Posted on 04/01/2010 8:00:01 PM PDT by TornadoAlley3
ACAMPO, Calif. (CBS) An anti-Obama sign that had sparked an investigation after being placed near a busy California highway was removed overnight just as local and federal investigators were looking into whether the sign and its almost-obscene phrases was a crime.
The sign along Highway 99 in Acampo, Calif., switched letters between words to avoid outright profanity, reading: "Obama = Niggardly," "Hurts small biz," "Buck Ofama," with a sign on the side that reads "Gone fish'n." It's unclear who took the sign down.
Although the sign didn't display actual racial epithets -- the word "niggardly" is defined by dictionaries as "stingy" -- the restaurant owner who rents the property told CBS station KOVR-TV she was concerned that she will be blamed for its implications.
"We didn't hang the sign," said K&D Brew-Thru owner Claudia Silva. "It probably looks bad because we're closing the business right now."
Economic turmoil forced the coffee and burger shop to close its doors on Tuesday. Employees said the sign appeared sometime after they shut down and before they came back to clean out the building Wednesday morning.
Silva said she acknowledges the sign maker's constitutional right to free speech, but "whether they had the right to come onto this property that we rent and hang the sign… I don't think that was really fair to make us look like we're prejudiced."
Patrons of the nearby Rockin' Robins Diner told KOVR-TV they agreed that the play on words left a bad taste in their mouths, Obama fans or not.
"I don't care what color anybody is," said one diner. "It's what he's doing to our country I don't agree with."
San Joaquin County Sheriff's investigators documented the scene Wednesday night and said they would be contacting federal authorities to determine whether a crime was committed.
The property owner reportedly lives down in Southern California, and investigators have not been able to contact him.
“Now what are we going to call Nigeria?”
How about Soetero-land or Barryburg?
Uh-oh. Yet another ignoramus who doesn't know the definition of “niggardly”. ROFL
I don’t get this niggling concern over signage.
When it comes to California's finances, something's got to give. May it be their pensions.
Here we are on this thread laughing at people that are vocabulary/spelling impaired and you go and misspell “reneged” on purpose to make it look racist. That’s tacky.
Or the Republic, Martian valley, British warship, or bird seed called Niger.
Oh, and who’ll notify the rap “music” industry?
He said, "They must have thought I was a rap singer."
That's right!
Call in the damn Thought Police ASAP!!! Get the damn Fumbling Bumbling Idiots onto the scene!!! Lots of helicopters and idiots wearing sunglasses who chatter on walkie-talkies.
Sheesh, what a sick disaster this society has become.
“Crime”???
Tigger's Bigger Jigger.
Can't. He's from Can-ya. In Apricka.
“Ooooooh,.....Federal investigators, this is series, and hugh.” Not to mention prolly off ended.
My sister was in Niger, the country, in the 1970s. The g was pronounced like the s in “measure” or “treasure”, so it was like nee-ZHERR.
I agree - this feeds into the Dem agitprop that this is all about racism, when it is not. It is too simple to attack and doesn’t help. Frankly - I think a Dem operative might have put that up.
One day the word Obama will have the same meaning as the N word..
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