Monday, February 04, 2008
There's no q in back off
Whoops. The Berkeley City Council looks set to back off on at least their "fuck you" letter to the Marines. They've already admitted that they were using the recruiting center as a punching bag for their anti-Bush attitude, so it's going to be tough to call it a mistake and talk about how they really love the troops! For serious!
Kriss Worthington was the unexpected voice of reason on this. Gordon Wozniak and Betty Olds were opposed from the start (Olds had second thoughts almost immediately), and ascribing principles to Laurie Capitelli is almost always an error. I'm sure he just picked whichever side he thought was most effective for him.
It looks like even Tom Bates is going to join in on the back-off.
DeMint's defunding effort never really had a chance, but the move is looking downright genius, now. It will be easy for folks to say that the City Council did what most people who want the government to "take a stand" do: Take the stand only until it costs money. San Francisco passed Proposition I in 2005 saying something like "We take a stand against military recruiters in schools... but won't actually take action because it might cost us money." Berkeley did something similar for giving information to recruiters.
It no longer matters if the defunding threat is the reason the City Council backs off. They've painted themselves as whiny, petulant children who'll cry and scream until consequences materialize, at which point they'll run away.
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