"Congress shall make no law...prohibiting...free speech." Maybe they should.

Berkeley, CA, a city so left of Madison my head cocks to the side to actually recognize it's existence, is not only protesting the Marine Recruiters present in the city, but the City Council has endorsed such a protest. Now a U.S. Senator wants to revoke funding to the city council because of it.

We are all so resigned to this right-to-protest, free speech and all that America's Constitution and 1st Amendment rights entail. (Frankly, I feel the third Amendment never gets referenced, so I've decided to shout out to it - No Quartering Soldiers- WOO!) Jokes aside, we don't realize the harm we're doing to those who aren't present but are deeply affected by such protests and references to "free speech."

What is the goal of the Berkeley anti-Marine crowd? Honestly, I am baffled. If they take Marine recruiters out of the city, isn't that a revocation of the Marine Corps' 1st amendment rights? What about the rights of those in the city or those who attend UC-Berkeley who may want to join the Marine Corps? (Unlikely many, but stick with me on principle here.)

I find protests against the pillars of American society - our troops and source of national security included - not only insulting, but precisely Un-American and anti-free speech and 1st Amendment rights. Acting out on the basis of the Constitution to achieve an effect that merely strips others of the same constitutional rights invoked for the protest should never be tolerated.

Beyond that, why do we as a society insist on divisiveness? Why do we insist on tearing eachother down for something we disagree with? I may be opinionated, and differ from a lot of folks on religion or politics, but I'm not trying to take away anyone's U.S.- and God-given rights (except maybe Illegal Immigrants...).

If holding a sign in the street against a Marine Corps office makes you feel better about yourself or affirms your purpose in life, then I feel sorry for you. Think of the Recruiter inside the window, the job he is trying to do and the money he is working to make to support his family. I'm sorry if you're too busy combing your purple hair and eating your granola, but it's about basic rights FOR ALL. He's not holding a sign outside your global-warming meeting or throwing trash outside your place of work on Earth Day (which you know is a big concern to those crazy libs).

At least the Marines have the right outlook.

"We understand things are different there, but some people just don't get it," said a senior Marine official. "This is a part of the military machine that gives them the right to do what they do, but what they are doing is extreme."