The radical anti-military group, Code Pink, has been paying attention to our plans to organize a pro-troop demonstration in front of the Berkeley City Council Chambers on Tuesday, February 12th. (Located at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Berkeley, CA - CLICK HERE FOR A MAP).

We learned of this posting from Code Pink and their allies today: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/02/07/18477667.php

Our efforts to close the Berkeley Marine Recruiting Station have galvanized national attention. The pro-war forces, represented by the group Move America Forward, are mobilizing to descend on Berkeley on Tuesday, February 12, starting at 5am! They plan to spend the day attempting to intimidate our peace-loving City and City Council.

Similarly, we were tipped off to an email sent out by one of the Berkeley City Council members, Linda Maio, who is trying to stack the Berkeley City Council meeting with lots of anti-military activists to provide them cover.

Here s what that email said:

we have received info that the marines and their supporters are gearing up to come to the Feb 12th council meeting to shame us and attack us, in large numbers. Now that Laurie and Betty have put on a recommendation to rescind what we did (on the agenda of Feb 12th) we expect they will jam the microphone with their diatribes. Press will be there in full force. The regular meeting starts at 7 p.m. People need to get there early enough to get in and grab a seat. Pls help pass on the word. The fire dept will not allow more people in than room can hold. Therefore, I am urging people to come early and occupy a seat, and be prepared to speak too and represent our city s values next Tuesday.

Please help us ensure that the voice of patriots - and not anti-military bigots - is heard loud and clear in Berkeley on Tuesday, February 12th. Move America Forward will begin our day-long pro-troop vigil and anti-Berkeley City Council protest beginning at 5:00 AM in front of the Berkeley City Council Chambers at 2134 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way in Berkeley, CA.

If you can make it for at least some part of the day we welcome you - bring your American flag!

The main event— begins at 5:00 PM when we are asking for a full show of force we will rally from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM and then proceed to enter the City Council Chambers at 7:00 PM. We need as many people there as humanly possible.

Please do what you can to make it to this important event. Bring friends. Bring family members. Bring co-workers. Bring your American flags!

singlepic=25,320,240,,right * UPDATE: It turns out Mayor Tom Bates, who says that the City Council didn't mean to offend the Marines (oh please!!!) has joined Code Pink in their pickets in front of the Marine Recruiting Center in an attempt to harass them and force them out of town:

Disgusting.

See the Code Pink website for yourself, where they brag about it.

Mayor Tom Bates says he wants to back away from the City Council s resolutions, and clarify them. Clarify them to what? That the Council Members should personally join him in harassing the Marines at their office?

Complete details - including information on travel - is available at our website: MoveAmericaForward.org

*HELP SPREAD THE WORD - PASS THIS ON TO OTHERS WE NEED HUNDREDS OF PATRIOTS OUT THAT DAY!

---

Senators Introduce Semper Fi Act of 2008

Bill Stops Berkeley Earmarks and Transfers Funds to Marine Corps

Last week, the City Council of Berkeley voted to oust Marine Corps recruiters from their downtown office, saying the Marines were "uninvited and unwelcome intruders." Berkeley officials also voted to give the radical protest group Code Pink space outside the recruitment office and urged them to "impede, passively or actively" the work of Marine Corps recruiters.

One earmark provides $243,000 in taxpayer dollars for the organization Chez Panisse to create gourmet organic school lunches in the Berkeley School District. Chez Panisse is dedicated to "environmental harmony" and their menu features "Comt cheese souffl with m che salad," "Meyer lemon clairs with huckleberry coulis," and "Chicory salad with creamy anchovy vinaigrette and olive toast."

Another earmark would spend $975,000 in taxpayer dollars for the University of California in Berkeley Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service, to create a new endowment and cataloging the papers of Congressman Robert Matsui. U.C. Berkeley currently already has a $3.5 billion endowment.

Senator Inhofe: "Unfortunately, those on the Berkeley city council do not seem to understand the sacrifice of the brave men and women of the United States Marine Corps. By interfering with military recruiting, the city of Berkeley is hampering our ability to protect this nation. While the city of Berkeley and the protestors are free to say whatever they like, free speech is not a protection from consequence."

Senator DeMint: "Berkeley needs to learn that their actions have consequences. Patriotic American taxpayers won't sit quietly while Berkeley insults our brave Marines and tries to run them out of town. Berkeley City Council members have shown complete ingratitude to our military and their families, and the city doesn't deserve a single dime of special pet project handouts."

Senator Cornyn: "The Berkeley City Council insulted our troops and offended people across the country. If the U.S. Marines are not good enough for Berkeley, neither are taxpayer dollars Congress would have sent there this year. That city closed its doors on the same individuals taking bullets on the front lines while fighting for the safety and freedom of families in Berkeley and throughout America."

Senator Vitter: "The actions of the City Council of Berkeley are in stark contrast to beliefs of the vast majority of Americans who recognize and honor the service and sacrifice of our U.S. Marines. This is simply unacceptable and those funds could be better utilized by the Marine Corps."

Dr. Coburn: "The actions by the city of Berkeley are deplorable and insulting to those who are serving and those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice to protect the very freedoms that are being exercised to insult them. I know I stand with the majority of Americans in thanking our service men and women for their selfless service to our nation."

Senator Chambliss: "We need to send a strong message that our military personnel deserve our strongest support. Georgia is a proud military state, and my constituents will be out outraged to know that during a time of war, their taxpayers dollars have been used to reward folks who have insulted and disparaged those who defend this nation every day."

---

Battle royal brewing at Berkeley council meeting

Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer

If you want to get a seat at Tuesday night's Berkeley City Council meeting, you better start lining up now. And you might want to bring earplugs. And a flak jacket.

The ruckus started last week when the council voted to send a letter to the Marines, calling them "unwanted intruders" for opening the recruiting center on Shattuck Avenue last year. At the same time, the council granted Code Pink a parking space and a sound permit to make it easier for the peace group to conduct protests outside the center.

On Monday, Councilwomen Betty Olds and Laurie Capitelli introduced an item for this week's meeting, asking the city to retract its statements about the Marines and clarify that the city is against the war, not against the armed forces.

"We're starting to get people coming in from all over the U.S.," said Catherine Moy, executive director of Move America Forward, one of several pro-military groups planning an all-day protest Tuesday at Maudelle Shirek City Hall. "People are pretty upset. We want to avoid clashes, but it could be really, really big. We don't really know what's going to happen."

Peace groups, disgusted that the council would cave in to pressure from the pro-military groups, plan to host their own rally, an "emergency 24-hour peace-in vigil," complete with singing, drums and dialogue.

"We want to protect our city from the onslaught of the right wing," said Code Pink spokeswoman Zanne Joi. "We're facing people who are willing to kill or send other people's children to kill to get what they want. We understand the reality of that, and we're prepared to face that in a nonviolent way."

The city's statement about the Marines immediately ignited an uproar from conservative, pro-military and pro-war factions around the country. A South Carolina senator introduced a bill rescinding $2 million in federal funding for Berkeley. The Semper Fi Act of 2008 would transfer Berkeley's money to the Marine Corps.

City officials were deluged with hundreds of irate e-mails, some containing death threats. Moy said her group got so many e-mails its Web site crashed.

Both sides will be protesting at Tuesday's meeting. Code Pink and its allies plan to camp out on the lawn at City Hall beginning at 7 p.m. Monday, while Move America Forward, the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and other pro-military groups plan to rally at Martin Luther King Jr. Park across the street starting at 5 a.m. Tuesday.

"Maybe we should do a reality TV episode," said Mayor Tom Bates. "But in some ways it's good we're debating the war. Iraq has sort of been pushed aside lately because of the economy. The trick, though, is to focus the debate on the right issues."

More police, fire and paramedics will be working that night, and the city is holding a meeting Monday afternoon with representatives from all the protest groups to establish the ground rules.

"We want to ensure the safety of the public, city staff and City Council," said Deputy City Manager Christine Daniel. "We expect that everyone will protest peacefully, but we want to be safe."

The city has not yet decided whether to move the meeting to a larger room or install metal detectors.

The council plans to start the Marines debate at 9 p.m. Members of the public can address the council for one minute each, but the comment period can continue indefinitely. Officials expect a long night.

On Fourth Street Friday morning, nearly everyone had an opinion about the issue. And in typical Berkeley fashion, no one agreed.

"I am absolutely incensed," said Cheryl Tolman, a 12-year Berkeley resident. "It's outrageous that the City Council is trying to close the Marines office down and let these total radicals protest there. This is supposed to be the city of free speech."

Donna Bell, a musician, also thought it's a free-speech issue.

"I can't believe there'd be these threats of retaliation from the federal government," she said. "Asking the Marines to leave is really a statement about the war, and Berkeley should be able to do that."

Mehdi Hussain, an apartment manager originally from Fiji, said the Marines should be able to stay in Berkeley.

"They should have a right to be here," he said. "I don't see why Berkeley should be such a holier-than-thou city. But Berkeley's always been that way."

---

Colorado Caravan to Berkeley We leave Littleton at 5:00 am Monday 2/11/2008!