| Note: The purpose of this petition
is to condemn the resolutions of the City Council of Berkeley,
California which declare that United States Marine Corps recruiters
are "uninvited and unwelcome intruders" within Berkeley city limits
and applauds those who choose to "impede" the Marines in their
recruiting mission. By signing this
petition, you pledge not to conduct any business within the Berkeley
city limits or patronize any company which has its headquarters
within Berkeley. Furthermore, you signal your desire that the U.S.
Congress and the California State Legislature suspend all federal
and state payments that support any activity conducted by the
Berkeley City Council until such time as the Council chooses to
rescind its anti-Marine resolutions.
Additionally, this is an
ad-hoc petition; signing this petition will not (and should not)
be construed as supporting any other cause or organization
(including the Center for the Advancement of Capitalism, the owner
of the petition's host website, www.capitalismcenter.org).
TO THE CITY COUNCIL OF
BERKELEY CALIFORNIA:
In resolutions passed
January 29, 2008, the City Council of Berkeley has declared that
United States Marine Corps recruiters are "uninvited and unwelcome
intruders" within city limits and applauds those who choose to
"impede" the Marines in their recruiting mission. The justification
presented by the Council for these obnoxious and misdirected
resolutions is that the Council objects to the Marines' role in
Iraq, the laws forbidding open homosexuals from serving in the armed
forces, and with the entirety of American history on the grounds
that the United States has allegedly launched a series of "illegal,
immoral and unprovoked wars of aggression."
Article I, Section VIII of the Federal Constitution empowers the
Congress with the responsibility to raise and support armies, while
Article II, Section II empowers the President with the role of
Commander-in-Chief. In contrast to these decision-makers, the role
of the members of the Marine Corps is to prepare for and wage war as
authorized by the Constitutional process. Unlike the President, the
Congress, or the Berkeley City Council, the Marines are not a
policy-making body.
For the Berkeley City Council to blame the Marines for the laws
passed by Congress, or to condemn them because their members fight
in a war that some choose to oppose is a grave miscarriage of
justice. It implies that the Marines can choose which laws they
follow, or which wars they fight in. It implies that the Marines are
not beholden to the very Constitution that they swore to defend.
Furthermore, the Berkeley City Council's desire to prevent the
Marines from speaking to young people about their mission within
Berkeley's city limits while simultaneously giving anti-Marine
protesters preferential treatment implies that the City Council is
comfortable with its youth receiving information from only one side
of the debate. This position insults both the Marines, many of whom
are veterans of the current war and are able to provide a
perspective interested people should be free to hear, and Berkeley's
youth, who are apparently judged by the City Council to be too
incompetent to form their own intelligent opinion about the armed
forces and the responsibilities, risks and rewards that go with
military service.
As American citizens and veterans of all branches of the armed services, we voice our
steadfast opposition to the Berkeley City Council's despicable
actions. In protest, we announce that we refuse to conduct any
business within the Berkeley city limits, or patronize any company
which has its headquarters within Berkeley. We call upon the U.S.
Congress and the California State Legislature to suspend all federal
and state payments that go to support any activity conducted by the
Berkeley City Council until such time as the Council chooses to
rescind its anti-Marine resolutions.
The Berkeley City Council has taken a position that puts them
outside the constitutional union. They have targeted the innocent
and have actively worked to keep their citizens ignorant of
viewpoints that they have every right to hear. Until such time as
the Berkeley City Council elects to restrain itself to its proper
role, we choose not to deal with Berkeley's citizens or support
their lives in any way.
Signed, |