So, Not So Interested In The Military Protecting this Country? How About This...

DeMint vs. Berkeley 

Spartanburg Herald-Journal
Editorials
February 3, 2008

The city of Berkeley, Calif., has decided it doesn't want to participate in the defense of the nation, so the federal government should feel no obligation to contribute to the prosperity of that city.

That's the theory behind Sen. Jim DeMint's plan to withdraw all earmarks for the city.The Berkeley City Council voted last week to tell a Marine Corps recruiting station that it "is not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders."

That's a truly bizarre position to take toward the men and women who have dedicated their lives to preserving your freedom, but Berkeley went even further. The council's action went beyond insulting the Marines to sponsoring harassment of them.

The group Code Pink has been protesting the recruiting station. The council voted to give that group a parking space in front of the recruiting station once a week for six months and to give the group a free permit for protesting once a week. This is despite the fact that business owners in the area are sick of these disruptive protests.

It is one thing for the city to condemn current foreign policy. That's within the free speech rights of any group. It's quite another to try to kick a military recruiting station out of the city and set up the constant protests against this station. Berkeley's action was against the Marine Corps as an institution, not against the current war. And its action wasn't merely speech. It wants the recruiting station moved from the city.The City Council acted against the military, not any policy. In doing so, it voted not to support our national defense.

Other cities have adopted loony measures to oppose the war. The town of Brattleboro, Vt., is considering issuing city criminal charges against President Bush. But those acts are mere statements against a politician's actions, not an official act to kick the military out of the city.

Since Berkeley doesn't want to contribute to national defense, why should the federal government subsidize Berkeley's success?

DeMint, R-S.C., identified $2.1 million in earmarks in recently passed legislation allocated to that city. He says he will introduce legislation to rescind them and dedicate the money to the Marines instead.The rest of the Senate should back him.

Congress had to take federal funds away from universities that wouldn't allow recruiters on campus. It should extend that policy to municipalities.

www.jimdemint.com