The city of Berkeley recently passed legislation asking a local Marine Corps recruiting facility to leave its downtown area. They did so while granting Code Pink, the radical anti-war, anti-troop protest group, a free parking space in front of the recruitment office and a free sound permit for a week of anti-troop rallies. Berkeley’s city council members have acted in a way that is both unpatriotic and shameful. At a time when our troops are in harms way, their disrespect for the men and women who serve in our military is shocking.
Berkeley and its elected officials are free to make their own policies, no matter how poor they may be. From now on, they can pay for those policies with their own money. If they cannot govern themselves in a way that reflects a common sense of decency then they should not receive millions of dollars in special federal assistance.