UPDATE: March 23, 2023
Frankly, I’m getting pretty tired of being right. The 20
th anniversary of the ill-fated U.S. invasion of Iraq is also the 20
th anniversary of the O’Malley family’s ultimately unsuccessful attempt to provide Berkeley with a printed newspaper. Here in Berkeley that spring we made every effort from day 1 to warn the Bush administration that their foray into the middle east was doomed, but they ignored us—what a surprise.
Along with our correspondents and our extended families we marched with signs in Berkeley and San Francisco. Many wrote about it, here in Berkeley and elsewhere. A San Francisco Chronicle reporter marched and didn’t write about it but was fired anyway. The war against Iraq took no notice, even though all of us were right.
This month we have the opportunity to say “I told you so” one more time about the Iraq invasion.. Cold comfort, at best. So much for being right. And even on a much less consequential matter, it’s depressing.
On Tuesday it was profoundly dispiriting to watch the Berkeley City Council discuss sending a “letter” to the California Supreme Court advocating review of the California Appeals Court’s unanimous decision that UC Berkeley’s environmental impact report for its proposed People’s Park construction project was inadequate. The resolution’s sponsors, Mayor Arreguin and Councilmember Rigel Robinson, a UC graduate student, claimed it was an “urgency” item, exempt from Brown Act noticing regulations because the council was about to go on recess. Take a look, and don’t forget to click on the links.
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