Open letter to Berkeley

When I think that I have seeing and heard everything, someone does or say something new I never thought I would hear.

Outrageous comments or behaviors in my opinion include but are not limited to:

a. Negating a permit to build a house, not because it was unsafe or unsightly, but because it is too big.1
b. Attempting to stop a perfectly legal business from using a man dressed as a chicken from marketing their product because there were no ordinances covering this issue.2
c. Moving to Iraq to volunteer to become a human shield before Iraqi Freedom started to only call from help because the situation was too dangerous for them.
d. Telling the Marines that they are not welcome on their city.
e. Etcetera.

So the bottom line is simple. We all have freedom of speech. But when we have freedoms, are we or should we not be required to have some personal responsibility? A city council is not an individual. It is part of the government of the city. I just had this conversation with one of my peers. He does not like President Bush, and I respect his point of view. He has the right to express his opinion as a human being born in the best Nation in the world. But when we share the platform as instructors for the United States Army, or when a teacher stands in front of his or her students to teach, or you put your uniform to work for whatever organization you work for, you stop being a private citizen and become a representative of that particular organization. In that situation, it is your responsibility to do the best job you can to represent those who pay your bills. And if they are the Department of Education, or the Tax Payers, then, unless you are paid to express your opinions, keep them to yourself.

The United States military has fought for countless decades to protect the freedoms of this Nation and some who I really do not care to visit again. You have the right to deny entry into your private property to any one you do not want there. But, a city in the United States is open to any and all Legal American Citizens or anyone who is or has being admitted legally in the United States. And, the United States Marines are part of our Government. They have the right to do their job.

To say that all military recruiters are liars is the equivalent that all priests are perverts and rapists, or that everyone of a different race than yours is not a person or is inferior.

When you generalize about a particular group of people and say that all of them are whatever, you just proved that you are a bigot. When the city council of the city of Berkeley said that the Marines are not welcomed in their city, then, in my opinion they were overstepping their boundaries. We are in the United States of America, not in the old Soviet Union, or China, or North Korea. Let’s get back to reality and understand that we are in a democracy and not in a socialist republic. I understand protests and as I said before, I respect your right to express your opinion. Lets just do it with respect and do not overstep our boundaries.

1. Boulder, Colorado2. Woodland Park, Colorado