Berkeley Backs Off Attack Against Marines
Written by Sam on February 9th, 2008As six Republican senators devised a plan to yank $2.3 million in federal funding for Berkeley programs, the mayor of the famously liberal city apologized Wednesday for his hard stance against a Marine recruiting center.Two City Council members vowed to soften their stance as well.
Looks like these “principled” extremists changed their tune once their Federal welfare check was threatened.
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Note from the article that the mayor of Berkeley is, in fact, a Captain in the US Army. What is your military rank, Mr. Barringer?
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Publius still hasn’t gotten his head wrapped around the fact that not joining the military doesn’t prevent you from engaging in policy discussions.
What’s your rank, Publius? Why would I care?
Oh yeah, by the way, what’s your SAT score? Because I know that’s the next tack you’ll take.
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He’s not engaging in a policy discussion. He’s personally maligning them despite the fact that, on substantive grounds, they’re better Americans than he is.
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Ok ok… I do not think serving in the military makes anyone a better American per se. Legally speaking, we are all the same and have an equal right to our opinions. Now this means we should accord respect to veterans, but not to the point where their opinions become somehow superior and we automatically grant deference to them.
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Well I guess since the supreme intellectual brain of yours, Publius, deems the Berkeleyites to be “better Americans” than the rest of us, there’s nothing more that needs to be said.
For someone who hyperventilates about the GOP supposedly calling Democrats and leftists unpatriotic and unAmerican you sure don’t hesitate to pass your own judgment on who are better Americans.
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Also, lets be real here - the first people to “malign” anyone were the Berkeleyites who went Code Pinko on the Marines. On one hand you love to demand that anyone who even speaks about American foreign policy serve in the armed forces, then on the other hand you call people who do these things better Americans and regularly bash the troops yourself.
You’ve displayed your contempt for American troops time and time again here, so obviously you are going to agree with Berkeley which is unfortunate. What pushes your “arguments” even further from the realm of rational discussion is your insistence on projecting your feelings against the troops onto us, claiming that we are as hateful as you clearly are.
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Stop trying to engage this fool, do you really thing he understands what you are trying to say to him? He clearly isn’t very intelligent, nor well read.
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I usually ignore him, Mike, but sometimes I just feel like hitting him down with cold hard facts. Usually he just responds with nonsensical taunting and name-calling, just proving my point and making himself look as irrelevant as he is to the rest of the readers and commenters on this blog.
I figure everyone should see some retort to him to just see what a clown he is.
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You missed the point entirely. This post maligns the characters of the people in Berkeley! I pointed out that the mayor is, in fact, an officer in the military and has given far more to this country than any of you ever will.
My opinions on the military are very consistent. The rank and file are mostly mouth-breathers who couldn’t get a better job; I feel sorry for them, more than anything. However, I would never call into question their patriotism. Military service requires a sacrifice — one that you and I are unwilling to undertake. Yes, this makes them better Americans in some sense.
and, Mike — ironic that there’s a blatant grammatical error in your post where you call me unintelligent and not well-read. Perhaps you should learn to communicate in English at the level we exect of high schoolers before you call someone unintelligent. Since you called me unintelligent, I challenge you to any objective measure of intelligence; you can take it to the bank that I’m smarter than you’ll ever be. If you’re going to call me stupid, either put up or shut up.
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Can we please stop calling either liberals or conservatives stupid or unintelligent or any synonym of this? Neither side has a monopoly on either intelligence or stupidity. At least we can all agree that Ron Paul supporters are stupid. Let’s come together on that.
As far as this issue goes:
Berkeley is being ridiculous as always by trying to kick out Marine recruiters. If you don’t agree with the war, don’t enlist, but you can’t say that no one else is allowed to. However, criticizing the city leadership for being unpatriotic when the mayor was a military officer is more than a little wonky…
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“. . . I challenge you to any objective measure of intelligence; you can take it to the bank that I’m smarter than you’ll ever be. If you’re going to call me stupid, either put up or shut up.”
If you were intelligent you would know that your opinions are not valued here. I don’t need to justify my intelligence to you or anyone else. Quit wasting our time with your drivel.
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“Mike — ironic that there’s a blatant grammatical error in your post where you call me unintelligent and not well-read. Perhaps you should learn to communicate in English at the level we exect of high schoolers before you call someone unintelligent.”
Oh, this is rich. I love the irony owning the guy who tries to point out someone else’s “irony.”
It doesn’t get any better than this folks. You can’t pay for this kind of entertainment.
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On Mike’s point, you were the one who insulted my intelligence first, which is the way it always happens on this blog. Then, when I ask people to justify their claims, you respond that it doesn’t matter. So, either stop flinging insults or be willing to defend them. I’m fine with the latter, because I’ll win.
On Langley’s point, if you can’t distinguish between an obvious typo and a grammatical error, then perhaps you need some help too. I would never insult anyone for making a typo. Not being able to write in literate English is a different matter.
On the substantive point, Mr. Shiffman summarizes it well. Insulting an army captain’s patriotism when you yourself are unwilling to serve is outrageous. He is a more patriotic American than either of us is, even if you don’t like the town where he lives.
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“Not being able to write in literate English is a different matter.”
If you would be willing to look beyond my comma splice you would see that my point was that your tone, opinions and presence are all unneeded here. Your nonsensical comments are a waste of your time and our time. Please feel free to be intelligent elsewhere.