Over the weekend someone slashed our “Obama for President” sign with a knife. Sliced it into ribbons.
In honor of that person, I’ve decided to make another contribution to Sen. Obama’s campaign.
I am actually a more conservative person than most people might guess. I am a registered Republican, although the leadership of both parties makes me weep. You have to be a registered something around here. My husband and I own guns and we hunt. I believe in balanced budgets, personal accountability, small government that stays the heck out of people’s lives, and in the old-fashioned concept of Americans caring for each other. I believe that the Bush administration is the worst thing that has ever happened to America, and that under Bush’s leadership our country has been sold out to the interests of major corporations. I want my country back.
I support Sen. Obama’s position on energy use, healthcare, education, and getting us out of Iraq.
I have read Sen. McCain’s position papers. I don’t agree with most of them. If he is elected, I don’t think the country will be in as dangerous a position as we have been under the Bush administration, but I don’t think Sen. McCain really grasps the situation of working people in America. He seems out of touch and his proposals lack vision and depth.
So the Obama signs are going back up on the trees that face the road. They will be hung so that they can be seen by passers-by, but anyone who wants to destroy them is going to have to hike a little to get to them.
Along with the “Obama for President” signs, we’re going to post the following message, to anyone violates our Constitutionally-protected private property and destroys our Constitutionally-protected right to free speech by ruining our statement of political support.
The extra sign will say this:
If you are standing close enough to read this, you need to know three things:
1. You are trespassing on private property.
2. You have already been photographed. (by a scouting camera)
3. You are standing in a sea of poison ivy.
Three cheers for the First Amendment!”
For other reasons besides, but it bears repeating: You Are My Newest Hero!
(I switched from life-long Independent to Democrat in retaliation. Yours has much more “ooph” factor!)
You guys crack me up. I love you.
I am so excited to get my Obama shirt in the mail 🙂
hahaahahahah
That second sign is amazing too!
You’re getting an “Amen” from this member of the choir. And a wicked grin for the poison ivy.
One of the (many) things I like about Vermont is that you don’t have to be registered with a particular party to vote.
constitution, rant
Add another “Amen” to the chorus!
S. Sirgany
A Standing “O” for your Response to a Violation of Your First “A” Rights
Destroying your political speech sign? Dems Fightin Words. (Ouch. Badum-dum.) ;>
I’ve contributed to Obama’s campaign already and now I am itching to do what I can to show I care.
Pamela, enjoying the image of drowning hatemongers in poison ivy
Love it! I’m going to make another donation, in honor of the sign-slashing creature.
Brilliant! I CANNOT believe someone would slash your sign!
PS- Obama just opened an office in my town and I’m contemplating hanging around outside when he comes to town. 🙂
That’s pretty awesome. (:
Love the sign. And I hate that feeling of violation that comes from anonymous vandalism. Maybe, as a show of compassionate conservatism, you can put a small bottle of calamine lotion in the middle of the ivy patch.
3. You are standing in a sea of poison ivy.
I adore you, but you already knew that!
xo
Hahaha, that’s awesome. (The extra sign, not the slashing of the original one.) 🙂
Love the second sign! (Especially since–having family in upstate New York–I can see it being there!)
Excellent!!! You’re wickedly clever! As my son used to say, “He who laughs last laughs most.”
Here! Here! Amen, baby! When you get that picture of the perpetrator scratching his arse…ummm…I mean, poison ivy, you should post it as well!!!
Man…some people are such dopes.
Falling on the floor laughing. I’ll only share this with everybody I know.
Love the second sign!
And as a fellow “convert”, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that both parties will open their eyes and jump into the new millenium sometime soon. The middle ground seems to be going the way of the polar icecaps–melting.
It doesn’t leave a person much to stand on.
Laurie Halse Anderson, you are my hero. 🙂 Show those sign-slashers!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Good for you!!
That’s terrible that someone did that! And your extra sign is brilliant. Go you!
TadMack says: 🙂
Heh, heh. And now I’m going to do a little dance and sing “Poison Ivy.” Go get ’em, Laurie.
Bwa hah hah hah hah!
Wow. But kudos for the extra sign – that’s hilarious.
That idea is pure gold.
Also, I am re-reading Speak and finding it twice as funny and meaningful as I did when I read it last summer.
Bravo!
I live in an area where one political party is dominant. It happens to be the party I agree with. A few isolated lawn signs for the other party show up every election, and once one of them put up a homemade sign: “To whoever is taking down my signs, please stop. I have the right to support my candidate.”
Indeed. And even though I could not stand my neighbor’s party or his candidate, I would never tear down his sign, or condone anyone else’s doing it.
We prove our dedication to freedom, and our pride in our country, when we tolerate dissenting opinions. Anyone can tolerate opinions they already agree with!
You are AWESOME.
That’s horrible. Ugh! But… I love your sign!
And hip hip hooray for the First Amendment, yes! I love the Constitution, truly.
wow what a punk!
You know that is ashame that person went and did that.I’m usually to myself with promoting political candidates,but that doesn’t give him or anyone the right to violate someone else’s beliefs by destroying property!trust me I had a hard time the other day for wearing an Obama T-shirt by a stranger.
Laurie with the win!
Amen, Sister!!
Linda Oatman High
I love your sign. And your thoughtful politics.
lovin’ the second sign!! haha
“you’re standing in a sea of poison ivy”
You are so awesome! I wear my ObamaMama t-shirt as much as possible. I actually had someone say to me: “But you’re not Black!” Huh?
Die hard democrat here 🙂 LOVE the god bless sign. Brilliant idea.
I don’t see the point of sign stealing/destruction. It seems so stupid–it’s not like it’s going to change the sign owner’s mind. So juvenile.
I second the Huh?
Jeez, some people are weird. Now you have to be Black to want to vote for Obama?
LOVE your icon.
I guess you can’t be white/Hispanic/Asian to vote for Obama, hahaha.
Just a question, where did you get your ObamaMama t-shirt? I want to get an Obama-supporting t-shirt or tank top, preferably from his official site so I can make a donation, but there is no size chart! So if you got it from his official site, can you tell me if the sizes run true/big/small? Thanks.
Sign Replacement
Why do I feel like the Coyote in a RoadRunner cartoon. Hey Lubar, can I borrow your boat for this sea voyage?
BH
I got my ObamaMama t-shirt from his official site. I would say that it ran true-to-size. I usually wear a 14/16 and the XL fits me perfectly. When I ordered mine, right after Clinton dropped out, it was on backorder. But it only took about 3 weeks to arrive. Get it! I get mostly positive comments on it, but I do live in a “Blue” state.
Thank you for the advice. I am a size 12 and I can wear a medium or a large (mainly large in juniors sizes that run small)… I am very pear shaped, hahaha. I think I’ll see about their return/exchange policy before ordering anything. 🙂
Amen from us. We’re technically Democrats, but we share most of your beliefs (and favor Obama, and have donated to his campaign). Way to go on the sign, particularly about the poison ivy. (Is that part true?)
Even more hopefully, a gun-collecting, independent-thinking friend of mine is also for Obama.
You should read Joe Bageant’s Deer Hunting With Jesus. I’ve been recommending it right and left. It describes a lot of the social and political quagmire we’re in, in the context of the people in Bageant’s home town of Winchester, Va.
Good-O on the signs but please be careful
the closer to November we get the more this political pot will start to boil over.
“Change”, of course, is long, long overdue in this country but making the “changes” happen is going to take a team effort and I really doubt both parties have the sense (or fortitude) to make that happen
The “haves” and the “nots” have never been more seprated but I fear it will be another dozen years before anything really ground shattering starts to happen to help all of us “nots”
(in a dozen years the youth of this country will be “of age” and hopefully “well entrenched” within the political system and more importantly there will be enough of them to have some true power behind them so the changes that they need to make will stick (since by then the old childish farts will have retired and no longer be able to make rules that hurt the rest of us)
The trick of course is to keep the country together long enough for us to get to that point in time
Good Luck to us all.
(sorry so negative)
Good for you; I love the second sign!
Why do you have to be a “registered something” in your area? What if you would rather choose a candidate based on the issues, and not register with a party? Are you allowed to be registered Republican and vote for a Democrat? (I tried to look up this information on the internet but couldn’t find it – I guess I wasn’t looking in the right place. I have trouble understanding all of the details involved in the American election process…)
🙂 Sarah
Thank you!