Everyone I talk to who has put out Obama yard signs has had them stolen. It usually happens late at night. I don't know if this a Freedom of Speech issue or plain old theft of private property issue, but if this is the master plan of the republicans, they really must be desperate.I was talking to Jan at the Red Coyote Cafe last week. Her cafe enjoys an nice location on the main highway into Zion National Park. As I was complimenting her excellent taste in Obama signage, she sighed & told me how many times it has been stolen. Sometimes the sign-stealers are not content to just take the sign. Sometimes they use it to destroy her patio plants. She always replaces it and wonders what the sign-stealers are really trying to say. Are they saying she is not entitled to express her own political opinion on her own property? As she serves her tasty Breakfast Burritos, she wonders if perhaps one of the customers is enjoying her food by day and coming back to steal her signs at night. She worries that the sign stealers may turn violent, but that hasn't stopped her from putting out Obama signs.
After a woman in a nearby town had her Obama yard sign stolen a few times, she mounted one on a branch of a big tree in her front yard. A few days later, she found the tree branch laying on her lawn with a rope hanging from it ... no sign of the sign. Was this done by her neighbors, she wonders, or just some drive-by McManiac? She now takes her sign inside each night at dusk.
Apparently this is a national phenomenon.
In North Carolina a couple of stolen Obama posters were wrapped around a murdered baby bear which was left at the entrance of Western Carolina University.
In Sacramento CA a family had so many yard signs stolen, they put out a sign saying if you steal our sign we will donate money to the Obama campaign. It was stolen, so they now have put out 100 yard signs & donate a dollar every time one is stolen.
In Portland OR 16-yr old Preston Fosback has mounted a webcam to watch his Obama sign after having a few swiped. People all over the world are now monitoring his sign every night.
It's happening in Texas. "What are people thinking? Signs don't vote!" East Texans are attributing the theft to racism.
In Virgina a baptist minister found his 4x8-ft Obama yard sign replaced with a big Confederate Flag.
SWASTIKAS were spray-painted on some Obama signs in Albuquerque NM ! (link includes video) ... what does this say about THE REAL AMERICA, the one humped by Sarah Palin ... does that place even exist anymore?
I don't normally put out political yard signs because I live on a dead-end street and my neighbors are beyond political redemption. However, I'm rethinking that position because I came home tonight to find this little message stuck in my front door:
"VOTE PALIN-McCAIN ... Palin will go to work cleaning up corruption in Washington DC just like she did in Alaska. Palin has a record of transparency. You can bet she will fight for drilling for oil ... immediately! ... She has a record in Alaska of fighting unreasonable environmentalists, like the polar bear claim. Thank you for your vote."
You notice, not a word about McCain, except to put his name 2nd? Wow, I knew Utahns weren't impressed with The Mav-prick, but did not realize they consider HIM the afterthought to the Republican ticket. And what to say about the brazen ignorance of Palin's attributes they so lovingly cited? Maybe it's time to finally put out my Obama sign and see how long before it is stolen!
