Investor's Business Daily, February 4th, 2008
Radicalism: Voltaire once said he might disagree with what you say, but would defend to the death your right to say it. Needless to say, Voltaire did not live in Berkeley, Calif.
Free speech, as we now know, has its limits. You can't shout "fire!" in the proverbial theatre. You can't say bad things, or nice things, about the candidate you support within a specified period before a primary or general election.
And now, apparently, you cannot ask the people of Berkeley if they want to be soldiers.
The good fathers of Berkeley -- who, if not for the U.S. military, might today be bowing to the emperor in Tokyo -- voted last week on a number of measures designed to force the lone Marine recruiting office in town, which opened for business about a year ago, to shutter its doors.
By an 8-1 vote, the city council told the Marines that they and their recruiting station are not welcome, and "if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome guests." Never mind that the daily bravery of Marines and others in uniform give Berkeley's pols the right to speak and participate in such nonsense.
Guests who are welcome in Berkeley include the loons at Code Pink, to whom the council granted a reserved parking space in front of the recruiting station so protestors wouldn't hurt their sandaled feet by walking too far. They also got a noise waiver. (The council should be advised that it is a federal crime to willingly impede or interfere with military recruiting.)
"I believe in the Code Pink cause," said Mayor Tom Bates. "The Marines don't belong here, they shouldn't have come here, and they should leave."
This is the same Code Pink that wants to treat the Marines like sexual predators running a porn shop. The group is circulating a petition for the November ballot barring recruiting stations from setting up within a specified distance of homes, parks, schools, churches, libraries, etc. Oh, yeah, did we mention property rights don't matter in the People's Republic of Berkeley either?
The council also voted to explore whether the military's, and the Marines', "don't ask, don't tell" policy violates the city's anti-discrimination law. That law was passed by Congress, and if the city council has an issue, it should take it up with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco.
The motion approved by the council includes a number of remarkable statements such as: "The United States has a history of launching illegal, immoral and unprovoked wars of aggression" and "military recruiters are salespeople known to lie and seduce minors."
We wonder if a community like Berkeley would prohibit police department recruiting of new gendarmes because, well, you know, you couldn't have police brutality without the police. Should law enforcement therefore be barred from asking its citizens if they want to be cops?
U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican, proposes denying Berkeley federal money. "The First Amendment gives the city of Berkeley the right to be idiotic," he said, "but from now on they should do it with their own money."
We understand his outrage, but the people of Berkeley should not pay for their council's irrationality.
The Marines say they have no intention of leaving under fire, which they haven't done from the Halls of Montezuma to the streets of Berkeley. They're always on the lookout for a few good men, though the pickings at Berkeley City Hall are slim.
Memo to Mayor Bates and his ungrateful Berkeley song-and-dance team: Don't worry. The Marines disagree with what you say, but they will defend to the death your right to say it.
