Blindfolded Santa Hanging From Noose At Home Upsets Neighborhood

Drudge reoprt ^ | December 8, 2005

[discostu]

I like it. Of course I've long been threatening to put up a set of decorations based on the Spinal Tap song "Christmas with the Devil", so maybe I'm just mean

[Hoodlum91]

"If that was a black Santa the $&it would hit the fan. Funny how Constitutional rights are subjected to color coding."

I was thinking the same thing. If the neighbors want it removed, someone should color it.

[tfecw]

Seems like the housing association would cover this sort of thing. Of course I can think of several other things that would put a stop to this.

Sigh, I wish i lived in the good ol days where people solved problems with out getting the government to fix it. Instead I get to live in a time full of government "fixes."

[Sols]

You have to commit a crime for something to be a hate crime. This isn't a hate crime any more than a legally assembled group of neo-Nazis scumbags is a hate crime.

I do think it would be illegal if the dummy was of a real person, because I think that makes it a threat. Not really sure.

[MineralMan]

Maybe the next neighbor to this cretin should put up a life-sized crucifix to make a contrasting statement.

[MineralMan]

"Seems like the housing association would cover this sort of thing."

Not everyone lives where there is a homeowner's association. That's no doubt the case here.

[Shalom Israel]

I don't think thy're scared of Santa, they're scared that some bozo is lynching Santa.

Right, I said scared for Santa.

[bubman]

No hate crime here. In fact it is a liberal dream come through. White male hanging from a tree is their idea of reciprocal justice.

[SteveMcKing]

I laughed. (More of a smirk, really...)

[WmCraven_Wk]

"Sounds like a hate crime to me. If he was hanging a black dummy, a cross-dressed dummy, or a dummy in a yarmulke there would be no question and Stroia would be behind bars even as we read this."

Hate Crime??? Santa Clause isn't even real. It's like a hate crime against the Boogy Man. Be real.

[sageb1]

"The Santa doll, which neighborhood children can easily see, was put up by homeowner Ron Stroia at his home located on 555 West 50th Street in Miami Beach, the report said."

More proof of the sickness that is destroying this country. He won't be making Santa's list, but he made mine.

[popdonnelly]

What a Scrooge!

[Clint N. Suhks]

Ron Stroia at his home located on 555 West 50th Street in Miami Beach, the report said

[ArrogantBustard]

I love it ... dude even knows how to tie a proper 13 loop hangman's noose.

Down with the Fat Bastard in the Red Suit!

[SampleMan]

We didn't tell our child the silly lie

About the spirit of giving and St. Nicholas you mean?

[kstewskis]

Since the display was put in the tree, neighbors have called police to get it removed, but officers said there is nothing they can do because the homeowner is protected under the First Amendment, Local 6 News reported.

This guy doesn't live in an HOA neighborhood, does he?

Some neighborhoods you can't even hang your American flag, but there you can hang Santa.

[NonValueAdded]

My point was not that it was a crime against the dummy but rather am attack against a group of people for their beliefs. Personally I think hate crime legislation is bad policy since it elevates one class of "victim" over another but since the laws are on the books, they should apply to ALL groups and what better way to demonstrate the problem with hate crime laws than the case of the tortured Santa. That is right, tortured. If you don't like the veiled slap at Christian traditions, then how about claiming the bound Santa is mocking the Muslim detainees in the CIA's secret prisions?

Further, we might agree that Santa is not a primary religious symbol of Christianity but I would argue that Santa Claus IS a symbol of Christians and an important part of the Christmas celebration by a large majority of Christians, however far removed from the "true" meaining of Christmas you might argue.

[mosquitobite]

You should see the poll on the webpage then!

A man has a life-sized Santa Claus doll that is bound and gagged hanging from a tree in his yard. Do you think this type of holiday display should be illegal?
Choice	Votes	Percentage of 3275 Votes
Yes	1843	56%
No	1432	44%

[spacewarp]

When I was growing up, my parents, in their infinite wisdom gave me a chemistry set. I made a habit of trying a new experiment a week, and keeping track of what it did. I found a mixture, mainly from playing around, that had a very interesting property. It was a brownish-greenish lumpy liquid, that didn't do much. But, when it was boiled, it turned a smooth liquid of a nice deep blue color that when applied to plants caused them to grow at an outrageous rate. If it was applied again later, it could keep growing, but if you let it go, after 6 weeks, the plant died. Basically, as I was calling it, LSD for plants.

We had a guy who decided to torque us off when we were playing in front of his home in a public playground. He came out and started chasing some of us with a broom. I went home and mixed up an extra large batch of my blue goo. I wrote on his lawn the phrase "A**HOLE" (though spelled out completely) in blue. He came out that afternoon, and saw that it was written on his lawn. So, he did the logical thing. He got the hose and washed it off --- or rather into the ground.

The next day, the predictable result was he had the word written in his lawn in rapidly grown grass. Out came the lawnmower.

The next day, the same. And the next, and the next.

Six weeks later, of course, the next phase of this process occurred. He came out to a burn in his lawn of the word.

Well, he had washed the stuff into the ground, so when he put the sod in, as I'm sure you can imagine.....

The For Sale sign went up the next day.

Paul

[Blessed]

Beats getting on a plane and announcing you have a backpack bomb,I guess.