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Should I feel the least bit guilty about hoping and praying that when the Big One comes – as is inevitable – that the shake, rattle and roll of the tectonic plates rupture and cleave the earth neatly and precisely along the borders of the City of Berkeley and peacefully set this kingdom of dreamers adrift in the Pacific Ocean? All concerned would be happier. As an independent island city-state in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the Berkeley City Council would finally get their chance to see whether their “Waive the White Flag First” foreign policy would really work in a sea of predatory and ravenous nations. Unfettered from time-tested American institutions and law, we would get a chance to view a “Lord of the Flies” reality show called “Anarchy – Berkeley-Style.” My momentary feelings of guilt about praying for the perfect quake quickly disappeared when I read about the city council’s action last week to create a policy of active harassment with the goal of closing down the Marine Recruiting Station on Shattuck Avenue. As a matter of fact, I added two “Hail Marys” and three “Our Fathers” to my prayer list.
Last week, the Berkeley City Council voted 8-1 to tell the U.S.
Marine’s that its recruiting office is “not welcome in the city, and if
recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome
intruders.” They also voted to encourage the group “Code Pink” to
impede the work of the Marine recruiters by giving the group a
designated parking space in front of the recruiting station once a week
for six months and a free sound permit for protesting once a week from
noon to 4 p.m. “The Marines don’t belong here, they shouldn’t have come
here, and they should leave,” said Mayor Tom Bates. As reported
in “Berkeley Gives Marines the Boot” (1/31/08) by Doug Oakley, a staff
writer for InsideBayArea.com, Dori Schmidt told the city council, “My
husband’s business is right upstairs, and this protesting is bordering
on harassment. I hope it stops.” An employee of a nearby business who
told the reporter that she didn’t want to be identified said that the
elderly Code Pink protesters are aggressive, take up parking spaces,
block the sidewalk with their yoga moves, smoke in the doorways, and
are noisy. Gordon Wozniak, the sole city councilmember to oppose the
resolutions, said that he opposed giving Code Pink their own parking
space in front of the recruiting station because it favors the free
speech rights of one group over another. “There’s a line between
protesting and harassing, and that concerns me,” said Wozniak. The
Berkeley City Council, with the single exception of Councilman Wozniak,
should be ashamed of themselves. Every citizen in this great country
has a right to support and vote for candidates for President, Senator
and U.S. Representative who reflect their views on our country’s
foreign policy. Unlike most people in the world, we have the power to
make our views known and to change our country’s policies. We are also
fortunate that our Founding Fathers crafted the U.S. Constitution to
ensure civilian control of our armed forces. Our armed forces are an
instrument for carrying out our democratically- determined foreign
policy, not the architect of the policy. And so by officially
sanctioning thug-like tactics to harass and ultimately prevent young
men and women who live in Berkeley from visiting the Marine recruiting
office, the city council is thwarting the spirit of freedom of our
nation. During my time in the U.S. Navy, I saw firsthand how
many young sailors and marines personally benefited from their service
and helped their nation. Both the practical aspects of learning new
skills and educational benefits and the patriotic motivated these
volunteers. The Berkeley City Council should allow young men and women
to freely make up their own minds – free of harassment and obstacles –
about whether to join one of the armed forces. We should have freedom
of thought, not “thought police.” It wasn’t surprising that the
day after the Berkeley City Council passed their dishonorable
resolutions, that a spokeswoman for the U.S. Marines told the press
that they are staying in Berkeley. The politically correct pipsqueaks
don’t know the caliber of the men and women of the U.S. Marines. From
1775 to the present, from Belleau Wood to Iwo Jima, the leathernecks
will always remain Semper Fidelis – “Faithful to God, Country, Family
and the Corps.” We owe them our unending respect. Kevin Hanley
serves on the Auburn City Council and as Chief Consultant on health and
insurance legislation with the California Legislature. Send your
comments to Kevin at
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The Sentinel is a community newspaper, of and for the community; so let's focus on the community and leave the hard news to the mass media. We in the community wish to focus on community business, friends and neighbors, local events and happenings. 
Yet I essentially agree with his assessment of the city council on this situation as it's not right to take those kind of actions... but it begs this question. What does that have to do with Auburn? Nothing.
I take issue with one other thing in his article. Hanley's statement that "Our armed forces are an instrument for carrying out our democratically-determined foreign policy" is pure hogwash and a mischaracterization of the purposes of the military.
The military carries out our foreign policy? I think those so-called "naive" fellow Americans in Berkeley could teach Hanley something about our government. The Department of Defense specifically states that their bottom line is "to provide the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of the United States. Everything we do supports that primary mission."
That's not a bad purpose for a military, but it certainly isn't carrying out foreign policy. Hanley echoes certain politicians running our country who think and act as if it IS the military that shoves U.S. foreign policy down the world's throat. This thinking has gravely hurt America.
I find Hanley's views here divisive in a broad sense, and meaningless in such a small town newspaper. Who cares how much he hates Berkeley or Kansas City or Singapore. Keep to relevant issues here, and talk about the town you represent. I am sure other towns and cities can take care of their own. You take care of Auburn.