Code Pink Deface Marine Recruiters Station in Berkeley…

[Soldier4Christ]

Code Pink Deface Marine Recruiters Station in Berkeley…

But DO NOT question their patriotism!  Yeah right, these traitors wouldn’t know patriotism if it hit them in the face….

Berkeley Planet:

    “If there are to be no wars, there can be no warriors,” said Dianne Budd, one of the organizers.

    “We found out a few days ago and decided to make their lives miserable,” she said, pinning up “RECRUITERS LIE, CHILDREN DIE” posters on the office windows. “We want people to know that it’s here and we want to shut them down. If people had been in there we were ready to hand out information about GI rights. We just want to speak the truth.”


Here’s an open letter from the recruiter:

 By Richard Lund (10-02-07)


While the protest that you staged in front of my office on Wednesday, Sept. 26th, was an exercise of your constitutional rights, the messages that you left behind were insulting, untrue, and ultimately misdirected. Additionally, from the comments quoted in the Berkeley Daily Planet article, it is clear that you have no idea what it is that I do here. Given that I was unaware of your planned protest, I was unable to contest your claims in person, so I will therefore address them here.

First, a little bit about who I am: I am a Marine captain with over eight years of service as a commissioned officer. I flew transport helicopters for most of my time in the Marine Corps before requesting orders to come here. Currently, I am the officer selection officer for the northern Bay Area. My job is to recruit, interview, screen, and evaluate college students and college graduates that show an interest in becoming officers in the Marine Corps. Once they’ve committed to pursuing this program, I help them apply, and if selected, I help them prepare for the rigors of Officer Candidate School and for the challenges of life as a Marine officer. To be eligible for my programs, you have to be either a full-time college student or a college graduate. I don’t pull anyone out of school, and high school students are not eligible.

I moved my office to Berkeley in December of last year. Previously, it was located in an old federal building in Alameda. That building was due to be torn down and I had to find a new location. I choose our new site because of its proximity to UC Berkeley and to the BART station. Most of the candidates in my program either go to Cal or to one of the schools in San Francisco, the East Bay, or the North Bay. Logistically, the Shattuck Square location was the most convenient for them.

Next, you claim that I lie. I have never, and will never, lie to any individual that shows an interest in my programs. I am upfront with everything that is involved at every step of the way and I go out of my way to ensure that they know what to expect when they apply. I tell them that this is not an easy path. I tell them that leading Marines requires a great deal of self-sacrifice. I tell them that, should they succeed in their quest to become a Marine officer, they will almost certainly go to Iraq. In the future, if you plan to attack my integrity, please have the courtesy to explain to me specifically the instances in which you think that I lied.

Next, scrawled across the doorway to my office, you wrote, “Recruiters are Traitors.” Please explain this one. How exactly am I a traitor? Was I a traitor when I joined the Marine Corps all those years ago? Is every Marine, therefore, a traitor? Was I a traitor during my two stints in Iraq? Was I a traitor when I was delivering humanitarian aid to the victims of the tsunami in Sumatra? Or do you only consider me a traitor while I am on this job? The fact is, recruitment is and always has been a part of maintaining any military organization. In fact, recruitment is a necessity of any large organization. Large corporations have employees that recruit full-time. Even you, I’m sure, must expend some effort to recruit for Code Pink. So what, exactly, is it that makes me a traitor?

The fact is this: any independent nation must maintain a military (or be allied with those who do) to ensure the safety and security of its citizens. Regardless of what your opinions are of the current administration or the current conflict in Iraq, the U.S. military will be needed again in the future. If your counter-recruitment efforts are ultimately successful, who will defend us if we are directly attacked again as we were at Pearl Harbor? Who would respond if a future terrorist attack targets the Golden Gate Bridge, the BART system, or the UC Berkeley clock tower? And, to address the most hypocritical stance that your organization takes on its website, where would the peace keeping force come from that you advocate sending to Darfur?

Finally, I believe that your efforts in protesting my office are misdirected. I agree that your stated goals of peace and social justice are worthy ones. War is a terrible thing that should only be undertaken in the most dire, extreme, and necessary of circumstances. However, war is made by politicians. The conflict in Iraq was ordered by the president and authorized by Congress. They are the ones who have the power to change the policy in Iraq, not members of the military. We execute policy to the best of our ability and to the best of our human capacity. Protesting in front of my office may be an easy way to get your organization in the headlines of local papers, but it doesn’t further any of your stated goals.

To conclude, I don’t consider myself a “recruiter.” I am a Marine who happens to be on recruiting duty. As such, I conduct myself in accordance with our core values of honor, courage, and commitment. I will never sacrifice my honor by lying to anyone that walks into my office. I will never forsake the courage that it takes to restrain myself in the face of insulting and libelous labels like liar and traitor. And, most importantly, I will never waver from my commitment to helping individuals who desire to serve their country as officers in the Marine Corps.

Captain Richard Lund is the United States Marine Corps’ officer selection officer for the northern Bay Area.

[Soldier4Christ]

I wonder when the democratic senators will pass around a letter denouncing Code Pink for their actions?

Never. They just have to attack those that are against them instead.

As Code Pink I expect them or one of their cronie organizations such ANSWERS or Moveon to be the next ones to start blowing things up.

This is becoming more and more like the degradation that we Soldiers and Sailors faced during Viet Nam. Our Troops deserve nothing but the utmost in respect and honors given.

[Soldier4Christ]

Code Pink protesters try witchcraft at anti-Marine rallies
'Women are coming to cast spells and do rituals and to impart wisdom ... to end war'

 Code Pink is now resorting to witchcraft to beef up the number of its supporters protesting Berkeley's controversial Marine Corps Recruiting Center.

The women's anti-war group has told ralliers to come equipped with spells and pointy hats Friday for "Witches, clowns and sirens day," the last of the group's weeklong homage to Mother's Day.

"Women are coming to cast spells and do rituals and to impart wisdom to figure out how we're going to end war," Zanne Sam Joi of Bay Area Code Pink told FOXNews.com.

The group's week of themed protests, which included days to galvanize grannies and bring-your-daughter-to-protest, appears to have done little to boost its flagging numbers.

A FOX News camera, which has a 24/7 live shot of the recruiting center's front door, recorded little action, and the gatherings have, until this point, been ill attended.

In February, the Marine Corps Recruiting Center was the site of fierce pro- and anti-war protests. It made national headlines when Berkeley's city council voted to send a letter to the recruiting station advising the Marines they were not welcome. Council members later moderated their position, saying they oppose the war in Iraq but support the troops.

Code Pink — which was given parking and noise permits by the city council and is allowed to protest during the recruiting center's business hours — has been protesting daily since September.

The group frequently announces bizarre theme weeks in front of the office, but their numbers have been dwindling and the events get little media attention.

Now, after three months of continual protest, their actions barely capture the attention of even the Marines at the recruiting center.

Capt. John Paul Wheatcroft said he's unfazed by Code Pink's antics.

"They're always in pink and wear funny things, half-shaved heads, one side with hair and the other one bald, yeah, I'm pretty much used to anything," he told FOXNews.com.

Code Pink said that grandmothers did show up for Monday's protest — some over 90 years old, some in wheelchairs — and began knocking on the door of the recruiting center.

"The grandmothers were here and tried to get recruited," Joi said. "They tried to have conversations with the Marines, but the Marines were too scared to talk."

Wheatcroft, who was the Marine on the other side of the door, said that he was not afraid of the grannies. He just didn't open the door.

"Most of the time they are just practicing their right to protest and their freedom of speech or whatever, so it's not usually a problem for us. But sometimes it crosses the line, and that happened [Monday] when the grannies were here blocking the entrance and banging on the door," Wheatcroft told FOXNews.com.

On Tuesday, Code Pink's theme was "Fierce mothers raging against war," Joi said, to talk about all the mothers killed and raped in war. Wednesday's theme was "Bring your daughter to the protest," where daughters explanied why they don't want their parents fighting the war. Thursday is "Sisters don't allow sisters to live in war zones" day, and the week wraps up Friday with "Witches, clowns and sirens day."

Code Pink isn't the only group rallying around the Marine recruiting center that has seen its numbers drop.

Kimberly Wagner, Berkeley College Republicans activism chair, who is dating a Marine, said her group has been trying to keep up a presence outside the center since Feb. 13, when Code Pink's parking permit went into effect.

The college Republicans are fighting to acquire the same parking permits that Code Pink has. A resolution to grant the group an equal permit will be entered and voted upon in the May 20 city council meeting.

Wagner said showing up to rally is especially hard now due to final exams, which begin on Monday, but she said she will be there — this week and every week — "as a reminder to Code Pink that not everybody agrees with them."

When asked if she was planning any special events to counter Code Pink's theme week, Wagner said: "We try not to do anything embarrassing." She added, "We're just going to stick with our regular thing because we have lives and they don't."

But if events this week are an attempt by anti-war protesters to remarket their cause, the Marine recruiters in Berkeley tell FOXNews.com that Code Pink's presence outside their office has helped — not hindered — their mission.

"Ironically, it's actually helped us by putting our name out. We're now well known. And people know who we are, and where we are, and they come in to talk to us about enlisting. They've gotten us the publicity that we could've never afforded to pay for ourselves," Wheatcroft told FOXNews.com.

"Just in the last three weeks, 10 people came in looking to apply, looking to become Marine officers, and that's much higher than normal," he said.

Wheatcroft could not give exact figures on recruiting numbers, and officials at the Marine Corps' national headquarters did not respond to repeated requests for information.

As for what's brewing outside his recruiting center this week, Wheatcroft responded, "I think witches won't shock me, but it'll be a change of pace, so that's nice.

"Do you think they'll bring their cauldron?"

[Pizza_Mahal]

Why would they want witchcraft, anyway?! We might see Nephilim in the future.

[HisDaughter]

We know what happened in New Orleans.  I wonder what kind of judgement God has planned for California?  I'm expecting it at any moment. 

[nChrist]

Why would they want witchcraft, anyway?! We might see Nephilim in the future.

Hello Pizza_Mahal,

By "Nephilim", are you talking about fallen angels and/or demons - the real kind?

[nChrist]

Brothers and Sisters,

I obviously don't know how much longer Christians will be on this earth, but I do think that the End Days of this Age of Grace are nearing. SO, I think that things are going to get much worse.

Regardless, I'm ashamed of the way that the members of our Armed Forces are being treated. They haven't done anything wrong at all - just the opposite. They've done their duty in an outstanding manner and protected their families at home from an unknown number of attacks on our own soil. I don't find it ironic that most of the Armed Service members are Christians and most of the protesters ARE NOT! I also don't find it ironic that the term "Patriot" fits well on the members of the Armed Services, and it doesn't fit at all on the protesters. GENERALLY, the protesters are anti-American and Anti-Christ, and the members of the Armed Services are NOT!

We are to the point now where just about any Christian can easily see EVIL escalating and things growing worse very quickly. Make your own conclusions, but I think that the End Days of this Age of Grace are drawing NEAR. Regardless, the treatment of the members of our Armed Services makes me SICK AND ANGRY. I might be naive, but I think that the returning members of our Armed Services to Lawton Fort Sill will be treated in the manner that they deserve:  WITH RESPECT AND OUR HEARTFELT THANKS!