Props to Caosblog for her blogs on this story.  Her coverage has been great.

Like me, she has been surrounded by Military people her whole life, and this a personal issue to her.

So it isn't just me.  And more and more comments are coming to me from people who feel the same way, both military people and civilians.

We start with her story:

My son and the recruiter, Debbie Lee, Gold Star Mom & Berkeley

My son is in the Army, not the Marines. But my dad is a former marine, my Uncle is a former marine, and my younger son went to the Marine Military Academy in Harlingen, Texas, slept in a barracks, trained and had PT with former marines and was an officer in the Marine Corps Junior ROTC there.

I love my men in uniform, and I have to say - with all my friendships with current and former military personnel, I love the culture, the people, the sense of family, the sense of duty, honor, country. I love the pomp and circumstance, the ceremonies, the recognition. And they know how to turn a kid around. They should; they’ve been doing it for over 100 years.

There is a good point there that is oft overlooked, that being that while it is obvious that the Military needs people, we tend to forget that some people really need the Military.

I can say from experience that I am not the same person I would have been had I not served as I did.  For one thing, I appreciated my freedoms...like the freedom to quit my job.  When I worked at a retail store, I heard the younger people complaining about the job and the bosses...and suddenly I laughed, because I realized that they had the choice to quit and go somewhere else at any time.

Ok that's unfair, but frankly, the Patriots did not play to their usual greatness. That coupled with a New York team that refused to admit they were the underdog made this just about the best damn game, ever.

I love underdogs.  I love when the talking heads are wrong.

Congrats to the Patriots for a hell of a season and Congrats to the Giants for one hell of a game.

 Trackposted to Rosemary's Thoughts, A Blog For All, guerrilla radio, 123beta, Right Truth, Big Dog's Weblog, Cao's Blog, The Pet Haven, Conservative Cat, Adeline and Hazel, third world county, Faultline USA, Nuke Gingrich, Woman Honor Thyself, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, The World According to Carl, Pirate's Cove, Blue Star Chronicles, Celebrity Smack, The Pink Flamingo, Wolf Pangloss, CORSARI D'ITALIA, A Newt One, Dumb Ox Daily News, Right Voices, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

First of all I will say briefly that I am encouraged by the building support against Berkeley.  The fact that I have seen so many local comments from people who are aghast at the total idiocy of this situation, particularly from the oh so liberal Seattle, was a bit of a surprise (I expected much more push back), but then again Code Pink (note please my restraint to not call them Code Pinko as so many others do) has always been an extremist fringe group.

This blog will be looking at the actual city council resolution and seeing just what they actually said.  It will also talk about the Mayor's attempts to make everyone happy and save face.  And I will link to the petition now active concerning this.

First, the resolution.  A commenter linked me to the actual city record search.  Interesting stuff.

First, here is the letter sent to the City Council and Mayor by the Peace and Justice Commission concerning the Marines.  A first read makes it sound like a Moveon.org or Code Pink manifesto, but in fact, this is an official commission whose members, according to the link above, are appointed by "Each Councilmember and School Director". 

So, bearing that in mind, this is the official advice they gave the Mayor and the City Council concerning the Marines (emphasis mine):

To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Peace and Justice Commission
Submitted by:Steve Freedkin, Chairperson
Subject: Marine Recruiting Office in Berkeley

RECOMMENDATION
(1) Direct the City Attorney to investigate and report back to Council within 60 days on City options for enforcing Chapter 13.28 of the Berkeley Municipal Code, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, with respect to military recruiting offices in Berkeley; (2) direct the City Manager to send letters to the Marine Corps Recruiting Station at 64 Shattuck Avenue and to General James T. Conway, Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, advising them that the Marine recruiting office is not welcome in our city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders; and (3) encourage all people to avoid cooperation with the Marine Corps recruiting station, and applaud residents and organizations such as Code Pink, that may volunteer to impede, passively or actively, by nonviolent means, the work of any military recruiting office located in the City of Berkeley.