Bravo to Senator DeMint for seeking to eliminate all earmarks for Berkeley, California after the passage of a series of seditious acts attacking the United States Marine Corps and treasonously interfering with recruitment during time of war.

U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., says the City of Berkeley, Calif., no longer deserves federal money.

DeMint was angered after learning that the Berkeley City Council voted this week to tell the U.S. Marine Corps to remove its recruiting station from the city's downtown.

"This is a slap in the face to all brave service men and women and their families," DeMint said in a prepared statement. "The First Amendment gives the City of Berkeley the right to be idiotic, but from now on they should do it with their own money."

"If the city canÂ’t show respect for the Marines that have fought, bled and died for their freedom, Berkeley should not be receiving special taxpayer-funded handouts," he added.

What sort of savings tot he taxpayers are we talking about following the elimination of subsidies for these unAmerican al-Qaeda supporters?

DeMint said he will draft legislation to rescind any earmarks dedicated for the City of Berkeley in the recently passed appropriations bill — which his office tallied to value about $2.1 million. He said that any money taken back would be transferred to the Marines.

DeMint's office provided a preliminary list of items that would be subject to his proposal:

— $975,000 for the University of California at Berkeley, for the Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service, which may include establishing an endowment, and for cataloguing the papers of Congressman Robert Matsui.

— $750,000 for the Berkeley/Albana ferry service.

— $243,000 for the Chez Panisse Foundation, for a school lunch initiative to integrate lessons about wellness, sustainability and nutrition into the academic curriculum.

— $94,000 for a Berkeley public safety interoperability program.

— $87,000 for the Berkeley Unified School District, nutrition education program.

Personally, I want to see something more.

I want to see legislation forbidding the expenditure of any federal funds for any purpose other than military recruitment, military training, military retirement pay and VA benefits in Berkeley. That means no welfare benefits and no social security checks, as well as no financial aid for students at UC-Berkeley. Let the city replace such funding out of its own budget.

And why do we need to cut Berkeley off completely? Because they are aiding and abetting in the disruption of a US government office and helping to interfere with military recruitment.

As the right-wing blogosphere railed and a U.S. senator vowed financial retaliation against the Berkeley City Council for its effort to boot the Marine Corps out of town, three war protesters ratcheted up pressure from the left by chaining themselves Friday to the front door of the downtown Marine recruiting office.

The demonstrators snapped their locks shut at 7 a.m. and spent the next 7 1/2 hours blocking the door, waving and chanting as hundreds of cars driving by honked in support. Finally, at 2:30 p.m., police snipped the chains and arrested them.

Two of the three were cited for blocking a business and released, and the third was booked into jail on an unrelated traffic warrant, police said.

Excuse me, but the police should have snapped those chains and hauled them away in 7 1/2 minutes, not 7 1/2 hours.

For that matter, I think we now need to bring the FBI into this mix, and see about federal charges because of this.

Heated words were exchanged whenever people tried to enter or leave the office, but the protest was peaceful.

"You guys are just cannon fodder!" the chained protesters shouted at three teenage boys who walked past the office and said they wanted to go inside. "They want to train you to kill babies!"

The teenagers turned around and left.

At one point, UC Berkeley student Kyrolos El Giheny walked up to the front door and tried to go inside to talk to Lund about a possible Marine career. He was unable to get past the chained protesters.

"They told me, 'No business as usual today,' " El Giheny said. "It's kind of nutty. It's really an infringement on my rights."

Not only that, it is a violation of federal law. We need immediate arrests and prosecutions -- not just of those who actively interfere with the operation of this recruiting office, but also of the city officials who are aiding and abetting their crime.

And while you are at it, feel free to contact Osama's allies and express your discontent. And since Berkeley is home of the 1960s Free Speech Movement, I won't even suggest that you be respectful and avoid profanity.

Contact info:

Mayor - Tom Bates
2180 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94704
Email: mayor@ci.berkeley.ca.us
TEL: (510) 981-7100
FAX: (510) 981-7199
TDD: (510) 981-6903
Office Hours: Mon-Fri 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

====================
CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
====================
Linda Maio
Phone: (510) 981-7110
FAX: (510) 981-7111
Email: lmaio@ci.berkeley.ca.us

Darryl Moore
Phone: (510) 981-7120
Email: dmoore@ci.berkeley.ca.us

Maxwell Anderson
Phone: (510) 981-7130
Email: manderson@ci.berkeley.ca.us

Dona Spring
Phone: (510) 981-7140
Email: spring@ci.berkeley.ca.us

Laurie Capitelli
Phone: (510) 981-7150
Email: lcapitelli@ci.berkeley.ca.us

Betty Olds
Phone: (510) 981-7160
Email: olds@ci.berkeley.ca.us

Kriss Worthington
Phone: (510) 981-7170
Email: kworthington@ci.berkeley.ca.us

Gordon Wozniak [NOTE: Wozniak voted AGAINST the offensive resolutions]
Phone: (510) 981-7180
Email: GWozniak@ci.berkeley.ca.us

City Auditor
Ann Marie
TEL: (510) 981-6750, TDD: (510) 981-6903
Email: auditor@ci.berkeley.ca.us

Complete coverage from Michelle Malkin.

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