Group protests Marine recruiters in Berkeley

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 2/1/8 | Kevin Fagan

[SmithL]

Emboldened by this week's show of support by the Berkeley City Council, anti-war protesters on Thursday cranked up their noisy effort to throw the U.S. Marine Corps recruiters out of town, but in the pounding rain it was hard to tell who won the figurative battle of wills.

On one hand, the protesters mustered one of their biggest crowds yet - 40 people - to yell "Drive out the Bush regime" and other slogans outside the Marines' recruiting station on Shattuck Avenue. Hundreds of motorists honked in support as they passed.

On the other hand, there was nobody working at the recruiting station to hear these entreaties. The recruiting staff took the afternoon off.

And not only did the protesters get soaked to the bone in one of the heaviest downpours all week, several local business owners and their customers seethed under the aural onslaught of bullhorns and chanting from 3 to 5 p.m.

"They need a place to be heard, but it doesn't seem like this is the best one," complained Mike Mathis, who sometimes had to shout to be heard as his hair was being cut at the ZNS Beauty Station, next door to the Marines' office. "This is too small a place for a protest this loud."

Not in the minds of those doing the protest, it wasn't.

The spot was perfect and the noise justified, said Zanne Joy, who has been helping organize peace demonstrations at the recruiting station for four months with the women's anti-war group Code Pink. Anything legal is justified if it succeeds in persuading the Marine Corps to move its recruiting station out of Berkeley, she said, noting proudly that the Berkeley City Council agrees.

[Reagan79]

communist clowns, the fire department should come out and give them a mandatory bath.

[Slapshot68]

“The spot was perfect and the noise justified, said Zanne Joy, who has been helping organize peace demonstrations at the recruiting station for four months with the women’s anti-war group Code Pink.”

Peace demonstrations, where they bring knives and deface public property.

[mrsmel]

OK, someone here said that there's a decent-sized group of Young Republicans at Berkeley--why aren't they out there counter-protesting this?

[VeniVidiVici]

We're not condemning the men and women who serve, we are condemning the U.S. policy that is teaching the Marines and other military people to torture, oust other countries' political leaders and do other evil things."

Wonder if we can get the Marines to do that in Berkeley?

[SmithL]

Because the Peoples Republic of Berkeley has no tolerance for Free Speech.

[Michael.SF.]

Zanne Joy

Actually, it is Zanne Joi. Here is more info on him:

i'm a 56 yr old jewish lesbian anti-racist mother striving
radical womonist/feminist; daughter & granddaughter of
survivors of the holocaust, mother of a young amazon
healer & amazing human being, lover of wimmin &
student of consicous living............even tho i am
the one actually driving the truck, i could not even
head out from home if it were not for the support of
many, many, many wimmin (and several men as well). If
you want to help support my trip across the country,
spreading codepink, registering voters, working to
DEFEAT BUSH, please click the "Make a Donation" link
below- it's secure!

Defeat Bush? Sounds to me that she loves bush.

[Mikey]

I don’t see the problem here.

This is a simple fix.

Take ALL the illegal aliens, welfare deadbeats, pedophiles, crack-heads, assorted nutbags and let us not forget all those unfortunate misunderstood gang-bangers, ship them all to Californicator.

. We could put up a wall around the land of fruits and nuts (except at the Mexican border ), mine the waters. Than pull ALL FEDERAL funds, close down all military bases and move them to Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho and Utah.

No matter how much all those dipsh*ts in Californicator scream and whine when the big one hits, DO NOT SEND ANY FEDERAL RELIEF NOR THE NATIONAL GUARD.

Let them pay for everything themselves. Let them deal with all the crime those poor misunderstood people commit.

[Mikey]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. ROFLMAO

[Augustinian monk]

“i’m a 56 yr old jewish lesbian anti-racist mother striving
radical womonist/feminist; daughter & granddaughter of
survivors of the holocaust, mother of a young amazon
healer & amazing human being”

What a title. Mother of what?

[Mikey]

"...why aren't they out there counter-protesting this?"

They probably are, but like with the Ron Paul campaign the propaganda machine (i.e., the liberal shame stream media) is probably just not reporting it.

[mrsmel]

We're not condemning the men and women who serve, we are condemning the U.S. policy that is teaching the Marines and other military people to torture, oust other countries' political leaders and do other evil things."

That's why they have protested returning troops, and poured concrete on railroad tracks in order to attempt to keep them from receiving their equipment. They say that as a figleaf, but the closer the possibility of a 'rat being in the White House approaches, the more open and blatant they are becoming with their hatred of the troops.

[mrsmel]

Why don't they put their money where their mouths are, and go be human shields in Iraq or the Middle East? Like their America-hating heroine Rachel Corrie?

[Homer_J_Simpson]

In the paper, along with this article, there is a photo of a young man named Ryan Eyges who is explaining to one of the protester pinheads that the Marines have a right to an office in Berkeley. Eyges plans to join the Marine Corps, BTW.

I question the wisdom of recruiting for the military in Berkeley, just from a business standpoint. What are the chances of finding "a few good men" in that cesspool. After Ryan Eyges, that is.

[RGSpincich]

My wife and I just got back from Berkeley. No hippies or anti-military activity at the Shattuck Ave. Marine recruiting office. Guess the light rain scared them off. We were kind of disappointed we didn't have the opportunity to cross their line.