Posted on 10/11/2004 10:52:14 AM PDT by esryle
AKRON, Ohio -- This presidential campaign season seems to have a little bit of everything, NewsChannel5 reported.
One Akron man decided to take matters into his own hands to catch campaign sign vandals.
SLIDESHOW: Political Sign Damaged
Steve Katsatos set up a night-vision security camera in a tree.
He allegedly caught two men at 1 a.m. Friday ripping down the a 4-foot by 8-foot Bush-Cheney sign in his yard.
The Summit County Republican headquarters said 3,000 of the 4,000 signs they've set up have been vandalized.
Thanks. Couldn't get the video to work.
GOTCHA!
Men videotaped vandalizing sign
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1240018/posts
Red
Is it just me, or do these vandalism stories seem more plentiful this year?
The Left is and always has been, totalitarian in nature. They leave a trail of broken promises and death wherever they go. They are the mortal enemies of freedom. They are the enemy within.
Who wants to bet that they are union thugs...
I don't approve of politics-by-sign-vandalism, BUT it sounds to me as if this municipality could use some reasonable regulation of sign size in residential areas. I sure wouldn't want to be staring at a 4 by 8 FOOT "Kerry/Edwards" sign (or a Bush/Cheney sign of that size, either, despite the fact that I'm an ardent supporter of theirs) across the street from my house for the next month, and there's clearly no need for a sign to be that size in order to get its message across to the available audience in such a location.
I'd suggest that Bush/Cheney supporters exercise some common courtesy in this area -- easier and more likely to engender support for their candidates than planting billboard-sized signs in your yard, and then installing a video camera in a tree to catch people trying to reclaim their neighborhood view. I can't quite picture the Bushes or Cheneys being rude enough to inflict a billboard-sized advocacy sign on their residential neighbors.
I live in Akron, my sign SO FAR has been OK.
There is a guy down the street with a HUGE Bush/Cheney sign in his yard.
Who wants to bet that they are union thugs!
My first thought when I read about this yesterday.
They do seem more plentiful, but if official county Republican committees have taken to supplying residential property owners with 4x8 foot signs, I'm hardly surprised. I'd call the police and zoning authorities if one of those things turned up across the street from me, regardless of what candidate or cause it was touting.
Wnen they succeeded Akron was the "rubber capitol" of the world. All tires were made in Akron. Now none are.
This looks like the work of union thugs.
FMCDH(BITS)
The right to free speech in politics trumps local zoning in this case.
Here in NJ, political signs are allowed in my town in the run-up to the elections. For a few weeks every year you can tolerate a few signs. (There may be a modest size limit.)
A yard sign is less intrusive on the neighbors than sending junk mail, going door-to-door, or even just talking.
If you go to a rally, that is fun, but does not reach the uncommited, because the rally will be covered (chances are) by a biassed press. Most of us are not George Soros, and cannot pay for influence the way he does. We have only our vehicles, and our own property.
No. Perhaps the tape has been altered and it was a sign advertising Britney Spears' latest CD.
That is only a preview of things to come if Kerry is elected. "Democratic" hired thugs are no different than Nazi Brownshirts.
Such vandalism reeks of intimidation.
Hope there is a follow up and these guys are caught and punished.
(Hey, it could happen.)
Notice too how when the authenticity of the Bush National Guard memos was called into question, the media still did not say "allegedly show" when they discussed the content of the letters?
Is he wearing a turtleneck shirt, and if so, is the turtleneck normal wear up there for Union thugs, or is there another group more likely to wear a turtleneck?
(Down here, unless you're skiing, turtlenecks belong to just one community.)
That question went before the Wisconsin Supreme Court this year and the decision said that the municipality has no right to limit the size or the length of time that political signs are displayed. I think there is an overall length of time, but candidates in general elections can now put their signs up just as early as those in Primaries which are in Sept. in WI.
As a result, we are seeing lots of the 4 x 8 signs in residential areas. The only limit seems to be money -- the big ones cost $200 and they are constantly vandalized or stolen.
Ohio is a lot like Wisconsin -- everybody wears turtlenecks about 3/4 of the year.
Maybe you should change your screen name, GovernmentShrinker.
Re: large signs. I noticed that in our recent primary that there is an intermediate sized sign that is showing up -- about 2 x 3.
Furthermore, I've noticed that at least one real estate company is using signs of that intermediate size as 'for sale' signs. They do stand out against the clutter of regular sized signs ranging from "for sale", various candidates, gallery walks, art weekends, library drives, charity events, and mayor's enhancement awards.
Looks like another "democrat cell" in action.
I think reasonable LOCAL regulation of signage is a good thing. It doesn't stop anyone from exercising their free speech rights, but does stop rude people from turning a nice neighborhood or small business zone into an eyesore. Free speech isn't the only freedom citizens are supposed to enjoy, and a lot of us want to enjoy a non-billboard view out of our living room and bedroom windows and while sitting in our gardens. The Supreme Court has long upheld reasonable restrictions on "time, place and manner" for exercise of free speech.
I suppose it would be fine with you if all your near neighbors put up huge signs in their front yards, demanding government recognition of gay marriage, NAMBLA demanding legal freedom to molest children, directions to and phone number of the nearest contraceptive&abortion clinic for the convenience of your and your neighbors' adolescent daughters, etc. and decided to keep them there "as long as they're needed"? Or if they decided to exercise their "free specch" by blasting their demands from a bullhorn from their front yards?
When you let one group start plastering the neighborhood with billboards, you have to let everybody do it. As long as the same, reasonable restrictions are applied to everyone in a designated area, the "I'm going to get the biggest sign to try to swamp everybody else's message" contest never gets started.
Oops, meant to include you in the list of postees for my post #30.
Brownshirt bump!
"A hidden camera captures two men allegedly destroying a presidential campaign sign.
"Allegedly" - CAUGHT IN THE ACT?!!!!! "Allegedly", my a$$!
Electrify the signs!
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.
Video tape is one thing, having their butts thrown in jail is another. I know, the PD there are Dems - right -not?
Why not?
FMCDH(BITS)
Imagine, then, the worst case scenario if Kerry is NOT elected. Liberals will go berserk, beside themselves with "rage." They will become living proof that LIBERALISM IS A MENTAL ILLNESS. I am really starting to believe that liberals are trying to transform the culture wars into a bona fide CIVIL WAR. I cannot help but wonder what vice-presidential candidate John Edwards means when he talks about "two Americas."
(I just wonder how liberals define "self-defense." --- A crime against humanity?)
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