Posted on 10/01/2004 8:22:35 PM PDT by 11th_VA
The political season has turned ugly in Howard County, with an Ellicott City homeowner reporting a late-night fire that burned two Republican campaign signs in his back yard.
In addition, local Republicans say scores of other campaign signs have been destroyed or vandalized in the past couple of weeks, most of them along major highways.
"It's absolutely outrageous," said Howard Rensin, chairman of the county Republican Party. He said about $1,500 worth of GOP signs have been destroyed.
"We're talking about dozens and dozens and dozens of signs. We think we may be looking at a concerted effort here," Rensin said. "If people want to express their political views, they ought to do so at the polls."
Rensin's Democratic counterpart said that while she did not know of a concerted effort to deface Democratic campaign signs, many such signs have disappeared recently.
In addition, county Democratic Party chairwoman Wendy Fiedler said, drivers with bumper stickers supporting Sen. John Kerry in his bid for the presidency have had their tires flattened by razor blades or been the target of rude, angry gestures while they were driving.
"It's reckless and irresponsible behavior," Fiedler said, referring to the gamut of reactions to campaign signs and stickers. "People need to respect the First Amendment right to free speech."
Over the weekend, county police conducted a surveillance operation prompted by the spate of sign destruction. On Sept. 25, police spotted a man on Route 40 cutting down with a power tool a sign urging voters to re-elect President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Police arrested Corey Robert Cooke, 33, of Ellicott City and charged him with destruction of property.
Pfc. Dave Proulx, a county police spokesman, said Cooke has not been charged in any of the other incidents.
The most dramatic incident so far involved the burning of the 4-foot-by-8-foot Bush-Cheney sign and a smaller sign endorsing U.S. Senate candidate E.J. Pipkin in Ellicott City.
James McQuarrie said he awoke shortly after 1 a.m. Sept. 25 and saw a fire burning in the yard of his home in the 10100 block of Old Frederick Road.
"I saw a big flame outside my window," McQuarrie said. He rushed to fight the fire with a hose, then county firefighters arrived to help. The fire also burned part of his yard fence and a nearby pile of wood, McQuarrie said.
His house was not damaged, he said.
McQuarrie said he has since erected another Bush-Cheney sign and, at least for a few days, left the charred remains of the original signs standing.
McQuarrie said he considered not replacing the signs, out of fear for his four children, but eventually decided to do so.
"I wanted to make a statement to whoever did this," McQuarrie said. "They burn them down, I'll put them back up.
"My neighbors have been great," he added. "Democrats and Republicans, all of them have been supporting me. All of them say that what was done here was wrong."
E-mail Pete Pichaske at ppichaske@patuxent.com.
This arson is brought to you by the party of peace and understanding.
I thought you might find this snippet from a Larry Elder column posted on Townhall amusing. The full link is:
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/larryelder/le20040923.shtml
Well, at least, nobody's been arrested -- so far. Consider the plight of an anti-Bushie from the state of Washington:
Dear Larry,
Last Thursday I put out one of my Bush/Cheney signs in my front yard. Between midnight and 3:00 a.m. someone stole it. On Friday night I put out sign No. 2. Since I didn't have to get up early, I thought my dog and I would "stake out" our sign. This time I put the sign a little closer to the gate leading to my backyard. With my dog on an extra long leash, I planted myself on a lawn chair and read "Unfit for Command" by flashlight until about 1:00 a.m. Here comes the fun part . . . I noticed that the car coming down the street was slowing down and pulling over to the curb right next to my yard. Sure enough, he gets out of his car and heads right for my sign. Just as he was about to uproot and desecrate it, I opened my gate and let my dog make the initial introduction! As he ran to hide behind the rear end of his car, I promptly moved to the driver-side door, which was still open. It was a fairly nice car with power everything and still running. While my dog continued to "introduce" herself, I rolled up the window and hit the power door lock button. With that, I slammed the door, grabbed my Bush sign and headed into the back yard.
And now for the "rest of the story." About 40 minutes later, I heard a knock at the door. I opened the door to one of our city's finest . . . the Vancouver Police Department. The officer asked me what was going on and when I told him, he could not stop laughing! I followed him out to the perp's car and stood there while he asked the guy a few more questions. Upon learning that the guy lived a couple of streets down, I -- knowing what was about to happen -- asked him, "Why do you have Oregon plates on your car if you live just down the street (here in Vancouver, Wash.)?" Larry, Oregon has no sales tax, so often Washington residents will buy and register cars in Oregon to avoid paying sales tax . . . it's a crime and the fine is pretty stiff. Here comes the best part. . . . The look on this guy's face told me he knew he was about to get busted. When the officer asked for his license and registration, the "Democrat" mumbled that (his license) was suspended. Just for kicks and giggles I asked the officer if he smelled any alcohol coming from the guy! The officer looked at me, smiled and promptly gave him a field breathalyzer test. Guess what? You got it, he blew a .10, legally drunk in the state of Washington.
DUI, illegal registration and the brand of "MORON," all 'cause he hates Bush!
Sincerely,
John
Howard County, Maryland (for the curious)
The party of arsons and Parsons - they wake the dead long enough to vote.
Thanks for posting this. I live about 10 minutes from where this happened. Typical Kerry minion garbage! Maryland is in play right now, and things are heating up. There's a contrived anger at Bush with some people (none of them can articulate why) and my brother an I have taken the gloves off. I have been more argumentative the last few weeks than I ever have politically. I have won EVERY debate, and usually end the debate with the "Kerry men" by questioning their manhood. Who will fight terror and who will get a manicure in Paris?
Karl,
My Dad just got back from my brother Bob's in MN and had a great story ... someone has been stealing the Bush-Cheney yard signs from his yard - after replacing them several times he finally started taking them in at night. That lasted a few days until they started stealing them in the daytime. Bob's neighbor started keeping an eye on his signs, and when some guy pulled up in front of his yard, got out, and started walking toward his signs, the neighbor let his big dog loose and cornered the creep in front of Bob's house. The neighbor then walked out of his house, locked the doors on the perps car (with it running) and slammed the door.
The would-be thief freaked out and called the cops (thinking they would arrest the neighbor for the dog-sicking and the key-locking offenses). However, when they showed up, they were more-interested in the sign-stealing and trespassing. They also noticed that the perp had Iowa license plates - a common (and illegal) practice used by many Minnesotans to save money. Now that the cops had the guy for the illegal plates, they weren't so interested in the trespassing - but just for good measure, the neighbor mentioned that he thought the guy might have been drinking. He blew 0.11 on the breathalyzer, and was arrested for drunk driving as well.
If it were my house, I'd press for the trespassing charge as well - just for the fun of it.
Brian
Thanks for posting this story. What a great laugh.
Pretty similar story to my #9 post. Urban legend? My friend is scrupulously reliable. Could the same thing have happened in two different cities? WTF?
Mine (DC was stolen). I ordered a new one which I'll hang from a second floor windo.
Excellent!
I take my big old truck when going into Columbia. Let them key it!
Sounds like things are really getting tight here in the land of the liberals. Most of the Democrats I've heard from don't like Kerry, don't want to vote for him. They may not be fond of President Bush but they say they at least know what they're getting. Just wish there was someone who could take out Mikulski.
There is a thread on DU of somebody bragging about TP'ing a house that had a Pro-Life sign on their yard.
Sounds like an urban legend. I suspected the same about the initial story, as I work in Vancouver and never heard anything locally about it.
WAY TO GO!
Just happened here in WA State as well. PING for further Rat criminality.
I was at the B-C'04 office in St Paul a few days ago and overheard one staffer say to another employee "We have lost a lot of signs over the last couple of weeks".
I didn't hear where the losses were happening or the exact number...but this seems to be a nation-wide thing.
And you know what? I've assembled (at last count) about 1200 lawn signs at the local office. They're easy to assemble but that's not the point.
I'm starting to feel unreasonable and I can easily picture myself damaging some Kerry lawn signs too.
How bizarre! I think Larry Elder is a quality conservative opinion miester. I read many of his columns on Townhall.com.
If you read the full editorial linked to on my first post on this thread, you can see it is attributed to an email. I found it amusing in a rascally genre, but I share your concerns with it's veracity after reading your #9. It's the same story exactly.
I keep thinking, anyone who puts up campaign signs should mark them on the back in a particular way, and then photograph the signs with the marks.
That way, on the unlikely but possible chance that the signs "Turn Up" somewhere, particularly in the hands of some slimy Demonrat filth, the particular critter in possession of them will be Toast.
Remember the clever person on Bainbridge (?) who put up a sign next to the defaced one which asked passing motorists"
"Was this vandalism done by a democrat?"
I'd say give that a try, or get a video cam and plan on staying up late. It is a little scary that they think this vandalism "doesn't count" because it is against President Bush? I remember that Nazi's didn't think Jews "mattered" either. These attitudes spread... And true freedom of speech is being stamped out.
We're playing for all the chips this round. And they know it. Folks, watch your backs. These are the same people that brought us 'Peace, Love and Rock'n'Roll.LOL!
On another thread, someone posted a picture of Dan Rather's Lakeland, TX lakehouse yard WITH A BUSH/CHENEY SIGN in it...compliments of his neighbors in TX no doubt..LOL
I guess he is still in NY.
ROFLOL !!!! Priceless !!!!
And "Hate is not a Family Value"
Well done........
Perfect nights work.
can you hear me laughing?
Real life beats fiction any day.
Thank you for the laughter.
Those signs change 4-5 times a week in No. VA - Kinda funny ...
>>>> It is a little scary that they think this vandalism "doesn't count" because it is against President Bush? I remember that Nazi's didn't think Jews "mattered" either.
Powerful analogy.
Pine tar and oxalic acid will stop those people from touching things that don't belong to them. You folks better get it together.
Thanks. It will of course be called a "jump", and I am not saying these acts are the same level. But I am making the point that attitudes of thuggery and uncaring violence are bred and grown - until they (sometimes) arrive at the Nazi level.
Good analogy. Don't forget the left acts like the Brown Shirt or SA. They intimidated opponents too, like what the left does today.
Correct, good reminder. BTW Going to a middle school next week with your name :)
The dims are starting to act like
Cool. I know there are schools in your state named Ptarmigan. I have seen that in Alaska and Colorado too. Are you familiar with the ptarmigan?
The libs will call it a jump but let them. I like the power of Nazi analogies -- because the Nazis carried out the greatest evil the planet has ever seen -- except when they are directed at President Bush who is a good and honorable man.
Having grown up in Howard County, I can't say as I'm suprised. Arseholes.
Main Entry: fas·cism
Pronunciation: 'fa-"shi-z&m also 'fa-"si-
Function: noun
Etymology: Italian fascismo, from fascio bundle, fasces, group, from Latin fascis bundle & fasces fasces
1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control
Those lawn signs are not cheap. A few months ago I saw a local print shop advertising for candidates to come buy signs from them, and even the best deal for buying several hundred or more still worked out to around $3.50 per sign.
I'm sure BC04 got a much better deal given the huge quantity they must have ordered (they may have their own print shop for all I know), but still.....
You're right - it's a name that everyone connotates with evil.
The rats will have to keep spending $ on signs, your's will always be in fresh locations (it makes a difference when folks see NEW signs) an you will only need one set of signs. They should also become very suspicious when Bush signs constantly and mysteriously turn into sKerry signs.
Any hassle received by an observant LEO when retrieving your signs will be quickly dispelled when you point out your MATCHING Drivers License number on the signs. If a rat is caught with the signs . . . no match. Busted.
Yes. A ptarmigan is related to the pheasant, chicken, and grouse. I find ptarmigans cute and cuddly :-).
Sounds like a coordinated DU attack to me.
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