I’ve been reminded to tell you who I am. I’m a mom, and I live in the kind of neighborhood Council member Betty Olds did when she said that during the Vietnam War she and the other moms all found a psychiatrist to declare their kids “crazy” in order to avoid the draft.
Now my neighborhood runs heavily to Volvos and Prius Hybrids, Spanish speaking gardeners, Peet’s coffee, skateboards and play dates where at least one adult is a nanny. Oddly enough, we have none of those things at our house, except the play dates, We drive American cars and eat too much red meat; even more conspicuously we have an American flag out front. I feel guilty about leaving it overnight without proper lighting, but I do it.
In a town where the School District apologized for caving in to the feds on “Opt Out” for military recruiters, and had to go buy classroom flags when a parent finally sued them …well, if you want to be really radical in Berkeley, be a conservative. My husband and I have a daughter 19 and sons 16 and 6.
I wrote to Betty Olds’ staff yesterday and will end with what I told them about why this issue matters so much to me.
“I have a kid at Cal, one at Berkeley High and one in Kindergarten. Appeasing terrorists doesn't work for me because it's my 6 year-old who will be drafted into the next war if we walk away from this one with a ‘kick me’ sign on our backs.”
Did I mention that I get carried away sometimes?
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