And Then it was July

There's a lot to catch up on, and most of it is just annoying. Code Pink persists, and is making no headway, but yet they persist. They balance their lack of progress with statements CLAIMING progress.

Just last week a judge instructed the "Wailing Four" (Medea Benjamin, Toby Blome, Pam Bennett and Zanne Joi) to stay away from the building in which the USMC OSO is housed. They declared it a victory because they only have to stay 4 feet away -- not 30 feet or yards or whatever. Zanne Joi is quoted in the Berkeley Daily Planet as saying that it doesn't matter that they can't touch or stick things to or enter the building, because there are lots of other Code Pinkers to do that.... the arrogance is appalling. The story of the court date appeared in several progressive sources, with accounts based on the Code Pink press release and claiming unmitigated victory for the forces of "free speech". One source based an account on the facts of the case: http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_9709941?source=rss and the Berkeley Daily Planet was at least savvy enough to attribute all their information to Zanne Joi as quotes.

I'm sorry to have grown quiet. I'm just so tired of the manipulation and fibbing that the "anti-war" groups use in the service of what they think is a noble cause. If the ends justified the means they'd be out of several of the arguments they've made about the USMC OSO in Berkeley. Fortunately their positions are so many and so inconsistent that any action or reaction can be massaged into a show of support. Morally vacant. Pathethic.