This is a story not only about censorship and poor sportsmanship, but also about naked right-wing thuggery.
In Pinellas Park, Florida, a shop owner posted a sign outside his business supporting the new Commander-in-Chief. It reads, "One Nation Under Obama."
This does not sit well with the local right-wing intelligentsia. Unable to cope with losing the election, GOP cultists have vandalized the sign repeatedly. The business owner even set up a surveillance cam that caught a group of people climbing over his fence and defacing the sign.
For 8 years, Bush's followers certainly weren't shy about hiding their love of their hero. So Obama's backers have every justification to show off their support of the new President.
Still, Republican thugs remain undeterred. Regarding the Obama sign, one right-wing nutcase was filmed telling the shop owner, "I hope somebody messes with it again. And trust me, as Americans, we will." You just admitted to a crime, idiot. Now fuck off.
But now the county says the sign has to go. Enforcers in Pinellas County also say the fence that is supposed to keep out vandals is too high.
Tough shit. It's a free country.
Bush cultists posted countless signs over the years supporting their leader - and Pinellas County didn't tell them they had to remove their signs. But one Obama sign appears, and the county throws a shitfit.
If the fascists who run Pinellas County hate free speech so much, remember that they are along international waters, you know. They can always anchor a ship in the Gulf of Mexico and start their own country, that doesn't have a First Amendment.
If I was the shop owner, I sure as hell wouldn't remove my sign.
(Source: http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/obama_sign_controversy_022009)
Monday, February 23, 2009
One county under fascism
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Tim, I'm very much enjoying reading the Pail this afternoon and I look forward to hearing about your Peace Bike adventure this week. The weather should be very good for Roads Scholaring the next few days.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading this Pail post, however, I noticed a glaring inconsistency. Those of us who know you or read the Pail on a regular basis know that you very much believe that businesses DO NOT have constitutional rights because, as you say, they are not people. You've made this position very clear in the past. The Obama sign belongs to a business. It is on the property of Rockin' Cards and Gifts Incorporated. Therefore, according to your interpretation of the Constitution, the First Amendment DOES NOT apply to Rockin' Cards and Gifts Inc. and Pinellas County is free to tell the company it has to take the sign down.
Have you changed your mind about corporations not having rights?
I thought I mentioned already that I had a minor Scholaring on February 2, and that the major Scholaring is going to be this weekend. The Peace Bike is no mood to Scholar when it's 45 degrees and raining (or 30 degrees and dry), so the Peace Bike has instructed me to go to Georgia and South Carolina, and let the Peace Bike stay here and hold down the fort for me.
ReplyDeleteHave you changed your mind about corporations not having rights?
ReplyDeleteThis story isn't about a corporation posting a sign. The sign was posted by an individual, not a corporation.
ReplyDeleteAn individually owned business is NOT a corporation.
Rockin' Cards and Gifts IS incorporated in the state of Florida. It is a corporation.
ReplyDeleteWaiting for Tim's explanation.
Actually, the sign was posted by an individual - not a corporation.
ReplyDeleteAn individual who owns a business is still an individual.
The Bandit Standard, Article 2 -- Corporations do not have rights. Exception: Corporations do have rights if owned by a Democratic supporter.
ReplyDeleteScheff, I think we've already established the sign was posted by a person, not a corporation.
ReplyDeleteAlso - One person incorporating under state law is different from a corporation as we generally think of it.
Do we even know that he incorporated? You can run a business without technically incorporating (at least here in Missouri).
Anything a corporation does is done by a person. That is obvious. Corporations are basically nothing more than paper entities formed by PEOPLE.
ReplyDeleteThe zoning code says businesses can't have more than one sign. *I believe the First Amendment does protect corporations.* Tim, however, does not. But he's not applying that belief here because it's a pro-Obama business that's taking fire. At issue is Tim Brown's double standard for Democrats, not the validity of his claim. He is correct that the county can't legally make the business take down the sign -- he is just inconsistent.
Whether a corporation is owned by one or 10,000, it's still a corporation and there is no legal distinction based on ownership that would deny one constitutional rights, but exempt others.
Rockin Cards and Gifts IS incorporated in the state of Florida.
I don't know if everyone here is familiar with Scheffbd, our resident Ron Paul supporter.
ReplyDeleteLet me break this down for you...Rockin Cards and Gifts has an OWNER. That is different from, say, a Microsoft or an Eli Lily. A corporation on paper is different from what we would normally consider a corporation.
All of this is moot anyway, because the sign was not posted by a corporation, but by a PERSON.
I don't live anywhere near Ron Paul's district.
ReplyDeleteIf you think Microsoft and Eli Lily have no owners, you really should not be calling yourself "the reality based community." You also do not know what a corporation is.