I was just thinking of neighbors like Andrea Dick yesterday, after I walked my politically tolerant dog Spuds past the many obnoxious lawn signs that have proliferated in my little corner of Alexandria, Virginia. There is, of course, the large, hand painted wooden sign reading “Black Lives Matter” that is festooned with rainbow flags and a full size suit of armor for some reason. That’s been an eyesore for more than a year. Then there are the moronic “End Racism” virtue-signaling signs—“End Stupidity” would be equally effective—and that list of facile progressive nostrums, including “No human is illegal.” You know, this one:
Well aren’t you wonderful! There is also that oldie but goodie, “Dissent is Patriotic,” whatever that means. There are several versions of this one…
All of them are the equivalent of the homeowner standing on his or her front lawn and preaching through a megaphone, and in the cases of the homes that post signs like this one…
…the implication is that all the other houses nearby are full of greedy, racist bigots. All the signs offend me. The entire practice of using one’s property to preach, proselytize or politic is offensive. Yes, it’s protected speech, and using speech like that is abusing the right.
Andrea Dick is an angry supporter of former President Donald J. Trump and detests President Biden, so she has banners and signs expressing these view on her New Jersey house and lawn, including “Don’t Blame Me/I Voted for Trump” and several banners and signs with the message in the graphic under the post’s title. These are also ugly and offensive, but no more so than the virtue-signaling blather I have to see every day.
But her neighbors complained, so local officials first asked her to take down several of the banners that they said violated an anti-obscenity ordinance. She refused, and now she is resisting a judge’s order that she do so or face $250 fines every day the “Fuck Biden” banners and signs remain. Andrea Dick is pledging to fight it in court on free speech grounds.
“It’s my First Amendment right,” she said in an interview on Monday, “and I’m going to stick with that.”
Ethics Verdicts:
1. Dick is a bad neighbor and a jerk. I dealt with this same issue—and the same signs—back in March when almost identical cases popped up in two states. I wrote then in part,
- “It is uncivil, disrespectful and wrong for anyone to display such flags, signs or messages.”
- “Children should be taught to respect their President, and members of the community should not seek to undermine that mission.”
- I’m surprised Amazon allows these signs to be sold at all. Clearly the censorship memo hasn’t gotten around to everyone.”
2. I also wrote, “Trump supporters, conservatives and Republicans are crawling into the gutter by employing these tit for tat tactics, and, of course, continuing the harm to democracy, community and public discourse that the “resistance,” Democrats, and the mainstream news media began and escalated since 2016.”
3. Dick’s neighbors and local authorities claim that their only objection is to the public display of the word “fuck,” and that politics have nothing to do with it. Sure.
4. I also wrote in March, “The typical progressive/Democrat/Biden voter, however, is estopped from complaining. Teachers especially fostered disrespect for President Trump at all levels of education. I do not approve of this payback, but I have no sympathy for its targets.”
5. And, once again, the media is mocking its own profession by refusing to print the word that the entire controversy is about, making readers guess. I cannot begin to tell you how sick I am of this juvenile, Big Brother censorship. Readers of the New York Times and every other paper say, hear or think “fuck” many times a day, but our Grand Censors feel justified in not printing “fuck” when the news story involves the word “fuck”? What the fuck!
6. Hilariously, the Times article had to gratuitously sneak in the fact that claims that the Presidency was “stolen” from Trump are “thoroughly discredited.” It’s like there is a quota for printing this that the Times must meet every day. This is ironic, because it was the Times and its mainstream media colleagues that helped Biden win the election by refusing to fairly and accurately report the news and to manipulate public opinion in countless ways to undermine support for Trump and protect support for Biden. Fraudulent votes? Probably not. Deliberately deceived voters? Absolutely.
As Bill Clinton would say, it depends on what the meaning of “stolen” is.
Or, for that matter, “fuck.” In the previous “Fuck Biden” post, I did not examine the issue of why “Fuck” used in a political context is, though unethical, still protected speech. Nj.com reported the judge’s ruling against Ms. Dick. He said in part,
“There are alternative methods for the defendant to express her pleasure or displeasure with certain political figures in the United States…Freedom of speech is not simply an absolute right,” he added, noting later that “the case is not a case about politics. It is a case, pure and simple, about language. This ordinance does not restrict political speech.”
But it does, and the government can’t tell a citizen how to express a political opinion. Thomas Healy, a law professor at Seton Hall University, points to Cohen v. California, a 1971 SCOTUS opinion that also involved the use of “fuck’ when it was not being used to suggest actual sexual conduct. The U.S. Supreme Court held then that a jacket carrying the message “Fuck the Draft” was protected, even when worn inside a courthouse. “It’s hard to imagine a simpler case from a constitutional standpoint,” he said, adding that he would be “stunned” if the ruling in New Jersey were upheld.
So would I. The Roselle Park ordinance defines obscenity as anything that “appeals to the prurient interest; depicts or describes in a patently offensive way sexual conduct as hereinafter specifically defined, or depicts or exhibits offensive nakedness as hereinafter specifically defined; and lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.” Does anyone seriously argue that “Fuck Biden” is meant literally?
Ew.
Ethics Alarms 
Jonathan Turley wrote a First Amendment opinion piece on this topic today, New Jersey Woman Triggers Free Speech Case With Profane Anti-Biden Signage.
Here’s my opinion on this topic…
The signs she posted look similar to the signs that were posted and things that were said by Democrats after President Trump was elected and inaugurated.
These unethical people are using a tit-for-tat rationalization to justify this kind of hateful nonsense towards President Biden. It’s unethical and it’s offensive but it’s free speech, political speech, and it’s protected by the Constitution.
No one has a “right” to not be offended.
It’s really hard to have any sympathy whatsoever for Democrats along the lines of showing no respect for their President since they were instrumental in setting a new low bar that flowed in the gutter of hateful Presidential rhetoric and anyone that supports the President. Democrats literally showed Republicans what they themselves deemed as being “acceptable” anti-President and anti-Presidential supporter rhetoric and they did it continuously for over four years. I won’t personally engage in that kind of rhetoric but any Democrat that complains about such rhetoric can cry me a fucking river.
On a recent drive to Tybee Island, Georgia I saw in front of a road-fronting residence a large (at least 4′ X 8′) sign in the yard that read “BUCK FIDEN…and buck you for voting for him”. Like the sign above, it mimicked the Biden campaign signs in color and layout. The message got the point across without an obscene word, although the implication was clear enough.
I wrote in a previous comment on one of your posts that a neighbor of mine (3 doors down) has one of those signs pictured 2nd in their front yard. I don’t walk down that way any more (cul de sac) just so I don’t have to look at it because it irks me and I go for walks to relax.
This morning at the park one of the other fellows mentioned someone near him has one of those Biden signs / banners on their house. That same neighbor of his also had a Trump 2020 and just recently put up the Biden banner. He said, “I don’t like Biden either but we need to keep some sense of decency; I don’t like to see that “Fuck Biden” every time I go by.” He rarely uses any profanity himself – in fact, I think he only used the word when referencing the banner.
Personally, I don’t want to broadcast my views with unsightly and / or vulgar signs in my front yard, or, one that shows ignorance like the “We believe:” sign 3 doors down.
Actually, now I remember some time back someone stuck one of those “Hate has no home here” signes at the entrance to our development. Remember, I go walking every morning at 5am? I took care of that sign one dark morning. Perhaps it was unethical for me to remove and discard the sign, but, I couldn’t stand having that sign at the entrance of our development.
I’ve always thought it would be fun to knock on one of those houses with the “Hate has no home here” or “We accept everyone” virtue signaling signs and ask the owners if they’d like to join me in a real honest conversation about politics, borders, crime, BLM the organization, etc. Hmmm…wonder what kind of open arms I’d meet. 🙂
Offer them a sign that says:
This home
is Proudly
GUN FREE !
(and offer to install it)
Political signs and bumper stickers outside of election season are quite literally virtue signaling. They’re as childish as any virtue signaling. If you “welcome all races and ethnicities,” invite some Pakistani people over for dinner; there’s no need to advertise it like they might be driving around looking for someone who welcomes them. If you want to fuck Biden, volunteer for the GOP or run for county council or write a blog… do something.
That said, standing up for free speech is doing something. So at this point, I hope she leaves the signs up until the courts uphold the 1st amendment… Then I hope she takes them down and does something to show her contempt.
Wow. You read my mind! See the most recent post.
(shrug) The people who put up that crap will be the ones to squawk the loudest if you put up the Thin Blue Line flag or the Gadsden flag or the 3% flag or the Betsy Ross flag or any other flag associated with patriotism, the right, or the police. They’d also squawk if you put up the Italian tricolor in October or the Vatican flag or the Christian flag or the St. George flag. Most of them would probably keep their mouths shut if you put up the flag of one of the armed forces, but not all would. Just another way the left wants a monopoly on things, only their flags and signs are allowed to be displayed publicly. The local gauleiter might as well just send out an email that says:
Good morning, citizens, Last night the mayor’s Office of Inclusivity, Equity, and Community issued the attached Ordinance on Public Displays, designed to keep our town a welcoming place for all. Starting at midnight tonight, only the following flags and banners are authorized for public display, meaning where they are visible from the street or sidewalk:
The national flag, 50-star version only. No other versions may be displayed.
The state flag.
The LGBTQ rainbow pride flag.
The pan-African green, black, and red flag.
The slogan “Black Lives Matter.”
The pink breast cancer awareness flag.
Flags of the military services may be displayed if the household has a member serving in that branch of the service.
Flags of non-European nations may be displayed if the household has members from those nations.
Waivers for the display of either may be obtained from OIEC for an annuall $100 fee.
Flags of European nations are generally disfavored. However, the Irish tricolor may be displayed on March 17 only and the flag of the People’s Republic of China may be displayed the first day of the Chinese New Year only. The flag of Taiwan, calling itself the Republic of China, may not be displayed, and the display of the Italian tricolor in October is specifically prohibited.
The following flags are PROHIBITED from public display and will result in a $150 fine for the first offense, $250 for the second, and $500 for any subsequent offense:
Any flag associated with the Confederate States of America, including the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia, the so-called “Bonnie Blue Flag”, the so-called “Stars and Bars,” the so-called “Stainless Banner,” and the final version of the flag of the CSA.
Any flag displaying the “thin blue line, be it the black and white version of the national flag, the Punisher logo, or any similar flag.
The Gadsden Flag, or any similar flag bearing either the rattlesnake emblem or the slogan “Don’t Tread on Me.”
The so-called 3% flag, or any other flag associated with firearms ownership.
Any flag associated with Christianity or any branch thereof.
Any flag associated with the National Socialist Party or any similar ideology.
The flag of the State of Israel.
The flags of Rhodesia or apartheid-era South Africa.
Any questions concerning compliance may be addressed to OEIC.
BTW, Edward, I’m with you. I took a walk across town last December and found myself peeling some kind of self-congratulatory leftist sticker off the bannister on a public walkway. My thought was it’s a damn walkway, not a political billboard. The bannister is there to keep people safe, not for loudmouths to plaster with stupid slogans.
About 1 week ago at the park / trail where I walk I saw a sign in the distance, and from that distance, the colors made it look like it might be a BLM sign; however, as I got closer I saw it was just a notice for a 5K walk / run coming soon. Actually, the park is a memorial park for a State Trooper that was killed on March 1, 2006.
https://troopers.ny.gov/andrew-j-sperr
http://www.sperrmemorialpark.org/
Last summer I was concerned the memorial might get defaced but this is mostly a rural area.
My original reply is either in moderation or it went into the bit bucket. It had hyperlinks so it may be in moderation.
Just rescued it!
Those virtue claims do not convince me they truly mean any of it. In personal experience I have seen those displaying the progressive mindset ignore them in practice when it would cost them nothing to be better. Like ignoring or harming handicapped women in health related jobs and claiming front line importance or others who claimed false unemployment status to get more handouts. People with yard signs use that to pretend virtue to try to seem to balance their own moral decay.
Talk is cheap. All my immediate family has serious (and differing) health issues that makes even finding employment near-impossible and finding trustworthy assistance impossibble for simple help in the age of the extended handout. We have pending damage repairs from roof and water damage on hold since December. Without workers, and huge cost jumps for repair, having insurance isn’t enough.
I’d like to know how Mr Biden is going to help the elderly, female handicapped that his policies have priced out of the market for assistance. He can’t with his policies and they can’t wait.
In response to the query as to whether the anti-Biden sign was meant to be read literally- I recall a schoolyard cant when the question arose about whether one of us boys would stoop to fuck a perceived homely girl. The cant was either “not with your dick” or “Not with a ten-foot pole.” Therein lies the response. But we were hormonally driven adolescents then. Today that would take an overdose of Viagra.
I find the f-bomb offensive.
And?
So what?
F… Trump I find more offensive than F… Biden.
Why? Because we are supposed to be better than that. Or them.
Both are most definitely political statements protected by the 1st Amendment.