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It was a long day in Berkley California on February 12, 2008, with the pro-military Move America Forward organization, there to protest the Berkeley City Council resolution, which called the Marine recruiters,"uninvited and unwelcome intruders."
Starting at 5am, in the town of Berkley,media was out in full, flags flying high, veterans from every branch of the military were there to show support to their brother and sisters in arms, Move America Forward with bullhorns and patriotic songs and the group Code Pink, an anti-military group, holding a sign that read "JOIN the MARINES, Travel to exotic lands, Meet exciting and unusual people, AND KILL THEM"
Code Pink has been camped outside the Marine recruiting office on Shattuck Avenue for the last four months, singing peace songs and chanting slogans for an end to the Iraq war.
The original resolution set off a firestorm in the media and in the blogosphere and council member Gordon Wozniak, who opposed the council's actions two weeks ago on the recruiting station, said that he personally had received 26,000 e-mails on the subject in the past 10 days ( 24,000 supporting the Marines, 2,000 against), and he is just one of nine council members.
Wozniak goes on to say "On a hot issue, we sometimes get a couple hundred e-mails.I've never seen anything like this. I'm getting one every five minutes. It's huge."
Mr. Wozniak is right, when you do a google news search right now, there are 530 news articles listed as the number.
 (Melanie Morgan and members of Move America Forward at a rally held in Berkeley Ca., February 12, 2008-- Photo courtesy of Move America Forward)
The battle lines were drawn, the city council wasn't meeting until 5 pm, so for twelve hours reports and photos were coming in, via media, via Move America Forward members and from every day citizens that were outraged at the city councils resolution as well as the group, Code Pink's, continued harassment and insults thrown at the Marines in Berkeley.
Some of those Berkeley local citizen, stood tall firmly with Move America Forward and against Code Pink, holding signs telling Code Pink that "they" weren't welcome.
 (Cityof Berkeley members holding a sign saying "NO more PINK in our town"- Photo courtesy of Move America Forward)
According to police an American flag was set on fire outside the City Council chambers, damaging a pair of bicycles.
Four people were arrested before the meeting even began and from an email sent by Cat Moyer of Move America Forward "terrorist-supporting anti-war group crossed into Martin Luther King Park and assaulted pro-troop individuals. Riot police stood by, but did not stop the assaults. Police agencies did not respond to calls for help."
Two of those arrested were boys ages 13 and 15, for scuffling with a Marine supporters and a third was Luisa Romero De Los Angeles, an 18-year-old Berkeley resident who they say slapped a police officer who told her to back away as she demanded they release the two boys who had been arrested earlier.
The fourth was a man wielding a knife.
The portion of the city council meeting that was scheduled with the controversial resolution didn't start until 9pm and for three hours they heard from more than 100 speakers, mostly from the citizens of Berkley and early into Wednesday morning,when it came time for the vote, 7-to-2 voted to rescind the previous letter to the Berkeley Marines, calling the marine recruiters unwelcome and instead stating its opposition to the war as well as acknowledging "we recognize the recruiter's right to locate in our city and the right of others to protest or support their presence."
 (Signs held by the pro-military rally members, one showing the Army support for the Marines, another calling the Berkley council "The Few. The Proud. The Insane"-- Photos courtesy of Move America Forward)
Debbie Lee, a member of Move America Forward, whose son Marc Lee was the first Navy SEAL to die in the Iraq war, demanded an apology from the council. She told the council "My son gave up his life for you. I'm appalled at what you did."
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, some council members agree with Ms. Lee, that they owe the U.S. Troops as well as their own citizens an apology.
They also quote Gordon Wozniak "To err is human but to really screw up it takes the Berkeley City Council. We failed our city. We embarrassed our city."
The full council decided, however, not to issue a formal apology for their previous resolution, nor did they apologize to their own citizens.
Melanie Morgan, chairman of Move America Forward, has some after action reports on her site, and you can find more photos courtesy of Move America Forward over at my personal blog:
http://wwwwakeupamericans-spree.blogspot.com/2008/02/showdown-started-early-in-berkeley-all.html
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Great follow-up Susan and the visuals are great. This certainly is a huge topic.
BTW: When I do a Google News search for Berkeley I get more than 14,000 results!
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@ Chris Hogg
Great follow-up Susan and the visuals are great. This certainly is a huge topic.
BTW: When I do a Google News search for Berkeley I get more than 14,000 results!
It keeps rising....awesome!!!
I will call Melanie after the dust settles and get some followup quotes about the event.
Thanks Chris!!!! -
Great report Susan that shows where most Americans stand.
It is good to see so many that stand up for those who fight for and defend our country.
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Thanks for the follow-up, Susan. This has sure blossomed into hot news!
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Your coverage of the stand has undoubtedly been the jewel in the links out there and here Susan. Good show. It was fun watching the links stack up as the clock tick-tocked.
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Thanks Cynthia, Debra and Helena. Yes this is and was big and I am glad to have played a small part of covering it.
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"The full council decided, however, not to issue a formal apology for their previous resolution, nor did they apologize to their own citizens."
Nope, and they won't, either. To offer forth an apology would imply that they felt remorse for what they did. They don't...
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Posted Feb 13, 2008 by MEA |
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#8
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It must have been reminiscent of the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich back in the thirties.
I'm embarrassed by the council's decision to give in to military pressure--it didn't even have nerve enough to wait for the gunfire.
How are such people going to govern a nation?
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@ MEA
It must have been reminiscent of the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich back in the thirties.
I'm embarrassed by the council's decision to give in to military pressure--it didn't even have nerve enough to wait for the gunfire.
How are such people going to govern a nation?
In case you didn't actually READ the links and such, it wasn't MILITARY pressure it was PUBLIC pressure and the majority of it came from their own citizenry, which they are SUPPOSED to represent.
You really need to actually click links and read the whole thing before commenting, because you would have known that if you had.
Just a hint. -
Just got a Letter from Joe Wierzbicki, part of Move America Forward and he was in Berkeley yesterday:
Begin email------
We are exhausted, spent, drained, aching, sleep-deprived…
but also exhilarated, motivated, and determined that we will continue to fight on every street corner in every town across this country whenever any individual or group or government body attempts to do what Berkeley has done these past few weeks: dishonor our troops and their brave and honorable service to this nation.
Yesterday that meant going into the Belly of the Beast, where the city was against us, the cops were NOT there to protect us, and the decked was totally stacked against us (by teachers who let their students out of class with the instruction to go take part in their "civic duty", by city officials who made us go through hoops but then emboldened Code Pink to attack our supporters, by city officials who told our supporters that they could ONLY speak to the Council if they first marched through riot police to stand among the violent mob of anarchists and aggressors from International ANSWER, World Can't Wait and anarchist groups).
But we did it, and we did it in numbers (the pro-military crowd grew and shrank throughout the all-day AND all-night event, in the morning and afternoon hours varying between dozens and hundreds only to swell to the point that the media said 2,000 or so folks were lined up outside the City Council chambers before the meeting began).
It was an amazing day, Susan, and although the Berkeley City Council couldn't bring themselves to issue a formal apology to our troops (they couldn't get a 5-vote majority to agree on WHO they should apologize to), we had them listening to our testimony for hours on end, and then listened with glee as at lesats 5 or 6 members on the Council did "mea culpa" statements about how they had screwed up in one fashion or another with their actions.
Again - they couldn't get a majority to agree on WHAT SPECIFICALLY they screwed up on, but they knew that they had made a disgrace out of Berkeley, and ya know what -- in an odd way they managed to unite this country behind our troops at a time when the Code Pink crowd are trying to undermine support for the troops.
Game. Set. Match. And in Berkeley of all places. What a great achievement for the pro-troop movement!
End Email-------------------------
Thanks Joe!!!!!
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Posted Feb 13, 2008 by MEA |
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#11
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@ Sue D.
In case you didn't actually READ the links and such, it wasn't MILITARY pressure it was PUBLIC pressure and the majority of it came from their own citizenry, which they are SUPPOSED to represent.
You really need to actually click links and read the whole thing before commenting, because you would have known that if you had.
Just a hint.
You are so naive. -
LOLOLOL... Don't like being called on your commenting without bothering to find out the facts huh?
Thanks for the laugh, I needed it today, been too busy to breathe much less find amusement.
It is appreciated.
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so now its all over the pinks lost and we are all happy flag wavers what a great feat for america
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FANTASTIC! There isn't a proper "accolade button" here for this!
I thought these people were all for peace!
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@ Randyscandy
so now its all over the pinks lost and we are all happy flag wavers what a great feat for america
You're finally starting to understand, bunny foo foo :) -
@ Mr Garibaldi
You're finally starting to understand, bunny foo foo :)
One anti-Americanist group at a time...one at a time. -
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Posted Feb 14, 2008 by MEA |
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#17
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@ Sue D.
LOLOLOL... Don't like being called on your commenting without bothering to find out the facts huh?
Thanks for the laugh, I needed it today, been too busy to breathe much less find amusement.
It is appreciated.
You are certainly not amusing. I didn't laugh with the NAZIs and I am not laughing with the BUSHIs -
@ MEA
You are certainly not amusing. I didn't laugh with the NAZIs and I am not laughing with the BUSHIs
That really doesn't bother me because I have noticed that a certain group of people are unable to stand back and look at things objectively because they are "obsessed" with Bush.
There are treatments available for BDS.
BTW, considering I am Jewish, I can tell you that comparisons between Hitler and Bush is always a sure telltale sign of those suffering with BDS. -
@ Sue D.
That really doesn't bother me because I have noticed that a certain group of people are unable to stand back and look at things objectively because they are "obsessed" with Bush.
There are treatments available for BDS.
BTW, considering I am Jewish, I can tell you that comparisons between Hitler and Bush is always a sure telltale sign of those suffering with BDS.
LOL ............ 8 ) -
Is it only me, or are lensman and MEA one and the same? Yikes.
Anyway, I am still quite disgusted with Berkeley City Council on this whole issue and there is an excellent Editorial in the San Jose Mercury News entitled Berkeley council becomes home to intolerance that sort of mirrors my feelings about the outcome of this action. I really wish that an apology was given for the whole incident and that the special privileges Code Pink are accorded were rescinded.
My favorite quote from this whole thing is from Berkeley Council member Gordon Wozniak who said during the meeting held on Tuesday: " To err is human. But to really screw up, it takes the Berkeley City Council." -
You said a mouthful gohomelaker and I agree 100%. They screwed up and then the newest version actually contradicts the other resolution and I don't think anyone at all believes that they didn't do it because of the massive backlash that hit them from their deliberate anti-military stance and for fear of losing federal funding and earmarks.
Thanks for that link, reading it now.
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GREAT article gohomelaker!!
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Is it only me, or are lensman and MEA one and the same? Yikes.
8 )..... how many disembodied, symbiont heads are needed to screw in an opinion or viewpoint......... -
@ Helena Handbasket
8 )..... how many disembodied, symbiont heads are needed to screw in an opinion or viewpoint.........
It "could" just be that unlike our variety of reasoning and opinions on the topic, "some" just read from the same script that the talking heads prepare for them.
Spin is like that. -
@ Carolyn E. Price (gohomelaker)
Is it only me, or are lensman and MEA one and the same? Yikes.
Well, if they would change up the verbiage a little we wojuldn't be able to tell.
Maybe this is how it got the Master Debater Award...debates itself because it changes sides so often and no matter which one loses, it wins.
Aren't there doctors for that? -
@ Mark L Harvey
Well, if they would change up the verbiage a little we wojuldn't be able to tell.
Maybe this is how it got the Master Debater Award...debates itself because it changes sides so often and no matter which one loses, it wins.
Aren't there doctors for that?
Probably.
I am SOOOO damn proud of Move America Forward and every single person that emailed their petition around, spread the word, showed up or simply made their voices heard with emails to the council members.
Everyone did what they could and it made a difference.
It also showed OUR TROOPS, that the loudest ISN'T the majority and the majority has decided that they are more than capable of drowning out the minority and their loud shrill voices of anger and bitterness.
What happened to our Vietnam veterans will NOT happen again and Move America Forward and the groups they are affiliated with are seeing to it. -
@ Sue D.
Probably.
I am SOOOO damn proud of Move America Forward and every single person that emailed their petition around, spread the word, showed up or simply made their voices heard with emails to the council members.
Everyone did what they could and it made a difference.
It also showed OUR TROOPS, that the loudest ISN'T the majority and the majority has decided that they are more than capable of drowning out the minority and their loud shrill voices of anger and bitterness.
What happened to our Vietnam veterans will NOT happen again and Move America Forward and the groups they are affiliated with are seeing to it.
.... warms the cockles of hearts at home and abroad. An inspiring stand. -
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@ Helena Handbasket
.... warms the cockles of hearts at home and abroad. An inspiring stand.
yes it is.
@ Mark L Harvey
OFF TOPIC!!
Republicans JUST walked out!
Well, the Dems just keep proving why they are known to be weak on National Security. The had six months to get their job done on FISA, the piddled around and needed an extension on Feb. 1, then they piddled around some more and tried and failed miserably yesterday to get another extension and now they are just going to let it lapse?
They constantly show us why THIS Congress has the lowest approval ratings in the history of Congressional approval polling.
Incapable, incompetent and weak. -
This letter from a Marine Mom is too heartwrenching to not share here.
Found in the comment section of my blog from Grateful Marine Mom:
A Letter to Berkeley and Code Pink:
"Bring home our troops." This has become your battle cry, but I beseech you, please don't cry for my son.
If you must, cry instead for the naive little girl who scratches at the walls of a bottomless pit, a baby herself, raising babies, dependent on pittance from the same socialist heroes who told her it's natural for her to be sexually active. Grieve with the parents of a child who fell victim to a pedophile. Reassure them their loss serves the greater good, as our First Amendment right to access the most abysmally cruel and graphically primal images conceivable remains paramount. Weep for the drop-out who, while familiar with humanism, condoms, and how many moms has Heather, can barely read. Ache for the drug-addicted youth whose body is so sick he will do anything for money and pity him at 18, when the state assigns him a cell. Having relegated to the taxpayer, all the social povery you've manufactured, be contrite about your part in it, but please don't cry for my son.
While you are busy vascillating between undermining the troops and protesting too much that you undermine the troops, he will continue to put your life ahead of his.
It is ironic that you will fight your own countrymen in the name of not fighting your enemy. With the luxury of denying the extremists believe they are honor-bound by doctrine to kill us, you feign a legitimate place in this debate. In truth, you merely cast aspersions toward our troops and tie effective surveillance strategies into political knots, lest we actually gain insight and avoid bloodshed.
For those of you who genuinely care about our troops, please take a bow. your message has been heard, but at this point, only fortifies our enemies. To the rest of you, at least have the honesty to stop pretending your efforts are for other than your own gain. Don't cry for my son. He is an American hero.
The Mother of a United States Marine
Grateful Marine Mom | 02.14.08 - 3:00 pm | #
Yes Ma'am, he IS a hero.
Move America Forward...take your bow because the troops and their families are watching and are grateful. -
That is so profound...I'm speechless. Very beautiful in it's own right...this Marine mother is a hero, as well!
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@ Debra Myers (skyangel)
That is so profound...I'm speechless. Very beautiful in it's own right...this Marine mother is a hero, as well!
I agree. I get so many people that show me their letters to the Berkeley city council and from Marines themselves as well as members of other branches and they are grateful for the efforts of people that stand up for them AND feel sorrow for the attacks that anti-military members throw at them. -
@ Sue D.
I agree. I get so many people that show me their letters to the Berkeley city council and from Marines themselves as well as members of other branches and they are grateful for the efforts of people that stand up for them AND feel sorrow for the attacks that anti-military members throw at them.
That's awesome, Susan...that they do want to share things like this with you. -
@ Debra Myers (skyangel)
That's awesome, Susan...that they do want to share things like this with you.
I feel humbled that in my short amount of time blogging I have recieved such positive feedback from military members and especially those IN Iraq that leave comments and email me things to publish as well as having the unique opportunity to have done some interviews with those whose boots are on the ground.
Speaking of boots on the ground, the U.S. Army Chief of Engineers has launched a blog to keep people apprised of the progress with the Reconstruction efforts in Iraq, news that even he says he is disappointed that the MSM is not reporting.
A wonderful opportunity to get our own news, bypassing the MSM totally. -
@ Sue D.
I feel humbled that in my short amount of time blogging I have recieved such positive feedback from military members and especially those IN Iraq that leave comments and email me things to publish as well as having the unique opportunity to have done some interviews with those whose boots are on the ground.
Speaking of boots on the ground, the U.S. Army Chief of Engineers has launched a blog to keep people apprised of the progress with the Reconstruction efforts in Iraq, news that even he says he is disappointed that the MSM is not reporting.
A wonderful opportunity to get our own news, bypassing the MSM totally.
I'm sure it is humbling...but I don't think there's anyone more suited than you! I bookmarked the blog...and will get back to it when I can later...too many irons in the fire at the moment! -
@ Debra Myers (skyangel)
I'm sure it is humbling...but I don't think there's anyone more suited than you! I bookmarked the blog...and will get back to it when I can later...too many irons in the fire at the moment!
Thank you, that means a lot to me...a whole lot. Quite a compliment. -
@ Sue D.
Thank you, that means a lot to me...a whole lot. Quite a compliment.
:) -
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Posted Feb 15, 2008 by MEA |
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#38
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@ Sue D.
That really doesn't bother me because I have noticed that a certain group of people are unable to stand back and look at things objectively because they are "obsessed" with Bush.
There are treatments available for BDS.
BTW, considering I am Jewish, I can tell you that comparisons between Hitler and Bush is always a sure telltale sign of those suffering with BDS.
The Israelis are no longer an oppressed minority.
And American Jews are as fat as the rest of the rest of the booboisie.
Both were pleased by BUSHI aggression in Afghanistan and Iraq--just as the axis were pleased by NAZI occupation of of central Europe in the thirties. -
Your BDS is shining through, might wanna go powder that....LOL
Night everyone.
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@ Sue D.
Your BDS is shining through, might wanna go powder that....LOL
Night everyone.
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Berkeley City Council Rescinds Anti-Marine Vote
