Help me focus on why defacing Bush signs bothers me...

[Robb]

Someone in our county has been regularly defacing Bush-Cheney signs with the simple word "sucks" across the front. And it's upsetting me. I'm hoping you all can help me focus a little.

First of all, I agree, they do suck. :) But the people just replace the signs... there have been quite a few threads on defacing campaign signs, and I've been reading through them. Here's what I'm thinking so far:

No one is going to change their vote because of it. Undecideds aren't going to swing, GOP supporters aren't going to say "hey, he's right". And our side isn't going to get more resolute because of it. I know I'd be livid about Kerry signs being defaced; does anyone see any upside? Or is it all bad? :shrug:

[trumad]

1. It's rupublicans doing it to set up Dems.

;-)

[roseBudd]

2. because it is immature

if we screw with their signs that gives them reason to screw with ours

[indef]

3. if you've been on campaigns then I understand

Did field work for Democratic campaigns for three years. Had to put up signs, ask store owners to put up posters, handed out flyers, phone banked voters, that sort of thing. Now I always feel bad when someone does something to undercut a campaign worker's work, Democrat or Republican.

[lectrobyte]

4. It bothers me too. It's rude, tacky, and impinging on their freedom of

speech. If anything, I think these types of activity may fire up the other side. Reverse psychology and all of that.

[Krupskaya]

5. It makes our side look bad. nt

[Longhorn]

6. It's un-American.

Free speech is free speech, even if we disagree with the sentiment.

It's also private property and no one has the right to trespass and deface another's property.

And certainly, as you stated, it's ineffective. In an Austin neighborhood, when a whole row of Kerry signs were spraypainted, the owners put out new signs and left the defaced signs up right next to them. That message is even more powerful, in my opinon.

[displacedtexan]

7. No upside, whatsoever... but sometimes...

people's emotions cause them to do things they wouldn't otherwise do.

I'm reminded of the "race riots," during which outsiders lamented, "But they're just destroying their own neighborhoods!"

As now, the press back then ignored the real issues: especially the fact that low income families were at the mercy of slumlords, absent business owners, pitiful excuses for schools, and antagonistic law enforcement officials.

Frustration can only be contained so long. Flash forward to today's Bush* sign defacing.

Are you old enough to remember "In The Heat Of Summer"?

So wrong. So wrong.
But we've been down so long.
And we had to make somebody listen.

[LisaLynne]

14. Excellent point.

Frustration does make people do things that they wouldn't ordinarily do. Sometimes, striking out, in riot or to a lesser degree with vandalism, seems like the only option left. Yeah, logically, it doesn't make a lot of sense, but I think we can all relate to feeling powerless and voiceless at one time or another -- especially since 2000!

[mimitabby]

8. the other day i found a broken */cheney sign in my car

my 25 year old son said he saw it on a lawn where it just didn't look right, so he took it down and put it in my car, folded in two.
lol.
what could i say?
(NEXT TIME PUT IT IN THE TRASH!)

[demokatgurrl]

9. Although I have to admit being tempted...

I have conquered my evil side!
But it does bother me, because I don't want it done to me. My Kerry sign was stolen and I am TICKED OFF.

[cheshire]

10. The same reason I'm embarrassed to be German and have ties to TX.

It makes Dems as a whole look like rethugs.

[demnan]

11. It bothers me on both sides

but our side has always been better about respecting the free speech of others. That's why I don't feel anger when I see a Bush bumper sticker, I just think that they have just as much right to exercise their opinion as I do. I also think that really derogatory anti-Bush bumper stickers don't really help our cause as much as a positive Kerry/Edwards bumper sticker.

[sendero]

12. While I'm happy to engage in public discourse...

... at the level the Repugs have set, i.e. using innuendo, smears, half-truths and such --- I draw the line before stealing or defacing the property of others. Not to say that I haven't been tempted :)

People have a right to put up their sign. No matter how strongly I feel they are wrong, I don't have the right to steal or deface it.

I live in North Dallas and my Kerry sign has been in my front yard, near the street, for 11 days. I have to admit I am pleasantly surprised that it hasn't dissapeared. Maybe if it had, my viewpoint would be different :)

[RubyDuby in GA]

13. I agree

Speaking as someone who had two Kerry/Edwards signs vandalized this weekend, I hope the Hitler/Bush Youth who did it realize that it's not going to change my vote.

As a matter of fact, I and the other house that they hit 2 doors down from me left the signs up as they are to show the people in our neighborhood what kind of supporters Bush has in our area.

[readmylips]

15. Why headline it here? You make it sounds as if we're

the ones defacing other's property. I admit, when I see a bush/cheney huge sign I'd like to set it on fire, but I don't think that's something I'd like to get arrested for.