That bastion of liberal open mindedness and promoter of diversity, Berkeley, California has taken a U-turn. Apparently tolerance of different opinions has limits. The Berkeley city council by a vote of 8-1 told the United States Marines to shove off.

Adopting a resolution saying “if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome guests,” The council set off a not too surprising national frenzy of outrage and support for the Marines. With the damage already done and their message heard not only by the Marines, but around the globe, the wacky council reconvened two weeks later and decided to not send the printed resolution to the marines. I’ll bet that makes them feel better all the way to the Halls of Montezuma.

With logic that surely the Berkeley’s neighbor, Nancy Pelosi, could understand, they “strongly oppose the war and the recruitment of young people, but ‘deeply respect and support’ the men and women of the armed forces.”

With respect and support like that, who needs enemies?

While finding it difficult to give the Marines a fair shot at recruitment, the council had no problem giving a break to the Marine’s biggest critics. The council voted to dedicate public parking space to the ultra-left wing anti-war group CODEPINK so it would make it more convenient for the protestors to collect in front of the Marines’ office.

“I believe in the Code Pink cause. The Marines don’t belong here, they shouldn’t have come here, and they should leave,” said Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates.

Meanwhile, in Toledo, Ohio, 200 Marine reservists who had previously received police department approval to conduct an urban training mission were turned away by Mayor Carty Finkbeiner. The mayor said “he did not want them (the Marines) scaring unsuspecting visitors and office workers.” Naturally, the mayor said he “meant no harm”, but not everybody saw it that way. “I’m shaking, I’m so upset,” said Ron Hernandez, a former Marine who served in Vietnam. “It’s a slap in the face.”

Not wanting to miss out on the fun, the Boulder City Council has been considering a resolution demanding Congress impeach George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. Not everyone feels the Democrats have been sufficiently proactive since gaining majority control in the 2006 election. One of the organizers of the effort, Liz Robinson, reportedly said “people hoping to see impeachment proceedings have given congressional Democrats … plenty of time to act.” Ms. Robinson must not realize that the Democrats have been too overwhelmed dealing with the steroid crisis in major league baseball to take up something as trivial as impeachment of both the President and Vice-President. Maybe with a reminder from the Boulder City Council they will get right to it. Surely, Mark Udall, the well established and connected Boulder Democrat Congressman can carry the impeachment water for his hometown constituents.

Yes, folks, there are a lot of really crazy people out there.