Berkeley kids probably not marine material

Posted on February 15, 2008

The Marine Corps makes men. But they need somewhat substantial raw timber to start with, better a sturdy Oak than a Pussy Willow.

One remarkable thing to come out of the Berkeley vs Marines dust up is in contained in the report of Sen. DeMint’s effort to cut off earmarked money for the city.

The South Carolina Republican has tried mightily to punish the liberal enclave of Berkeley, Calif., for its recent efforts to shut down a Marine recruiting station.

But his bill (S 2596) — that would rescind about $2 million in earmarked funds for the city — has been blocked twice in the Senate, once with a hold and again when a measure he tried to attach it to was withdrawn.

But DeMint at least managed to wrangle some floor time Thursday to take aim directly at Berkeley and at one of his favorite targets in general — earmarks. It seems that Berkeley students require federal taxpayer funded “gourmet organic lunches”. If their kids are that pampered they would wash out of basic training long before the survival training.

“One earmark [for Berkeley] provides gourmet organic lunches to schools . . . while our Marines are making do with military rations of sloppy joes and chili with beans,” DeMint claimed during his floor statement.

» Filed Under Reid, Pelosi, Democrats, War on Terror, Marines, National Politics