Political Nastiness, Micro Level
As I stepped onto the porch on my way to work this morning, I noticed that two of our political signs, one each for Hillary Clinton for U.S. Senate and Eliot Spitzer for Governor and David Paterson for Lieutenant Governor, had been knocked or yanked down (Val and I are Democratic committee people).
The two signs had actually been pulled out of the soil in our garden and thrown back in the garden bed; one had its plastic sign portion pulled right off the metal legs, while the other had its plastic sign part partly pulled off. I heard Walker Evans barking at around 2 a.m., but I didn't feel like checking it after he stopped barking.
While I was able to put both signs back together and reinsert them into the soil, I am pissed, not just because signs of our chosen candidates were vandalized, but because this is an attack on personal, if not constitutional, rights of expression and political assembly (I realize that this was very doubtfully government intervention). Two years ago, a couple down the block had their Bush 2004 and Nancy Naples for Congress signs vandalized; it irked me to the point that I apologized to them for the acts of whoever damaged their signs.
Well, by the end of tomorrow, we can say goodbye to political signs, campaigning, and much more importantly, political advertising such as the endless Tom Reynolds/Jack Davis Congressional commercials.
The two signs had actually been pulled out of the soil in our garden and thrown back in the garden bed; one had its plastic sign portion pulled right off the metal legs, while the other had its plastic sign part partly pulled off. I heard Walker Evans barking at around 2 a.m., but I didn't feel like checking it after he stopped barking.
While I was able to put both signs back together and reinsert them into the soil, I am pissed, not just because signs of our chosen candidates were vandalized, but because this is an attack on personal, if not constitutional, rights of expression and political assembly (I realize that this was very doubtfully government intervention). Two years ago, a couple down the block had their Bush 2004 and Nancy Naples for Congress signs vandalized; it irked me to the point that I apologized to them for the acts of whoever damaged their signs.
Well, by the end of tomorrow, we can say goodbye to political signs, campaigning, and much more importantly, political advertising such as the endless Tom Reynolds/Jack Davis Congressional commercials.
posted by val at 5:23 PM
4 Comments:
Are you talking about the people on my corner? I remember when they got their signs torn up. I didn't mean to kick yours down. Hillary. Yechh.
Yes, I mean the people on the corner near you. Being Republicans in our neighborhood, they stand out like sore thumbs.
I don't agree with everything Hillary has done or stood for, but then, I can't name any politician I do. DId you find someone better on the ballot?
That's kind of why I'm soured on the party. With the Republicans shooting themselves in the foot I can't believe the Dems can't come up with a heavy hitter to kick out the crutch in 2008.
I keep wanting to write in a vote for the Henry Rollins/Ian MacKaye ticket.
Now that would be a ticket, Rollins/MacKaye; I wonder if they would appoint Jello Biafra to the FCC? And have you caught Henry Rollins cable television show? It is really good and they have some interesting musical guests.
Yeah, it would be nice if the Democrats had some marquee presidential candidate, but then, not including incumbents, who was the last marquee presidential candidate for either party to declare or gain much support this early in the process?
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