He’s back, baby!
Former Arcata City Councilmember Dave Meserve has written up a citizen’s initiative that would completely ban all military recruiting targeting minors [Thx, Shane!] within the Arcata city limits. He’s calling it the “Arcata Youth Protection Act,” and he hopes to get it on the November ballot.
Will he be able to gather the signatures of 1,500 registered Arcata voters by June? Certainly. Will it make a big media sensation, perhaps earning Dave another guest appearance on the Fox News Channel (where he has surely been missed)? Most likely. Will it pass? Of course.
Will it hold up in court? I take leave to doubt it. Paging Shane Brinton …
Here’s the press release (.doc).
This article appears in Care For An Éclaire?.
Last question… how much will it cost Arcata to defend it in court?
Berkeley is facing the loss of 2 million in federal funding because of their action, including money earmarked for UC. I don’t know if it’ll pass, but the mayor and one of the council members are pushing for a repeal.
Hello? You’re paging me? Why? To correct you? You’re in luck, I’d be happy to. You wrote…
Former Arcata City Councilmember Dave Meserve has written up a citizen’s initiative that would completely ban all military recruiting within the Arcata city limits.
This statement is not true. Anybody who has actually read the proposal knows that it only bans the recruitment of people under the age of 18. Right or wrong, that’s what it does. To characterize it the way you have is misleading.
I got the press release email from Dave last night. It went out to a lot of people. I’m assuming you got the same email and just didn’t read it carefully because you were more interested in attacking Dave than understanding what he’s trying to do.
I’m not taking a public position on this yet, because I want to take some time to consider all of the pros and cons. That being said, I do think it’s important to understand what the proposed ordinance will actually do.
According to the email I got “Its main premise is that military recruiting is a threat to youth, and that those who are considered too young to vote are also too young to be urged to enlist in the military.”
Say what you will about that, but it’s entirely different than your characterization. This ordinance does not ban all military recruitment. It only bans recruitment activities directed toward minors.
Precisely! Corrected, and thanks, and apologies to all.
I thought you might have some extra insight, though. It’s kind of been your issue.
Eric: What happened in Berkeley? I did the quick search, but all I found was this. Doesn’t seem like what you were talking about.
Hank – thanks for making the correction. And I’m sorry if I seemed to come down a little hard on you for the mistake, but I think it’s important for people to consider this issue apart from whatever they think about Dave Meserve. There are valid reasons for this kind of proposal. It should be seriously considered.
The difference between banning all recruitment and banning the recruitment of minors is a big one. I would not support a ban on all recruitment. If that’s what this was, I would reject it. I-m not anti-military (I have even considered joining the Coast Guard), but I am against targeting minors.
Like I said, I’m going to need to consider this a little more. However, I will tell you that I am inclined to support it. Not only do recruiters target young people, they target young people from poor backgrounds who are looking for money to go to college. It’s not right.
The military is not just like any other job. It is a service to our country that involves great risks. If adults want to enlist, that’s their choice. High school students should be able to focus on their studies without being bothered by such things.
For now, that’s all the insight that I can offer.
Um, if we ban colleges from recruiting minors, ban the Peace Corps from recruiting minors, and ban employers from job fairs where minors attend, then maybe.
I’d still be against it, but at least that would be intellectually consistent.
Why can’t my liberal friends understand–you don’t ban speech or advocacy for anyone, unless you’re willing to ban it for everyone.
Unless you want Mayor Partain, and councilmembers Arkley Sr., Richmond, etc. banning Peace Corps recruiting when they get into power.
Or maybe Mayor Phoenix, councilmember Tad, etc. will ban all employers from recruiting when they’re in power.
Supporting democracy means giving others the ability to screw up their lives and make bad choices.
I vote “No.”
-JMan
This is why
I’m all for parental notification-style enforcement. Outright banning people from speaking to other people sounds Orwellian. No wait, it is Orwellian.
The Peace Corps doesn’t send people to die. If protecting MINORS is “Orwellian,” then we should allow cigarette companies to advertise near schools. And we should let the porn industry recruit for employees on our campuses.
Banning all recruiters would create first amendment problems. Banning recruitment activities directed at young people makes sense and, in a way, there is already a precedent since our society protects minors in many other ways.
I’m supporting it.
Legislating people into silence is Orwellian. Free speech is the first of all freedoms.
On second thought, you may have a chance if you also write a measure to establish a free speech tax to pay for the resulting federal lawsuit. Make it a temporary tax to conclude after the lawyers have been paid in full.
The greater lesson we can take from this is that Dave probably won’t run for city council again. This sort of thing was why many people didn’t vote for him last time. Think of how much good he could do if he took up active causes, not ones designed to castigate or censor… if he were to make real, measurable positive change in peoples’ lives.
Hi Shane,
“Protecting minors” has a long and storied history as a way to exert control over the populace. Shouldn’t we protect minors from the Peace Corps? You can die there too, need some scary innoculations, and you lose a few years of career potential.
While the last point may seem silly to you, women with children in particular know very well how hard it is to get good employment when you have large gaps in your employment history.
I’m not anti-Peace Corps though. But you should try and defend the worst, most aggregious, heinous speech and advocacy–from your perspective. Or when someone else is in charge they’ll shut you up.
-JMan
Let’s try to ban comic books again… to “protect minors.”
And add to the “banned” list Planned Parenthood, because that is definitely dangerous to babies. And all the other progressive indoctrination our high school children are forcibly subjected to. Don’t even think about trying to have a prayer meeting.
That’s what’s Orwellian about Dave/Shane’s idea.
I happily shred the first amendment because I’m eradicating speech that *I* hate, but when *YOU* eradicate speech that I like, it’s tyranny. You can’t have it both ways. This initiative fundamentally destroys our freedom.
Hooray for former councilman Dave Meserve of Arcata, California for his efforts with a ballot initiative against military recruiters to keep them from outrageously pursuing school kids under 18 years of age and I hope other leaders across the country will follow suit and greatly expand restrictions on military recruiters as I have had some very bad experiences with recruiters and their military cohorts trying to con innocent young people (even the seriously impaired) into the pseudo- military conveyor-belt of death that passes for a military today. As a grandfather having lost a childhood friend in the Korean war (another deliberately planned no-win war for the Globalists), Vietnam era veteran, and Ron Paul supporter, see: JBS.org (search: (Ron Paul on Iraq war) I’m appalled at this current specter of ANOTHER Korea-Vietnam style ILLEGAL deliberately planned no-win policy war for the redistribution of the world for the big money boys reportedly like Halliburton Oil, and others, being built as usual on the mangled bodies of our children by high-stakes world conspirators implementing their perennial age old strategy of War-Money-and Hatred, with absolutely no concern for human life or suffering, toward their goal of a total Orwellian world police state. We must look past the facade of the mindless flag waving, band playing, uniformed marching victims and perceive through the dim lights, thick smoke, and loud music, the true vision of the gaping maw of the evil man- made Hell and horror of war from which we must save our children by binding our traitorous leaders down by the chains of the Constitution, as Congressman Ron Paul demanded before congress but was ignored by his sub-human fellow members of congress, and now we are reaping the whirlwind of death. We must restore our once honorable military leadership and its’ mission to defend Americas’ borders IN America. – Ed Nemechek, Landers, Ca.-760-246-8059. (ednemechek@verizon.net).