Our Silly Council - March 2, 2008

The turtles have been hibernating in the mud over the cold winter months. Although we have been quiet, our eyes and ears have been open, and we have been watching events unfold. Generally, we have been satisfied with our accomplishments from the warmer seasons, but there is more work to be done come springtime.

Our slumber was disturbed greatly however, when we discovered that our Silly Council was back to its tricks, having learned nothing from the “blue line” fiasco. We could hardly believe our eyes when we found that once again, the Council is abusing their local elected offices and misusing City time to make symbolic statements on national issues which are outside of their purview, and for which they have no significant influence, knowledge or experience.

This time it was a “Resolution urging cessation of combat operation in Iraq and the return of US troops” placed on the agenda for the December 18^th 2007 Council meeting by Mayor Marty Blum and Das Williams. This was shameful and embarrassing, especially to those of us who did not ask our City Leaders to be representing our viewpoint on such issues, and to those who do not agree with their viewpoint. The shame comes from the very idea that after huge security and stability gains made by the troop surge, that our City suggests on our behalf that we should selfishly, recklessly and irresponsibly abandon the Iraqis as soon as possible. The City has made it their mission to speak for us and demand from the powers that be that we hand Iraq back to the whims of Iran (or worse, the impotent and corrupt United Nations) and allow re-energizing of Al-Queda in Iraq, assuring that all of the progress and cost in money and lives was in vain.

Meanwhile, the more appropriate and urgent local issue of public safety was ignored throughout the meeting. This despite testimony from citizen Wayne Scoles about radio communication inadequacies between Police, Fire and Highway Patrol, and a personal incident in which a knife was pulled on him and the DA’s office dropped the charges because they got the facts wrong. He also brought up the fact that Police Chief Cam Sanchez has told his officers not to book people at county jail, but just cite them and let them go in order to save money. All of this testimony was ignored by the Council.

Fresh from the “blue line” battering, and fully aware of the potential for opposition because of the national nature of the issue, the resolution was framed by Das and the Mayor under the guise that the war is causing a shortfall of City funding, in order to make it sound like it had local relevance. If this were truly a justification for this resolution, why have we seen no resolution from the council about the real cause of financial shortfalls, which is the mandatory spending that is used to fund entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare (see “The Iraq War is not the problem” by Gina Perry February 7 2008 Daily Sound). The problem is compounded by the cost of incarceration, education, health and emergency services and welfare programs such as WIC (Women Infants and Children) which are abused and taken advantage of by illegal immigrants. Why is the Council not addressing illegal immigration as a root of budget deficits, since they have no problem taking on national issues?

A few weeks before the meeting, we watched and listened in amazement as Marty Blum and Das Williams stacked the deck for the vote on their resolution. A reader disclosed to us that Das had his staff assistant Stephanie Mesones send an email memo December 3^rd with advance copies of the resolution to key far left groups such as Veterans for Peace, Code Pink, and progressive talk and media hosts, announcing the resolution before the general public was even made aware that it was on the calendar. In the email is the wording, “We would love your support, please attend this city council meeting and call everyone you know that has an interest in this resolution (help us get the word out)”. Marty then made an appearance on the progressive radio station’s Paul Berenson show announcing the meeting to his progressive listeners, but made no mention on her own show on the more conservative radio station. There was no other public announcement made in any local papers (other than this column). The result was a hearing of about twenty invited staged anti-war testimonies all in support of the resolution, with most of the presenters disappointed only that presidential impeachment was not the issue of the day instead. Democracy in action?

On the Paul Berenson show the following Saturday, we laughed along with Marty and Paul, when they acted amazed that there were no speakers against the resolution, and listened to her true reasons for wanting this resolution, which of course were purely ideological and had nothing to do with the cited lack of local financial resources. It seemed to have much more to do with impressing her peers as a member of an activist group from Japan called “Mayors for Peace”. Listen for yourself at http://www.paulberenson.com.

Ironically, the same Council Meeting in which the resolution was passed was opened with a report from UCSB graduate and State Department Diplomat Kevin Crisp, reporting about the successful infrastructure reconstruction progress made by his “provincial reconstruction team” in Iraq. This is someone who has actually been there. His team helps to build water treatment plants, road improvements, and builds classrooms and schools. They are also involved in Capacity Development, which basically means teaching the Iraqis to govern themselves, and about grassroots democracy. Kevin is involved with a group called “One Laptop Per Child” which will be helping him place inexpensive but powerful laptops in the hands of Iraqi schoolchildren. Shamefully, especially for the former schoolteacher that our Mayor loves to refer to herself as, these are the positive efforts that she and the Council would like to see us abandon as quickly as possible, supposedly so that the City can have more funding for its self-involved projects.

Meanwhile in Iraq, there has been a dramatic decline of IED deaths because of increased tips and assistance from concerned local citizen groups (CLC’s), (USA Today Dec 19 2007), there are successful programs in place such as the US ‘micro-loan’ effort to fund small Iraqi businesses (LA Times Feb 22, 2008 Business), along with highly successful reconstruction efforts; violence has fallen 60 percent across Iraq since 30,000 additional U.S. troops became fully deployed in June 2007 (see: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080217/wl_nm/iraq_dc) attacks in Baghdad have fallen 80 percent, (see: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080216/ts_nm/iraq_dc). But these facts are not important to a Council that prefers we sacrifice all of our progress and effectively, give up, defeated, and throw the Iraqis to the wolves.

So what of the close to 4000 American deaths represented by crosses at Arlington West? Apparently the City wishes that they shall have died in vain by denying the country a now achievable victory. Councilwoman Helene Schneider suggested “supporting the troops” by bringing them home. Has she asked any of the troops what kind of support they want? What of the troops who want to be there and are proud of what they are doing, enough to re-enlist and willingly be re-deployed so that they can finish a job they are proud of with honor?

The News Press on January 28, 2007 highlighted on its front page a decorated soldier from Goleta, Staff Sgt. Seanessey O’Dowd, who has already served two tours of duty in Iraq and voluntarily re-enlisted for a third. Is this one of the troops our City would like to “support” by pulling the rug out from under their efforts? This local hero is willingly heading back despite being blown up by an IED while serving in Afghanistan in 2002, losing hearing in his right ear, and still having shrapnel in his body. This man tells us that the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is necessary, again from a man who has actually been there.

In contrast, it is sickening and disgusting to see what heroes our Mayor and Council think themselves to be, apparently under the delusion that they are presiding over the Continental Congress. They each gave sermons about how horrible our country and military is and patted themselves on the back for voting their desire to cut and run and pull the rug out from under a true hero like Sgt. O’Dowd. Our fearful leaders believe in defeat and retreat, feeling they have the right to speak for our entire City after packing a room full of their liberal friends. They were feeling powerful and giddy when they found no opposition to their resolution, effectively proclaiming to the nation that Santa Barbara thinks losing the war and lack of stability in Iraq is good for America. Their feeling must be that Santa Barbara should not be expected to make any sacrifice or contribution to protect its own freedom. At the same time as we pull the troops, Mayor Blum and Das, let’s be sure to pull those laptops off the laps of Iraqi schoolchildren who for the first time in their lives have hope for their future!

The whole shameful circus act of December 18, 2007 is available for viewing on the City website: http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/Government/Video

Be sure to fast forward past “Inside Santa Barbara” to the 6 PM council reconvention.

The Conservative Turtle is not an individual but a group of like-minded individuals pioneered by Aaron Shaw. Comments may be left at conservativeturtle.blogspot.com or sent to: feedback@conservativeturtle.com.