So if you are all about free speech. Are you going to allow military reps to be present? Let me refresh my mind, but when the military is at area schools your groups are present to offer another avenue for our youth. Oh yeah, free speech as long it's along with your point of views. No worries, I guess we will have to have a bar-b-que there and get the military reps to come along so they can offer another avenue for our youth.

Sounds like a plan SGT Audie Murphy! I will contact M.O.M.S. of Santa Cruz County.

Army Mom, can you explain what the M.O.M.S. of Santa Cruz County are? Thanks for all your support.

dear sgt - it doesn't sound like this event is focusing on the subject of speech, but the subject of discrimination. it also doesn't seem like the intent is for it to be an open dialog, but rather a time to act. when people were organizing to abolish slavery, they didn't invite slaveowners to their meetings. i don't know much about this event, though, so i suppose there's no harm in emailing them asking to attend, since they are asking for an rsvp.

and if you actually are in favor of this "free speech", i'd challenge your friends to decline recruiting in any school in the county unless there are groups and/or individuals offering another side present. we all know that military recruiters are in our youth's schools far more than any other agency, especially those with alternative viewpoints. i'd also challenge the u.s. government to provide the same funding for groups offering alternatives to the military as for recruiters itself. it's easy to say free speecy when one side has a 5 billion dollar budget and the other has a few flyers and a nickel.

finally, if you're such in favor of free speech, i'd urge you to understand when schools and communities seek to ban military recruiters because of their discriminatory policies. as you said, you cannot support free speech for yourself and deny it to others - so the military should support the free speech of schools and universities and not complain like little babies to congressmen to restrict that speech - such as the No Child Left Behind Act and the Solomon Amendment has done.

Doing a Google search on M.O.M.S comes up with:

Mothers of Military Services, with meetings first Saturdays of the month at the Santa Cruz Bible Church. "The primary purpose of MOMS is to pray for their sons and daughters and for all those serving our county in the military."

www.cyber-times.com/newspapers/archives/00001080.shtml

It looks like it was started by a woman named Kate Rodriguez, who had a son join the Marines after 9/11.

gosh audie you sound kinda agro. what's wrong, you worried there won't be enough bodies to fill the humvees in iraq? military policy and US foreign policy is different from people in the military. people in the military obviously have many different belief systems and reasons for being in the armed services. sounds to me like this gathering is talking about the institution of militarism. why are you so threatened that people are concerned enough to talk about this? even ike (you do know who he is don't you?) raised this very issue in the context of the military industrial complex.

Actually I am quite familiar with Ike. But out of respect I prefer to address him as President Eisenhower. And it was not he miltary that brought the No child left Act to Congress, it was he elected officials.

elected officials do and did not work within a vacuum when they passed section 9528 of the No Child Left Behind Act *forcing* schools to allow military recruiters.

there was testimony from representatives of the u.s. military to members of congress basically saying that because so many schools had banned military recruiters, it was harming recruitment. this was actually a lie - as recruitment was doing just fine. THIS is the reason that congress overwhelmingly supported NCLB 9528 and restricting school's free speech rights.

as much as the u.s. military wishes to claim that, "we just follow policy", they are actively engaged in attempts to set that policy by various testimonies and pressures placed upon both the executive and legislative branches of office. the banning of openly gay members of the military is an example of this - as people in the military claim that it will harm their ability to fight.

This is great and informative dialogue--all around local activism with specific events being organized. Great stuff!