Berkeley is both chicken and chickenshit

I'm sorry, there's just no other way to put it.
At their Tuesday council meeting, leaders will discuss scrapping a letter that might be perceived as targeting the center or the Marines.

Gee, why might people think that?

The letter said that the recruiting center was not welcome on Shattuck Avenue and that the Marines were uninvited and unwelcome intruders.
Yeah, that might do it.

"That letter will probably be pulled back and maybe more moderate language will be put in place which is appropriate I think," said Berkeley mayor Tom Bates.
So they'll call the troops "the president's own gangsters" and "trained killers" who are known for "death and destruction and maiming." Yeah, that'll be MUCH better.

"Subtly stated in the resolution is perhaps an impugning of the soldiers fighting for us in Iraq and other places," Berkeley City Councilman Laurie Capitelli. "And that was never the intention but that really needs to be cleared up. As I walked to my car that night I realized I regretted it and I had made a mistake."
"Subtly stated,", hmmm? Like the mayor offering to 'help the Marines evacuate'?
Bates said the city didn't mean to offend anyone in the armed forces and the focus should have been on the war not the troops.

Chickenshit. The mayor and all his flunkies.

"There's really no correlation between federal funds for schools, water ferries and police communications systems and the council's actions, for God's sake," said Bates, a retired U.S. Army captain. "We apologize for any offense to any families of anyone who may serve in Iraq. We want them to come home and be safe at home."
Translation: "Leave our pork alone! We want that money!"

Last week the council passed resolutions giving Code Pink a place to park out front. Some have said that meant the city giving was giving the group a place to continuously protest the Marines.
"What we're doing is we're announcing a bill that we intend to get on the floor to strip transportation from the city of Berkeley," said East Bay Republican Assemblyman Guy Houston. "What they have done in Berkeley is they have set aside a parking spot and in my opinion a public right of way, a public transportation corridor, specifically for a private organization -- in this case Code Pink -- to harass and annoy the United States Marine Corps and their recruiting efforts. We think that playing around and having an agenda with the public right of way is subject to ramifications. There is $2.3 million in proposition 1B transportation dollars. We think that should be in jeopardy."
Sounds good to me.

And Code Pinko takes the opportunity to point out, once again, they don't understand the concept of "Free Speech":
"I was under the impression that we have the right of free speech," said Xanne Joi of Code Pink. "To me, I thought free speech meant you get to say what you want without recrimination."
Joi, just on the off-chance you see this, let me explain it to you as I did to my kids a long time ago: Free speech has to include people you don't like and ideas you don't agree with, or it's not; I have to respect your right to your beliefs and your right to speak of them, but I DO NOT have to respect your beliefs or refrain from criticism of them. There, isn't that simple?

Oh, and we have the obligatory "It's for the CHILDREENNN!!!" moment:
Ann Cooper with the Berkeley Unified School District wants both sides to play nice.

"Senators sitting 3,000 miles away are trying to take food away from the children of Berkeley," said Cooper. "Why? Because the Marines and the city aren't playing nice -- and that's just not OK."
Oh, doesn't that just ooze condescension? Doesn't that just drip contempt and calls for pity? What was that about 'taking food away from children'? Why, One earmark provides gourmet organic lunches to schools in the Berkeley School District. While our Marines are making due with MREs of Sloppy Joe and Chili with Beans, the organization Chez Panisse is getting federal tax dollars to design meals that promote “environmental harmony.” Chez Panisse’s menu features “Comté cheese soufflé with mâche salad,” “Meyer lemon éclairs with huckleberry coulis” and “Chicory salad with creamy anchovy vinaigrette and olive toast.”
You can just hear the moonbats screaming "The CHILDREENNN will STARVE!! without their Gaia-friendly soufflé!!!"

Berkeley: The most rancid city in granola country.