Posted by
Locutisprime on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 4:08:06 PM
Is an effigy of political speech an effigy? Or is it
something else? And what is precisely the difference? Sarah Palin has
been swinging in the breeze for several days now in west Hollywood
California? And all that the media or anyone else seems to be able to
say or think about it is is "So what?" Even the US Secret Service had a
look see and exhaled a collective "we could care less." Or was that
simply due to who was involved and who wasn't involved?
You know what? I tend to agree with the sentiments of: So what?
Americans
have been hanging politicians in effigy for over 150 years that I know
of, as evidenced by the snippet that I placed at the bottom of this
thread. So what's changed?
Nothing accept that once again
Americans are reintroduced to what is really permissible and socially
acceptable as free speech speech in America and what isn't. Or more
importantly? What is hate speech in America? Or should we just go ask
Bill Clinton for a contemporary definition of what the definition of is
"is" this week?.
And as evidenced by the article snippet below,
some other folks are beginning to respond to and answer the question
that has been repeatedly asked for several days now all across the
country, although mostly in private conversations. "What would be the
reaction in the media and with the "powers that be" if someone was to
hang Barack Obama in effigy?
That question was answered earlier
today and the answers are already pouring in. We now have the president
of the university of Kentucky apologizing to the thought police and
black Americans for the indiscretions of some of his students. And the
news reported just a few minutes ago....that there is a private citizen
elsewhere in America, who has done the exact same thing. Seems this
citizen has a son serving in the US military and that son is currently
serving in Iraq and his father is voicing his objections to a potential
Obama presidency and what that represents to him. sounds like basic
first amendment stuff to me.
Now the real "q u e e r" thing
about all this in my opinion? Is that there was a time when those in
this country actually enjoyed "freedom of speech." And I for one
believe that there should be a move to recapture that heritage. And
these supposed "hate crimes" of speech? Well they can be Damned! I will
speak my mind and those that don't like it? Well they know what part of
my anatomy they can kiss.
![[image]](http://imgsrv.knx1070.com/image/DbGraphic/200810/1096621.jpg)
Obama effigy found on U. of Kentucky campus
School president plans to personally apologize to the Obama family
LEXINGTON,
Ky. - Authorities at the University of Kentucky are trying to find out
who hung an effigy of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on
campus.
College spokesman Carl Nathe said it was found hanging from a tree Wednesday morning. Police immediately took it down.
School
President Lee Todd says that he plans to personally apologize to the
Obama family on behalf of the university and that he is "personally
offended and deeply embarrassed by this disgusting episode."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com...9385/
"You Were Last Night Hung in Effigy in This City"
The president-elect received an anonymous telegram from Pensacola, Florida:
Nov 8th
Pensacola Fla
You were last night hung in effigy in this city--
A Citizen
A
reporter watched Lincoln read the telegram and asked him what he
thought about it. Lincoln dismissed it, explaining that such feeling
was “limited to a very small number, though very intense."
A
free and fair election did not quiet the voices of secession; in fact,
it had the opposite effect. An editorial in this morning’s Richmond
Semi-Weekly Examiner did not waste time hanging the president-elect in
effigy. Instead, the writer analyzed the results of the election and
made an ominous prediction: “The Government of the Union is in the
hands of the avowed enemies of one entire section. It is to be directed
in hostility to the property of that section.” Would the South stand by
and wait for the new government to assail them? “What is to be done, is
the question that presses on every man," the editor concluded.
I have added the editorial to the Primary Documents section. Here it is in full:
...http://lincolnstudies.blogspot.com/2007/....-effigy-in.html