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.
literacy ping!
How many of you are offended?
Ooooooh,.....Federal investigators, this is series, and hugh.
>How many of you are offended?
Keep the niggardly sign. If people are too [willfully] ignorant that they think it’s a racial term then laugh at them.
Anti-Obama billboards appear on metro highways
really
...cannot use the N-Word or anything that remotely sounds like it.
Im offended it aint big enough
Sounds like one of those wacky, new, “Thou shalt not...” things coming out of Napolitano’s Homeland Insecurity Department.
The word mean s stingy
Call the man a Communist traitor, but keep the suggested cuss words out IMO.
He’s only niggardly with his own money. With mine, he’s quite the opposite.
I’m offended by the ignorance displayed regarding the English language.
Does that count?
Obama Deficit = Black Hole
What kind of County Sheriff would need feds for this?! I don’t like the choice of language that is employed, but I see no threat to anyone there!
Although “niggardly” is a perfectly good word, in this context I consider it negative. It seems intentionally used to evoke the racial epithet. Honestly, why else would anyone use the word about Mr. Trillion Dollar Deficit? We could use some niggardly politicians in Washington.
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