On the Eve of the Siege of Shattuck Square:

Below is a comment I posted on an article by Catherine Moy earlier today. It explains where things seem to be here, at the moment. The only additional stuff I know is that the Chamber of Commerce has forgiven the Mayor, and the Mayor has continued to say stupid things about the Marines. He was also quoted yesterday saying that it he wasn't surprised the Semper Fi Act failed...because the actions of a City government shouldn't have federal consequences. I suppose that ties in with my comment below about actions and consequences. I hope Guy Houston succeeds where the Senate failed. Such arrogance shouldn't go unpunished.

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There's a really interesting dynamic here with regards to the protesters. At first the protest at Shattuck Square was just Code PINK -- and it was just annoying and rude. After the City Council's mistake of 1/29 which included language encouraging people to impede the recruiters by any non-violent means (not any legal means) a group called World Can't Wait! showed up. They've done most of the "in-your-face" actions attracted attention outside of Berkeley. For some reason both groups are happy that Code PINK get the publicity for much of what WCW! has done (hence the orange jumpsuited men instead of dumpy pink women).

Unfortunately, the presence of Move America Forward in October and February, made it possible for the locals to say all the pro-American demonstrators were from out of town, when in fact there are many here who still think of Berkeley as a subset of the United States. Its worth the confusion to have seen an ocean of American flags in the "People's Republic of Berkeley".

The two main groups, WCW! and CP employ very different strategies in the Siege of Shattuck Square. Code PINK mostly just hangs around, and complains of "harassment" when the Police enforce existing laws and permits. They complain of "selective enforcement" when Police only arrest or cite those who break the law.

WCW! in contrast provokes an aggressive response from Police and counter-protesters, and then chortles and claims "Police brutality" or some other misconduct. They also have encouraged high school students to rage against organizer-chosen targets by giving them baubles and telling them how clever they are.... If there are predators here, I think they're part of WCW! not the USMC.

Code PINK has recently stepped up their game perhaps in fear of losing their publicity. Womyn were arrested on Friday for entering the USMC Office and refusing to leave. They had presented the Marines with a note telling them to leave, and wore shirts that said "Code PINK Movers" on them.

Aside from the basic self-centered, entitled, arrogance of these groups, and the $150,000 in Police overtime they've already spent, what bothers me most is their misuse of concepts of Civil Disobedience. Civil disobedience does not assume an absence of consequences as Code PINK seems to think, nor limited responsibility for the reactions and behaviors one provokes, as thinks WCW!. True Civil disobedience is an honorable pursuit about which these two groups no absolutely nothing. They play into the hands of the hundreds of people here who have never got past the 60s and cannot fathom that this situation just isn't ABOUT them -- its about the future of the Country, and about treating those who defend our rights with respect.

Berkeley Marine Sanctuary is now a Facebook Group!

It was irresistible... Facebook attracts a very different audience, and the group already as 5 or 6 members, local Berkeley people who want to support the recruiters, whatever their view of the politics or anything else. Fun. Feel free to join us there, if you happen to be on Facebook.... and by the way, Facebook is fun!

Welcome to Camp Berkeley!

Well. Code PINK has set up camp in the back of a large flatbed truck this week. The police have given them some latitude on parking meters and such, as long as the whole thing stays calm and pedestrian and car traffic aren't impeded by their presence. Yoga every morning at 8:30, singing, houseplants. Tra la, la. You can go to SF GATE and Google Code PINK to read the latest. I was starting to feel a little bored with everything so calm....

Then this morning the word came down that the Berkeley Police Review Commission has received a petition from World Can't Wait! and Code PINK alluding to police misbehavior and bad behavior. http://www.ibabuzz.com/politics/ Apparently the petition, with 65 votes (of which a minimum of 50 must be Berkeley voters --- which might be iffy, in my opinion) was presented last night, and the meeting was scheduled for tonight. The notice is too short for me to get there, but I did get to fire off a written statement supporting the Berkeley Police for their decency and patience, and professionalism, dealing with the protesters ---- especially with World Can't Wait! --- a group with such a lousy attitude that they have made me almost like Code PINK. The url above will take you to video of WCW! being "abused" by police while violating all the terms of the permit they held to protest two or three weeks ago.

Until recently I felt fairly neutral about Marxists and anarchists. For that I apologize. My heart goes out to anyone who has to impose law and order on a group that WANTS to be arrested, or maybe beat up, so they can cry brutality. As Roger Young [the vet who drove up from Orange County (twice) to guarantee at least one Marine supporter would be on hand for the WCW! protests] explained to me, "Code PINK is just annoying. They aren't really hurting anyone". WCW! is aggressive and invasive, and will exploit anyone for their agenda. They are the group that handed scarves to high school students on 2/12, and promised them they'd be on t.v. if they were loud enough. They offered support to Code PINK, and then chained themselves to the Marines' office one week, chained themselves to each other a week or two later and screamed at unarmed bike cops, while smacking chains against newspaper boxes and trying to get high school kids to join them, again (its in the video from the URL above). This time the students ignored them and went straight for the camera. How disappointing when the kids don't at least pretend to be on your side.