Compare and contrast:
A mannequin portraying Sarah Palin hangs by a noose, while a mannequin portraying John McCain protrudes from the chimney of a house in West Hollywood.
Photo: Reuters
An effigy of US Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin hanging by a noose as part of a Halloween display has drawn severe criticism, but local officials said the homeowner was covered by free speech rights.
A mannequin dressed to resemble the Alaska governor, with her trademark beehive hairdo and glasses, was hung by the neck from the eaves of the home in West Hollywood.
On the roof, a mannequin of Republican presidential candidate John McCain protruded from the chimney surrounded in flames, holding his head as he was apparently burned alive.
“We have been getting some phone calls complaining about it but if (the homeowner) isn’t in violation of municipal code we have no reason to cite them,” West Hollywood spokeswoman Helen Goss said.
“People have First Amendment rights (to free speech),” Goss said. “I would speculate that if it’s part of a Halloween display then its political satire.”
Homeowner Chad Michael Morisette told local KCAL-TV the display should be considered Halloween “art” and said his neighbours would probably be more offended by a similar scene invoking Democrat Barack Obama.
“I know if we had done Barack Obama, people would have probably thrown things through our windows,” Morisette said. “The image of a hanged black man is a lot more intense than the image of a hanged white woman for our country, the history of our country.”
Yeah? I’m a ‘white’ female and it offends me.
……West Hollywood is known for its large gay population and its liberal politics. It hosts a large and flamboyant outdoor Halloween parade each year.
Palin, who is seen as more conservative than running-mate McCain, has been a lightning-rod of criticism from the left since her nomination to the ticket.
Big. Surprise.
Now this:
University of Kentucky police announced the arrest of a UK student and his friend Thursday in connection with the hanging of an effigy of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama from a tree on campus Wednesday.
Interim UK police chief Joe Monroe said police received a series of tips throughout the day Wednesday that eventually led them to the two men. The men told police that the act was a stunt in response to news reports that an effigy of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was hung at a West Hollywood, Calif., home.
Bush and Fischer were charged with Obama effigy on October 30, 2008.
Joe Fischer, 22, a UK senior and a former football team walk-on, and a friend, Hunter Bush, 21, of Lexington were charged Thursday with burglary in the second degree, a felony; and theft by unlawful taking and disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors. The disorderly conduct charge was made for the hanging of the effigy.
……Material used to make the effigy, including clothes, was stolen from a fraternity house, and it was through the fraternity that they were able to track down Fischer and Bush, Monroe said. Police declined to name the fraternity, saying the fraternity was also a victim.
Neither Fischer nor Bush was a member of the fraternity, Monroe said.
……Fischer will also face disciplinary proceedings through the University of Kentucky, UK President Lee T. Todd Jr. said on Thursday. The punishment could be as simple as a warning or could include expulsion. Those proceedings, however, are confidential by federal law.
The life-size effigy was found early Wednesday morning hanging from a tree near the Rose Street parking garage. Those who saw the effigy, which was quickly taken down by university personnel, say it was wearing an Obama mask, a sport coat and pants. Todd and others condemned the hanging of the life-size stand-in for Obama.
The effigy of Palin that sparked the copycat incident at UK was included in a Halloween display at a Hollywood home. The homeowner, after outcries from the public, took the display down, the Los Angeles Times reported. Other effigies of Obama have appeared in other places, including Clarksville, Ind. That display — also part of a Halloween decoration—was also taken down.
When the Obama effigy popped up on the UK campus, the whole fucking town erupted in convulsions over ‘racism’ and ‘history’ and ‘lynchings’, and ‘hate crime’. But hanging a white female Republican Vice Presidential candidate is a ‘work of art’. At least in gay neighborhoods.
The two putz’s out in West Hollywood who hung Sarah Palin in effigy got a ‘pretty please take it down’ as compared to the frothing imbeciles who arrested these two college guys for doing the same thing. I’m sick to death of the race card being flung for everything from a perceived slight to irresponsible conduct.
It’s politically correct for someone like me; a descendent of Irish, Scots, German, and Cherokee ancestors, to get pelted with epithets and perjorative terms as a First Amendment right.
Lob criticism at the leftwingnuts and their representatives, and they invent ‘speech codes’ to identify ‘racism’. Obama’s status as a ‘Communtiy Organizer’, which he proudly displays on his resume, is suddenly off limits because of its supposed racial connotations. Forget the fact that he’s referring to ACORN activities in black Chicago neighborhoods.
Nothing to see here…move along….