeley: Support Our Marines or Lose Federal Funds

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) released the following statement in response to the decision by the City Council of Berkeley, California to evict the U.S. Marine Corps Recruiting Station from the city.

“This is a slap in the face to all brave service men and women and their families. The First Amendment gives the City of Berkeley the right to be idiotic, but from now on they should do it with their own money. If the city can’t show respect for the Marines that have fought, bled and died for their freedom, Berkeley should not be receiving special taxpayer funded handouts. I am currently drafting legislation to ensure that American taxpayers aren’t forced to pay for this insult by rescinding all of the earmarks for Berkeley in the Omnibus Appropriations bill, and to transfer the funds to the Marine Corps.”

I totally love it.  That is what I consider true Earmark Reform.

American Legion:

“Osama bin Laden couldn’t have said it better,” American Legion National Commander Marty Conatser said of the Berkeley City Council Resolution, which tells the Marines that they are not welcome there. “Disgraceful, disloyal, ungrateful. These words are too kind in describing the actions of the public officials in Berkeley, who voted for this disgrace. Nonetheless, our Marines continue to bravely serve and in so doing, allow Americans to spout such foolishness. The American Legion not only strongly condemns this action by the City Council but also believes that a sincere apology is in order to all Marines, past and present.”

Conatser, the leader of the nation’s largest veterans organization, was referring to a measure passed by the Council 8-1 Tuesday, that tells the U.S. Marine Corps that one of its recruiting stations is “not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do as uninvited and unwelcome intruders.”

The City Council marched in complete lock-step with radical anti-war group Code Pink in attempting to drive out Marine recruiters from its San Francisco suburb. The City Council also voted 8-1 to give Code Pink a free parking space in front of a recruiting station, along with a free sound permit for protesting once a week. Marine recruiters at Berkeley have faced harassment from protestors who regularly block nearby sidewalks, generate excessive noise and disrupt business.

“I have been a recruiter in the National Guard and I know that it’s tough duty, with long hours,” Conatser said. “What these recruiters do is essential to our national security. Without recruiters we have no military. And I don’t think we can count on the flower children from Berkeley to protect this nation when it comes under attack. They have to remember that Marines are not the enemy; the terrorists are.”

Now, checking into this firther, we find that the local picture is showing some mixed opinoins.

We have the Protestors emboldened and rallying,k only to be protesting an empty office as the Marines ignored them and took the day off, while the locals are getting frustrated.

And the City council is beginning to show more division:

Group protests Marine recruiters in Berkeley 

Emboldened by this week’s show of support by the Berkeley City Council, anti-war protesters on Thursday cranked up their noisy effort to throw the U.S. Marine Corps recruiters out of town, but in the pounding rain it was hard to tell who won the figurative battle of wills.

On one hand, the protesters mustered one of their biggest crowds yet - 40 people - to yell “Drive out the Bush regime” and other slogans outside the Marines’ recruiting station on Shattuck Avenue. Hundreds of motorists honked in support as they passed.

On the other hand, there was nobody working at the recruiting station to hear these entreaties. The recruiting staff took the afternoon off.

I’d say the rain won.

And not only did the protesters get soaked to the bone in one of the heaviest downpours all week, several local business owners and their customers seethed under the aural onslaught of bullhorns and chanting from 3 to 5 p.m.

“They need a place to be heard, but it doesn’t seem like this is the best one,” complained Mike Mathis, who sometimes had to shout to be heard as his hair was being cut at the ZNS Beauty Station, next door to the Marines’ office. “This is too small a place for a protest this loud.”

 So maybe the local support in Berkeley is not as universal as they might claim.

Marine Corps officials did not return calls for comment.

However, ex-Marine Staff Sgt. Bill Hamilton showed up on his own to say he wholeheartedly supports the rights of the protesters to speak , but doesn’t like their effort to silence the Marine Corps’ voice in Berkeley.

“They don’t seem to realize that this recruiting office is only for recruiting potential officers with college degrees, not kids right out of high school,” said Hamilton, who drove in from Pleasanton to become the only on-scene counterpoint to the demonstration. “Marines are willing to die so these people can have their say, but I wish they understood the situation better.”

Even the City Council is not of one voice on the matter.

The vote to award the Code Pink parking spot was 8-1, and the condemnation resolution was 6-3. On Thursday, the polarized emotions that went into those votes had not abated.

“I’m ashamed of my vote,” said Councilwoman Betty Olds, who helped approve the parking spot but not the condemnation. “The protesters should have free speech - this is where Free Speech was born, after all - but to tell the Marines they are not welcome is shameful. If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t even go for the parking spot.”

Councilwoman Dona Spring, however, said she would love to step up the pressure even more against the Marine recruiting office.

“We’re not condemning the men and women who serve, we are condemning the U.S. policy that is teaching the Marines and other military people to torture, oust other countries’ political leaders and do other evil things.”

Parting thoughts:

I am waiting for the City of Berkely, and others like it, to finally notice that their protests are misdirected.  After all, if you are at all savvy about government, you know the policy about Don’t Ask Don’t Tell concerning gays in the Military is not limited to the Marines, but to the Military in general.

And if you understand the Military, you know it does not exist in a vacuum.  The Military is directed by the president and congress, and that policy in particular was a product of President Bill Clinton.

So you should see that the protests of the war, and of the Military should really be a protest of the Federal government.

If that is the case, then as a City of Conscience I would expect that the City of Berkeley would immediately move to eschew all Federal funding, such as grants, endowments, earmarks, highway funds and even the funding for the University.

After all, the Federal Government has, in their opinions, used American lives in a war for oil and money.

So all that Federal money is really blood money.

Therefore, Sen DeMint should not need to threaten to cut finding, the City should refuse it as a matter of principle.

Unless, the money is more important then principle…but how could that be? 

Please, Berkeley, do the right thing.  We wouldn’t want to question your motives…

Previously:

• Here we go again: Berkeley California against the Military: Marines are “uninvited and unwelcome intruders” : Updated
• Code Pink vs Patriots in Berkley

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