The world can wait
November 2 was supposed to be the day that hundreds of Berkeley students were going to walk out of class to protest our president. Not everyone got the memo. The anti-Bush group “The World Can’t Wait” organized the walkout, but, according to the Daily Californian, only a handful of Berkeley students actually skipped class. To increase their numbers, the protestors supplemented their tiny group with students from Berkeley High School. Overall, class attendance was normal throughout the entire day. Coincidentally, California Republican Party Chairman Duf Sundheim was on campus as a guest speaker in Alan Ross’ Political Science 179 colloqium, where he spoke to a room of about 600 students.
Iranian-Americans against terror
On November 1, The Iranian-American Community of Northern California held a rally and press conference at UC Berkeley to protest Iranian President Ahmanedinejad’s anti-Israel comments. At a seminar called “World Without Zionism,” Ahmanedinejad had made several anti-American comments and criticized other Muslim nations for recognizing the existence of Israel. Chanting, “Down with the terrorist regime of Iran,” protestors at the rally urged the United Nations to impose sanctions on Iran for its human-rights violations and its efforts to acquire nuclear weapons. While members of the group were also there to support the Democratic Movement of Iran, they were confronted by a few Mullah-supporting Berkeley students.
Unfair and unbalanced
KNBC of Los Angeles apologized to Governor Schwarzenegger after organizing a biased televised voter forum, according to the Orange County Register. Several audience members who were invited by KNBC to participate in the town-hall-style debate were Democratic activists, including one congressional candidate. At one point in the question-and-answer session, one man attempted to shout down Governor Schwarzenegger. KNBC claims that it was unaware that partisan Democrats were participating and made no mention of it during the broadcast.
Fighting the ACLU grinches
Several legal groups are gearing up to protect the traditions of Christmas in schools and cities, the Associated Press reported. Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal group directed its 800 attorneys to take on cases pro-bono to fight attempts to censor Christmas celebration on school or public property. Liberty Counsel, another Christian legal group, is prompting a similar movement, while Rev. Charles Nestor is urging Americans to agitate the ACLU in a different way. Rev. Nestor is initiating “Operation Nativity” from his Web site, which insists that all Christians “flood the country” with nativity displays on their front lawns.
More reasons to hate France
According to the blog Riding Sun, several anti-American photos have been appearing in European magazines. French-born photographer Eolo Perfido developed a series of photos titled “Propoganda,” depicting disturbing perceptions of American life. In one photo, a Klansman holding a handgun stands blindfolded in front of a tattered American flag. In another photo, a blindfolded man sits screaming while holding the American flag to the floor. Perfido told Riding Sun, “I don’t hate America … I just think that in such a ‘great’ country, … there is something that doesn’t work.” He must be referring to our intolerance for dictators, oppression, and rude Frenchmen.
Lighten up!
Members of the Cal Berkeley Democrats gave the Patriot some free publicity. In response to our “A Coherent Case for Feminism” piece, the humorless liberals offered students on Sproul Plaza a chance to jot down why they too have no sense of humor on torn-out pages of the October issue. Patriot Editor in Chief Melanie Smith took advantage of the opportunity and stated her coherent case for feminism as, “… the radical notion that a woman can make a joke at her own expense and still be a confident, successful individual.”
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