The Point?

Recently, if you haven't been under a rock, you know that protesters are trying to drive out Marine recruiters from Berkeley, CA and now Washington, DC. The general method is to show up, deface property, and in general try to prevent anyone from communicating with the recruiters about the Marine Corps. The idea is that the protesters can intimidate the Marines and scare them away.

Does that make any sense to you? Think about what the Marines are trained to do. Their primary mission is to storm hostile shores defended by vicious enemies under heavy and deadly fire. The Marines took island by island the Pacific away from the Japanese. The fought long, bloody, hand-to-hand battles in Korea. The engaged stealthy enemies in the dense jungles of Vietnam. The directly engaged Saddam's army in Kuwait.

Names like Guadalcanal, Chosin, Fallujah, Inchon, and Iwo Jima will forever be a part of the Marine Corps ethos.

Many of the Marines serving as recruiters have personally been in close-quarters combat against people willing to die just to take a single American with them to death.

Do the protesters really think that the Marines will be intimidated by a bunch of ladies in pink dresses? I mean, has CODEPINK thought about that.

I think they have. I will be willing to give them the benefit of doubt and say that they are intelligent people capable of reason. They know they can't intimidate the Marines. Therefore, all of the "direct action" protesting is for publicity, recruiting for their own organization, and is little more than a political statement.

The Marines aren't going anywhere.

But I don't think CODEPINK has truly thought it through. And, by this, I mean they haven't analyzed the consequences if they were to be successful. CODEPINK doesn't think the Marine Corps shares their values. They believe the Marine Corps is out of touch with America. Therefore, they want to drive the Marine Corps recruiters out of their neighborhoods. But this means displacing the recruiters to locations more in line with the values and beliefs of the Marines. This would have the effect of driving the Marines further away from the values and beliefs of CODEPINK. If CODEPINK has really thought of the consequences, I think that they would want Marine recruiters in their area.

But again, this is hypothetical. Remember, does anyone truly believe that the Marine Corps will be intimidated by pink dresses and megaphones?