It was just there. Then it wasn’t. About two weeks ago, I put up an Obama sign in my front yard. It lasted just under five hours before some cowardly asshole stole it.Apparently the problem is widespread. I saw a video posted on YouTube last week that showed surveillance camera footage of a middle-aged white woman who pulled up at the curb by a front yard. When cars passed, she pretended to be putting something in the back seat. But first chance she got, she marched about 10 feet into the yard, snatched an Obama sign, threw it in her minivan, and sped away. Don’t know if she was ever caught or identified, but she’s hardly the only one.According to a piece in the Albuquerque Journal a few weeks back, some McCain signs were stolen as well. But it seems to be mostly Obama signs that disappear. One could chalk some of the thefts up to mischievous kids, but I suspect most are politically motivated. Sign snatching is a temper tantrum by Republicans who can’t bear to see any support for a Muslim Terrorist-cum-Socialist like Obama. That’s OK—they can stomp and pout and steal. At this point it looks like they’ll be hearing the phrase "President Obama" for at least the next four years.Political signs in Rio Rancho have been targeted. In Corrales, not one but two homemade signs on private property along Corrales Road that said "Farmers for Obama" were stolen. Each time the signs were replaced, finally with an added sign, something like, "Shame on vandals who trespass and trample on freedom of speech!" Damn right. Anyone has the right to disagree with me or my politics, but they don’t have the right to come onto my property and steal something I paid for.I went to the Obama headquarters and promptly bought two more replacement signs—another $20 going to Obama for America. This time I got clever and put an alarm on it: I went to a dollar store and got a mini-magnet alarm that shrieks when the main unit is moved from a magnetic bar. I put the small bar on the edge of my cardboard Obama sign, and the main unit attached to an electric post nearby. The sign stayed put for three days, until that, too, was stolen. Concerned about annoying my neighbors with false alarms at night, I turned it off. It was stolen in broad daylight mid-afternoon as I was shopping.I just this morning put up my third and final Obama sign; I keep the front door open to listen for anyone who approaches. Near the door I have a Christmas gift from my father, a Maasai war club from Kenya (ironically, Obama’s father’s native country). It’s a polished piece of hardwood about three feet long, with a huge knot at the end about the size of a grapefruit. If anyone wants to steal my sign, come on by. I’m waiting.
Obama Sign Snatchers
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