Knee Deep in the Hooah!

I spent many days as a professional social worker with kids who had entered the court system for one reason or another. Sometimes it was due to their own actions, and sometimes it was due to the actions of the adults who were responsible for their welfare and well being. Since the majority of kids on my therapeutic case load were “violent and assaultive” youth, we often would spend a good deal of our time trying to find evidence based ways to impart values and skills to the client so that he/she could have social interactions that would be conducive to living a life outside of the prison bars.

One of the biggest challenges I often faced with the kids was encouraging them to let go of their negative peer group in which they were embedded when they got into trouble, and to latch onto a new peer group that would serve as a model and exhort the kid to a life that would indeed be congruent with the goal of staying crime free and being productive.

Getting my young clients to leave their first set of peers was not always easy, but what was harder was teaching them that it is their responsibility to know who they are “hanging with.” If I found out that one of them was “hanging with” another kid who had an active criminal record and ‘more issues than the NY Times,’ I would expect an explanation. Usually I got a shrug at the shoulders followed by (every therapeutic case manager’s most hated answer) “Uh, I didn’t know that!”

Well, guess what buddy? It’s your responsibility to know who you are hanging out with. It’s your responsibility to know what that person is up to. You know why? Because if you are in the car with him when he decides to rob a store — even if you had no clue of what was going on — guess whose going to jail with him (and here’s a hint … NOT me!).

The truth is, who we associate ourselves with says a lot about who we are and how much personal responsibility we take by how much we understand about those around us. When those associations reach higher levels of intimacy then it is a definite reflection of our own values and morals. Nearly all public figures are painfully aware of how keeping questionable company can come back to bite them in the long run. All of us hate to hear the answer out of some politicians mouth “I did not know she was a (fill in the blank).” “I did not know (fill in the blank) was involved in that.”

Yes, mistakes happen, and good people really can get caught up in some bad things, I acknowledge that. However, when the information about your newest acquaintance is in headlines, is highly public with, and proud about their behavior, then you are left with no excuse. I am sure you all are aware of the Code Pink debacle in Berkeley and the Berkeley City Council’s choice to become publicly acquainted with Code Pink in a very intimate display of support to this organization. If you need background information go to Michelle Malkin’s site or stop by and see Brat at Tanker Brothers. They have both done a great job keeping us current.

Berkeley City Council members have reserved a free parking space for anti-war protesters in front of the Marine Recruiting offices. This same anti-military group had vandalized those very offices just a few months ago. City Council, through their actions, has told Code Pink that they are above the law. City Council has told Code Pink that they will turn a blind eye when they break the laws (like chaining themselves to private property while the police watch on for hours on end), and they will even go one step further in this new found love affair — they will reward it! They will give them a standing permit and a special parking place. Yes, the City Council of Berkeley hates our military as much as Code Pink does. They are anti-military, and this is not just a statement against the war. It’s a statement against our military in this Country. Code Pink believes that our military should be shut down, and so we have to assume that the Council members feel the same way. Don’t believe their doublespeak when they say they support the troops. They do not.

The Berkeley City Council has sided with Code Pink as evidenced by their actions in their meeting on Tuesday February 5th. They gave Code Pink favoritism in the quest to drive the Marines out of Berkeley, and they sided emphatically with Code Pink by having their own “Marine Bashing Bash!” Why do I say that the Berkeley City Council hates the military? Because they not only keep company with an organization that hates the military, but they have become intimate partners with that organization and have knowingly and gladly targeted the Marines for constant harassment. There is no other explanation. Code Pink has a notorious record for unapologetically disrupting meetings, interrupting speeches, and even participating in fund raising to help “The other side” in the battle for Fallujah. Remember Medea Benjamin is the founder of Code Pink, and this is who the City Council in Berkeley (including the Mayor) are knowingly “hanging with” these days (emphasis mine)

To Fallujah, With Love
By Ben Johnson
FrontPageMagazine.com | Wednesday, January 05, 2005
(excerpt)

Medea Benjamin gave some indication in a story that ran on the Agence France Presse wire service on New Year’s Eve. “I don’t know of any other case in history in which the parents of fallen soldiers collected medicine…for the families of the ‘other side,’” Benjamin said. “It is a reflection of a growing movement in the United States…opposed to the unjust nature of this war.” Is it possible Medea intended to aid Iraqi terrorists?

Benjamin is well suited for that role. A lifelong revolutionary, she once described Castro’s Cuba as “heaven.” She helped stir revolutionary violence at home in 1999 as one of the instigators of Seattle’s anti-World Trade Organization riots and honed her rhetorical skills as a Green Party senatorial candidate in California (and author of the socialist utopian book I, Senator). However, Benjamin is best known as the founder of three of the Left’s most effective activist organizations: Global Exchange, Code Pink, and International Occupation Watch. Global Exchange takes American liberals on “reality” tours of third world nations, illustrating either the wonders of socialism (Cuba) or the iniquity of American foreign policy (Iraq, Afghanistan).

Code Pink purports to be a grassroots organization of antiwar housewives, yet the core leadership met in the 1980s while working on behalf of Central American Communist guerrillas. In fact, at least one of Benjamin’s close associates has experience giving medical aid to the enemy: Code Pink leader Sandy “Sand” Brim flew in a surgeon to operate on Communist leader Nidia Diaz, whose men had recently killed four Marines.

Code Pink’s ties to Marine hating antics are not new, and the elected officials of the City Berkeley obviously agree with Code Pink and with their views of our finest and bravest. It’s nice to know where they stand, now if we could just get them to own it.

Tags: military, politics //