Posted on 10/21/2001 1:42:59 PM PDT by TLBSHOW
Berkeley officials expressed worry Thursday that a boycott of city businesses by people opposed to the city's newly approved anti-war resolution may hurt the city economy.
Berkeley has seen an economic backlash in the few days since the council approved a resolution calling for a stop to U.S. bombing in Afghanistan, with hundreds of people refusing to spend money in the city.
Local businesses have reported that customers, upset about the council's action, have decided to stop buying in Berkeley.
Mayor Shirley Dean, who has received over 600 e-mails urging a boycott, said a boycott may do a lot of damage to the city, which has already been affected by the national economic slowdown.
"I really think it's a big problem," she said. "Berkeley, like every place in the U.S., is in an economic downturn. You add this kind of problem and, that, to me, adds up to a major problem."
The resolution passed the council amid a nationwide uproar Tuesday.
A San Francisco man told city officials that he is organizing a boycott of Berkeley. He will soon begin to distribute hundreds of fliers at BART stations, which read, "Boycott Berkeley—Support Our Troops—Let Berkeley sell their products to the Taliban."
A software company already reported losing a $60,000 contract because of the council's anti-war resolution, Dean said. Additionally, she said that a number of restaurants have seen their clientele drop.
Bill Lambert, manager of the city's Office of Economic Development, said it is unfortunate that politics could be detrimental to local businesses.
"The sad part is if people do boycott, the ones that will hurt the most are the innocent businesses that don't make public policy," Lambert said. "It would once again be punishment inflicted on innocent bystanders."
The moderate and progressive sides of the council are blaming one another for bringing on the boycott. Progressives, who hold a five-seat majority on the council, supported the resolution, while the moderates all voted against it.
Councilmember Kriss Worthington, a progressive, said Dean was responsible for escalating a boycott by publicizing threats of a city boycott.
"I thought that it was extraordinarily irresponsible to publicize the idea of a boycott," Worthington said.
On Wednesday, Dean appeared on Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor," where she talked about the economic backlash of the council's resolution.
Worthington said that if the public understood the resolution, there would be less of a public outcry.
"There's a lot of hatred, fear and misinformation, and people are saying that we are terrorists and traitors," he said. "If the leadership of the city sends clear messages, I think a lot of it can definitely be minimized."
But Dean said the simple approval of the resolution is fueling anti-Berkeley sentiment.
"I didn't bring the resolution up," she said. "I have only responded to questions I have been asked."
Dean said the boycott could likely be stopped if the council nullified the resolution.
"There's not much I can do," she said. "The only people that can rescind the resolution are those people who voted for it."
Lambert said city officials have been discussing ways to counteract the effects of a boycott.
Meanwhile, the White House remains tight-lipped about the anti-war resolution, the only such resolution approved in the country.
"The President is gratified by the way Americans from coast to coast have unified in the face of an enemy that seeks to destroy the security, freedom and way of life of Americans," said White House spokesperson Ken Lisaius. "His visit to California (Wednesday) reflected that."
And the super secret encoded message within this conundrum is:
If you don't like it, throw the rascals out of office!
Anyone else remember a couple of decades back when the Left was very busy boycotting a certain locale, withdrawing their support from any company that dared to do business in that locale, and all with the highest moral dudgeon?
Can you say, "South Africa"?
And now that their weapon of moral righteousness that they so lovingly and carefully shaped has been turned on them, they squeal "Unfair!" and "Innocent people are being hurt!"
Should have thought of that a long time back.
Look here: http://www.berkeleychamber.com/members/members.html
Look here: Berkeley Businesses</A/
BTW: Send Loleta Didrickson back to the soccer field!
Mr Lambert: Who do you think gets hurt when your city boycotts 7 oil companies? Isn't it the average worker at those oil companies who would lose their job if the boycott worked? Do they make public policy?
How does it feel to be treated as an "entity" Berkeley?
In war, there is no such thing as an "innocent bystander", which is essentially an oxymoron. They technically cannot say "innocent civilians" because of the declaration of "jihad"/"holy war", in which every civilian is essentially drafted (voluntarily or otherwise) into the military.
In our case, five to six thousand innocent civilians were killed in the unwritten declaration of war on the United States of America because, unlike the declaration of Jihad, there is currently no drafting of civilians into the US military. It's completely voluntary, as opposed to being shot at point blank by religious zealots for saying "no". The news media and the foreign governments need to learn to use the words carefully, and recognize that there is no such thing as an "innocent civilian" or an "innocent bystander" in Afghanistan, due to the drafting of civilians, whether voluntary or by coercion, into the Taliban's makeshift excuse for a military.
Stupid arguments from the hippies in Berserkley such as this quote citing "innocent bystanders" is exactly the reason why they're being boycotted. Of course, it's going to take more disasters for them to realize their stupidity.
The businesses there who feel the economic pinch of the boycott deserve it. They're not innocent bystanders. For decades they've not done anything to stop the crap that comes out of the mouthes of the students and the so-called academe there. I don't feel sorry for them.
I hope not for our sake. Besides, Berkeleyites will just come up with more idiotic blather, the cowards.
But this boycott is making them squirm. It's a pleasure to watch.
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