Public Comment

MARINE RECRUITING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Did you know you have to be a college graduate to sign up to be a Marine at the Berkeley Marine Recruiting Center? A high school student or even a college undergraduate cannot get recruited there. This recruiting of the college graduate is to train them as future officers. One must remember that the college graduate has a degree, a driver’s license, voting rights, can get married and can even legally drink, so I am sure he is quite capable of choosing a future career without the demonstrators Code Pink blocking his way. I am sure that these people are attempting to do good, but I feel their energy and time could be better serve by tutoring in the schools. And the Berkeley City Council should take a more liberal rather than a fascist view by supporting free speech in its home town. 

Martha Jones 

• 

UNCONSTITUTIONAL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It has been reported that the City Council is considering a watered down version of last week’s Code Pink resolutions. Essentially, they would come up with face-saving language affirming the city’s support for the troops, while repeating its opposition to the war. However the underlying resolution would stay in place: Code Pink would be exempted from the city’s usual fees It would also have a reserved parking space in front of the recruiting office from which to launch its protests, 

Nothing short of a full retraction will undo the harm done by the council’s caving to the demands of this raucous minority. Consider the following: 

1. The resolutions are clearly unconstitutional. A city may generally regulate the time place and manner for political speech. But it must be neutral and may not directly subsidize a particular political opinion in preference to others. Here in one resolution the council has waived fees for Code Pink, and reserved free space for it in the location most likely to disrupt the activities of the recruiting office. In a parallel resolution the council “applaud individuals and organizations such as code Pink [which] actively or passively by non-violent means the work of any military recruiter in the City of Berkeley.” On the face of it, the council has endorsed the content of Code Pink’s protest and materially aided it. They would not do this for others. What if a right-to-life group wanted to stage a protest in front of a Planned Parenthood office? The whole process has been tainted and there is no way to cover it up without a full rescission of both resolutions 

2. As an anti-war tactic, the resolutions are counter-productive. From the very beginning I was against the Vietnam war (as I am against the Iraq boondoggle today), but like many I had no choice but to go. I will never forget my feelings on coming back to the Oakland Army Base: As soon as we hit the ground, we tore off our uniforms, hid them in our bags, and walked out the door disguised as civilians. This was not because we were ashamed of what we had done, but rather because of the violent, unreasoning hatred we were sure to meet on so many East Bay streets. When will they ever learn? Unreasoning, self-righteous attacks on the people who really bear the burden of war do nothing to convert them; on the contrary, they create a level of bitterness which never goes away. 

3. The City Council needs to figure out how they got us into this mess. Time and again, the council majority votes for or against things, based not their merits but on the loud cries of a a few people who feel that they only need to shout a few code words (“racism,” “gentrification,” “discrimination”) to end all rational discussion. With a bit more courage, the councilmembers might have caught their breath, and asked the acting city attorney whether the resolutions were even legal. With a little more courage he would have told them the truth. There is also a tendency among those on the council who know better to compromise or abstain on important issues when you don’t think you can muster a majority. Sometimes, you’ve got to stand up for what you know is right, political consequences be damned. 

Nothing is more courageous than for a politician to admit that s/he might be wrong. I ask the City Council to please reverse themselves on Code Pink. 

David M. Wilson 

• 

EFFECTS ON BUSINESS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The City Council resolution concerning Code Pink and the Marine Recruiting Station has had a negative effect on the nearby merchants along Shattuck and University Avenue. This council action is yet another instance where the concerns of the business community have been ignored. 

The council apparently not only failed to consider how this controversy adversely impacts small businesses on a day-to-day basis, but also failed to consider the potential long-term consequences. 

I suggest that among those long-term effects are a reduction in number of consumers willing to shop in the downtown; increasing difficulty in filling already empty storefronts; possible failure of some currently viable retail businesses; and reluctance of developers to undertake the very projects (hotels, museums, cultural venues) which we all hope will contribute to the further revival of the downtown. 

I strongly urge the City Council reconsider their vote and resist taking sides in this disruptive protest in the heart of our downtown. There are many other ways in which the Council, or its individual members, can forcefully and effectively state their opposition to the war. Not all, however, need to impose such a high price on the very community the Council has been elected to nourish and protect. 

Mark McLeod 

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NO TOM, THE OTHER ENEMY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

My friend Mugg Muggles says it well: “If Tom Bates wants to go after an evil organization, he should leave the Marines alone and go after the University of California.” 

Carol Denney 

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THANKS TO CODE PINK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Marine recruiting in order to defend our country is like calling fire in a crowded theater, knowing there’s no fire. Both are against the law. Worse, Marines lie to convince vulnerable, diseducated people that there are benefits to enlisting. They are breaking the law and they need to be stopped. Hooray for Berkeley, again! And to Code Pink over and over. 

Norma J F Harrison 

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AN IMPORTANT VOTE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I want to thank the mayor and City Council for their vitally important vote to tell the Marines that, as much as we may love them as our sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, uncles and aunts, we don’t need recruiters here trying to fool our kids into joining up and becoming either invaders or war casualties. Come back after McCain’s hundred-year war is done and maybe we’ll reconsider. Please hold that line, City Council, and don’t betray us under the rightist duress that is growing. Hold that line, Tom, no matter their bullying threats.  

When a fellow—labelling himself a liberal in these pages—argues that council urging the Marine recruiters to leave our city is an infringement of their free speech we have entered the world of the sublime (satire, that is). Obviously, the Marine recruiters don’t get paid to argue politics, but to use material incentives to entice our youth into becoming fodder for the war machine. Equally important, free speech, in the First Amendment to the Constitution, was specifically granted to the people, not to government or corporations. Why? To protect the right to dissent without fear of government retribution, not to protect government’s right to recruit hired hands for the death and destruction machine of expansive imperialism nor even to protect other types of more legitimate job recruiting. The Bill of Rights contains the important rights granted to the common people (excluding slaves and Indians) by the nation’s founders.  

Meanwhile, rightists on the radio and in Congress hope to launch their rockets at Berkeley’s educational funding on the premise that we’ve become too smart for our britches and need to be dumbed down a bit more than the average dumbing down they’re presiding over. That’s the open threat to free speech, right there. We’ve good reason to fear these Dr. Strangelove clowns every day, not just when they rattle their rockets at us. They aren’t just a once in a while threat. Just listen to the Republican debates, my God, and the legitimization of torture. But to quote the other side of the aisle for a change: we better not cut and run from this fight, or we’ll be fighting in our own back yards in no time.  

There are too many hints that Congress and even the next President may not be able to scale back US aggression worldwide. No candidate dares to stand up to Israel or AIPAC. None talk of peace and partnership with Cuba. The US political class didn’t learn from their famous partnerships with our Shah, Suharto, Batista, Trujillo, Musharef etc. ad nauseum that selling tyrany and exploitation as democracy can appear to work at a distance via our magnificent Media machine but you never know who will pick up the pieces and rally the commoners at the other end of the big stick. More U.S. government allies, from Kenya to Mexico are now also into stealing elections, and how long can that go on without anti-American revolutions breaking out here and there. If we let this government have our kids this will never end until they’re all dead or broken. On the other hand, if we stand firmly against recruitment it might eventually “break the cycle of violence.”  

Marc Sapir 

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PEACE YES, MARINES NO 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Steven Donaldson wrote “many of the protesters are not from Berkeley.” What bearing does that have on the issue of Marine recruiting in Berkeley? The war affects all of us. 

I’m incredulous at the negativity toward the patriotic actions of Code Pink and others who object to the Marines in our community. As if giving the peace activists one parking space once a week is a bigger deal than the death and torture the Marines are selling at 64 Shattuck Square. As if we should do nothing to prevent our young people from being lied to and turned into warriors to carry out the Administrations’ illegal occupation and destruction of a defenseless people. As if the actions of right-wing Congress members to punish our community financially for its courageous stand against the violent war machine are valid. As if the right-wing false patriots coming from outside of Berkeley, who spew hatred and jingoism and attack our City Council and peaceful Berkeley values should be dictating how Berkeleyans should act and think. 

Don’t buy the mistaken argument that this is a free speech issue. Think about this: if we don’t stop the Bush Administration in its mad rush to destroy our Constitution in the service of this endless war, we can kiss our free speech rights goodbye. 

The Marines are free to speak and no one should interfere with that right. But the Marines aren’t just speaking; they’re conducting a business. We prohibit objectionable businesses in Berkeley. And we’re going to amend zoning regulations so military recruiters can’t locate their business near churches, schools, libraries, homes. 

Hundreds of people pass us each day and honk or give us the peace sign to show their support. Veterans walk by and tell us we’re right. Berkeley’s standing in the country and the world is being enhanced by our activism. We’re leading the way for people all over the country and giving people hope and courage. People have always said Berkeley is a crazy place. So what? We who live here can handle that silliness. We can hold our heads up with pride for taking a principled stand against the war machine. We can be proud of our City Council and Mayor for taking a risk and doing the right thing. We thank them for their strong stand on the side of peace and ending this war. Please thank them too—they represent the best of Berkeley. 

Cynthia Papermaster 

Code Pink 

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RESPECT FOR VETERANS? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The fact that the elected City of Berkeley officials claim to care about and respect veterans is rendered moot when they allow the Veterans Building to be turned into a urinal by the street people. 

David Krasnor 

• 

HIPPIES WITH NO SOLUTIONS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

When I accepted an offer to study at UC Berkeley from San Diego, I was constantly warned by my conservative brethren to watch out for those “long-haired hippies.” I never really thought they knew what they were talking about until I got here and saw for myself what a “rebellious” (relative to the rest of the country) place this was. However, I was disappointed to see that most of this disobedient ruckus was filled with anger but void of solutions. Such is the case with the newly created marine recruiting station on Shattuck. When I initially heard about the controversy, I immediately sided with the Marines, well aware of how naive some protesters can be. However, a more detailed investigation proceeded to change my mind on the issue. 

While I believe that living in a peaceful utopia is a lofty ideal, I side with the city of Berkeley that recruiting stations are terrible ideas, especially right next to a high school. I was appalled yesterday to walk by the Cal vs. Oregon basketball game and find an ARMY painted humvee advertising military service to curious young children. While I have a few friends in the marines and have the utmost respect for their courage, service and discipline, I think that it is morally wrong to use propaganda tactics to sell an ideal to impressionable youth. 

Sometimes you need to fight a war. But in those cases, we should not be spending government money to capture the young, innocent bystanders and then send them off to do the dirty work for us. If we go to war, it is something that our whole country needs to be behind, something that everyone is willing to fight for. In instances like this, I believe that just as in World War II, our countrymen and women will volunteer out of a sense of ethical imperative, not out of financial or emotional incentives. 

Tei Newman 

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SHORTSIGHTED VIEWS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Something seems to have been left out of the debate on the City Council/Code Pink/Marine Corps fiasco. Code Pink and a majority of the council are concerned about our invasion of Iraq and the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gay servicemen and women Nothing wrong with that—except that there’s an inevitability about conservative views in the military, given the preponderance of officers and enlisted personnel hailing from the most conservative parts of the country.  

Yet Code Pink and our council see nothing wrong in discouraging young people from more liberal backgrounds—especially UC Berkeley graduates at whom the Marines are aiming—from joining (or even, for god’s sake, inquiring about) our armed forces. 

Shortsightedness over free speech, combined with dimwittedness over the need to broaden the intake to the military, didn’t make for a series of council decisions anyone can be proud of. But it’s the kind of thing that is bound to happen when councilmembers grandstand on foreign or national matters they weren’t elected to deal with.  

What they need to do now (with heads down and tails between legs) is to concentrate on the matters they were elected to deal with, and hope that by November all will be forgiven.  

Revan Tranter 

• 

A SOLUTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I may have a solution to the issue of free speech for military recruiters. This issue if far from simple and straightforward. In fact, speech is limited and regulated in all sorts of ways, both for private citizens and when it is performed by representatives of particular interests.  

In the case of military recruiters, the right to express their opinions as private citizens differs from their rights to act on behalf of a particular government agency. In this case, it seems to me, we are not regulating their free speech rights, but the activities of an agency. 

Lenders and sellers find their speech constrained in all sorts of ways. Thanks to years of consumer struggles, and over their rigorous protests, they are no longer free to lie and hoodwink people, or at least not as free as they once were. All sorts of disclosure statements must be provided and their speech is strictly regulated. 

Drug companies are not free to make false or unsubstantiated claims about their products. This is not the same as constraining an individual from singing the praises of a particular drug, and telling friends it cured his warts, baldness, sex drive, and so on. If it turns out this individual is on the payroll of the company, however, it becomes a different matter. Physicians and researchers are required to disclose any financial ties they might have to a drug company when they make recommendations or report research results. Scientific researchers are required to disclose financial ties to corporate interest. 

The freedom to express opinions enjoyed by a cop, social worker or any other public service employee, as a private citizen, is often regulated and constrained when this same person is on the job. The activities of government agencies and their employees are regulated in thousands of ways. Even private citizens have their speech regulated in some ways when there is a consensus that this is in the interest of the community. 

Here is a possible solution for the issue of military recruiters. They should be allowed to continue their recruitment activities but be required to offer full disclosure, in writing, of the following: personal liabilities - the incidence of death, maiming, mental disorders and any other potential negative consequences of signing up; interests—who is backing and benefiting from the war; how much money is being made by what corporations and individuals; social liabilities—how much the war is costing and will cost future generations of citizens. 

Carl Shames 

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CODE PINK’S GOT IT WRONG 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding Marine recruiting in Berkeley, Code Pink is way off-base. A different approach would be more fun. Start a social action group, Code Green, supporting “Logic-free, Free Speech” zones. Start with the Marines. Wave people into the recruiting office. Hand out official Marine recruiting literature along with green donuts. Use a Marine recording of “Halls of Montezuma,” the last verse of which goes: 

If the Army and the Navy 

Ever look on Heaven’s scenes 

They will find the streets are guarded 

By United States Marines. 

There’s a lot of logic-free material to work with when it comes to solving disputes with violence, whether it’s official or unofficial. 

Robert Gable 

• 

CLOSE ALL THE  

RECRUITING CENTERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a member of Veterans for Peace, I was asked to join Code Pink at their demonstration against the Marine Recruiting Station in Berkeley. I did so because I supported what they are doing, and, in spite of all criticism, I continue to support these colorful women. 

I enlisted in the Marines in 1957 at a Marine recruiting office on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, as I recall. It was a spur of the moment sort of thing, and if there hadn’t been a recruiting station there, I might never have enlisted. So, if the Code Pink action keeps one young person from joining the Marines, I think it is worthwhile. 

Personally, I have no complaints against the Marines. I did a dumb- ass thing, served my time, and got out with my mind and body relatively intact. But that was after Korea and before Vietnam. Not so with young people today who are almost certain to be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan where they will quite likely be required to kill other human beings and where they themselves will be put in danger of being killed or maimed for life. In 1957, I thought this was OK. It took the intellectual and moral ferment surrounding the resistance to the Vietnam War to make me realize that this is not true. It is not OK to kill other people, even if the President and his friends say it is. This is not simply my personal opinion. It was affirmed by the Nuremburg judgment: 

“War is essentially an evil thing. Its consequences are not confined to the belligerent states alone, but affect the whole world. To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.” 

Supporters of the war frequently claim that the troops are protecting our right to protest. Not so. Here’s what Marine Corp General Smedley D. Butler had to say in 1933: 

“I spent 33 years and four months in active military service as a member of this country’s most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle- man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. 

I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all the members of the military profession, I never had a thought of my own until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service. 

I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912 (where have I heard that name before?). I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested. 

During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. Looking back on it, I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.” 

General Butler’s words remain true. The Marine Corps and the rest of the military industrial complex have managed to protect American capitalism, but this has not contributed to the freedom and well being of working class Americans. To the contrary, we are less free, less secure, and less well off because of their activities. 

Closing the Marine recruiting office in Berkeley is but one step. We need to close down all the military recruiting stations in the country, bring our troops home from Iraq, Afghanistan, and everywhere else, and honor the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, in which the United States agreed “to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.” 

Gene Ruyle 

Peace and Freedom candidate,  

10th Congressional District  

(El Cerrito, Walnut Creek, etc) 

• 

AN ANTI-WAR VIETNAM VET  

URGES RESTRAINT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The official and ungracious Berkeley City Council opposition to the Marine recruiting office in a business district has brought back unwelcome memories of 40 years standing. 

In 1968 I returned to my university as a law student, after four years of active duty as a destroyer officer in the Tonkin Gulf and intelligence officer on shore, convinced by personal experience that the Vietnam War was grounded in falsehood and false hopes. The immediate antiwar plea of that moment was to remove ROTC from university campuses. I recall conversations with my classmates: my security clearance prevents me from telling you how completely right you are to oppose this war, but how wrong you are in your form of opposition. Often in my naval service the voices of chauvinism were overcome by the Navy captain or Air Force colonel, a graduate of my or a similar university, who imposed restraint, discipline, and historical perspective. We needed then, and need now, the best diversity within the ranks of a citizen-military. 

Many unfortunate adjectives can be used to describe the implications of the City Council’s efforts to kick the Marine captain out of Berkeley. In our aspirations to bring an end to the present war, and have Berkeley stand in the forefront of that campaign, the City Council has at best scored an embarrassing own goal. The council majority owe their constituents and the nation not merely rescission, not merely apology, but call to protect each adult’s choice of a military career free of verbal and physical intimidation. 

Members of the Council should look a few short years down the line, when the next Commander in Chief will need the best military available to carry out his or her directives to provide humanitarian aid, stand in the way of ethnic cleansing, or finally bring Osama Bin Laden to justice. As a citizen and veteran I will feel more secure knowing that the next President’s military includes a handful of graduates of Berkeley High and of our Berkeley campus, bringing to their ranks the best of Berkeley values. 

Antonio Rossmann 

• 

HOW TO DO YOUR JOB 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a long-time resident of this city, thank you to the City Council for once again embarrassing me. Why is it so difficult for you digressive, not progressive people to focus on what we, the citizens of Berkeley, need? Leave the military alone! 

Your job which you are so oblivious to perform is the following: 

• Finish repaving Gilman between San Pablo Avenue to the I-80 entrance 

• Making sure pot-holes are filled, especially on Gilman near I-80 entrance 

• Making sure pot-holes are filled on University between San Pablo and Sacramento Street. 

• Stop creating those stupid intersection circles. 

• Stop creating those parking planters which take up parking spaces on University Avenue between Milvia and Shattuck Avenue. 

• Stop allowing able-bodied people, especially young people sit around like they’re helpless throughout the city. 

• Investigate as to why black Americans of African descent are being forced out of Berkeley. 

• Investigate as to why the percentage of Americans of African descent who were property owners has dwindled to less than 9 percent of the population. 

• Investigate why Berkeley has now become the home of the privileged. 

• Investigate why Berkeley has not maintained a working-class citizenry. 

• Investigate why only the elitist, the entitled, the white privileged are over 70 percent of the population. 

• Investigate as to why the Berkeley Police Department has done a Back-to-the-Future change by hiring predominately white police department employees; sworn specifically when Black officers and employees retire. 

• Investigate as to why long-time black sworn officers of great character and experience are being overlooked for staff positions. 

• Investigate as to why Ross was allowed to close. 

• Investigate as to why traditional American type businesses like Ross, Target, Red Lobster, Payless Shoe Source, International House of Pancakes are either being kicked out or not encouraged to open/stay in Berkeley. 

• Investigate as to why smaller cities like Emeryville and El Cerrito are truly diverse and expanding their business base, but not Berkeley. 

• Investigate as to why the BUSD continues to promotes white-based education where a large percentage of children of color to 12th grade attend Berkeley schools. 

• Investigate as to why there is a very small percentage of Latino and black American teachers in BUSD. 

• Stop idiot people from crossing the streets against the red light with no penalty of citation giving to them. 

Should I keep going?........ 

• Investigate as to why there is a decline of black businesses in Berkeley. 

• Investigate as to why there is such a dramatic influx of non-American businesses. 

• Investigate as to why when black and white men stand on same corner as Latino men on Fourth Street area, no one approaches them for work. 

• Investigate why you continue to make city employees rob people of their hard earned money when the parking meters do not work properly. 

• Investigate as to why the public is allowed to spit, expose of gum, cigarettes, defecate and liter on the sidewalks and other public areas and not be cited/jailed. 

• Investigate as to why black men are being allowed to loiter, be a threat to the safety of others especially when obvious drug dealing occurs next to the BPD Substation. 

• Stop the thieves (fancy financiers) from taking homes of the elderly, especially of black Americans of African descent. 

Stop promoting perverted activities. 

• Start promoting those activities that are good, right and healthy. 

• Repave Gilman between San Pablo Avenue to the I-80 entrance on both sides! 

Represent the citizens! Code Pink doesn’t represent me nor the rest of the citizens! 

Recall Bates and Spring! 

Leave the military alone!  

Robin Haizlit