I read with interest Myra Adams’ post stating that she is afraid to put a Romney sticker on her car:
Yesterday at a political gathering I picked up my first Romney campaign bumper sticker. It actually says Romney Believe in America and even though I support Governor Romney, I am afraid to place it on my car.
Thinking that I was being a bit too paranoid, I asked some other Romney supporters and they agreed with me; displaying a Romney bumper sticker was just too dangerous.
Other commenters here at PJM (!) were agreeing with her:
You should be afraid. I won’t put political stickers on my car. I don’t want it vandalized. I live in the People’s Republik of Madison, WI.
That’s not an irrational concern. I wouldn’t put a Republican sticker on my car nor sign in my yard. I see plenty of people still with Obama stickers on their cars or wearing his clothes and given the attitudes described above, it’s not worth tempting fate. I’ll express my views in the polls where it counts.
Seriously, WTF? When Bush was running for his second term, no one had a Bush sticker on their car, so I found a stack of them and slapped one on the back of my car, and passed the rest out to others who said they were afraid. I kept it there for five years, even after Obama became president. Other people told me at that time it wasn’t safe. I say “bullshit.”
What isn’t safe is being so fearful that you will not take a stand to turn this country around and are willing to hide out. Screw that. The next Romney sticker I find goes on my car.
Is there anyone else out there who feels the same way? If so, stand with me and dare to put a Romney sticker on your car.
stand with me and dare to put a Romney sticker on your car.
And if you catch someone vandalizing your sticker (or car), prosecute them and sue them for damages. Make it an expensive proposition.
The problem is, you never or rarely catch them as they are cowards. A friend of ours was eating in a STL restaurant (a liberal area) and their SUV with a Bush and an American Flag sticker was keyed from one end to the other. Most of the Republican candidate signs have been stolen in STL west county including those from our yard. Funny, the Dems signs are still up.
Most of them ALREADY have a police record. What are you gonna get, their food stamps?
I’d love to place a Romney sticker on my car but knowing the Left’s propensity for mischief, I just don’t want to be inconvenienced.
Instead, I engage people when pumping gas and complain about the price. When they respond in agreement, I point out that for every dollar profit the oil company makes, the government collects two dollars in tax.
Another favorite way to spread the gospel is in supermarket lines when I act surprised at the prices. I then comment loudly enough for those behind me to hear that with the drought, food prices and especially meat prices are going to rise because we are using so much corn to make ethanol, animal feed prices are rising which impacts the price we pay for beef and other meat products. As a kicker, I also point out that we help feed starving people overseas with our corn and they will be going hungry since there is now less corn available and ethanol seems to be more important than starvation.
Another statement that is sure to perk up ears nearby is if I can work in the rising cost of electricity since Obama is and has shut down coal fueled electrical generating plants.
Obama supporters need all the help we can give them to connect these dots to the current administration’s policy since it’s not readily apparent to them without an assist.
I’m not likely to convert anyone on the spot. But, if anyone within earshot hears these comments and takes the next step to Google it, it might make them question their blind belief in Obama. It may lead to conversion.
Please flag the ken’s comment and or report it:( It is sad to see people troll with violence.
Ken is a moby. He goes around to sites saying crap like this in the comments just to make the site look bad.
Between 12:52 and 1:05am Ken made 4 comments under two different posts and 3 of them referenced violent acts he would like to carry out.
Taken by themselves they might not mean much but Ken has a history of saying things like this on other blogs.
Is he for real or is he fake? Who knows but either way something needs to be done about this guy.
The previous comments of his on other blogs have been really disturbing and if he is real point to serious mental instability.
Applause.
Adhesive magnetic sheets. Get them at Wal-Mart, or any craft store. Cut to fit, pull the “sticker” whenever you go to work or have to park in crazy town.
Also, for the I-Am-Breitbart-types, this would be a great video “sting.” Park a car w/ROMNEY stickers, right-leaning bumper stickers, then keep it under surveillance. When it gets keyed, approach the vandal and rub (several) cameras in their face…
When these key-weilding liberal vandals are caught, they’re never “kids.” They’re usually gray-haired, “well respected” professionals, who are left-wing lunatics on the side.
You guys go on ahead. As for me: Put a Romney sticker on my Corvette here in urban SoCal? Really? There’s a dif between being brave when it counts and pointlessly endagering the ones you love. I have and will stand up to a man for the sake of my beliefs.* My car, on the other hand, would be an innocent bystander.
No bumper stickers on any Corvette, please.
I will get one and put it on my Ford van though. I suspect in my spot Northeast of Dr. Helen here in Tennessee, I’m safer than some doing it, but I’d do it anyway.
Apostic just told us that he would give up his liberty and first amendment rights for a silly old corvette. Good grief!
“There’s a dif between being brave when it counts and pointlessly endagering the ones you love.”
The bumper sticker shows a presense and gives others a sense of solidarity–a feeling that they are not alone. It is not pointless. We might be endangering our loved ones more by not showing solidarity and support, and thus helping Romney to lose this election. If Obama continues as president, your loved ones are in danger anyway.
I do not wish to post-pimp, but my comments to Myra Adams’ post may interest you.
Once again, applause.
“Some people think that preserving the Constitution is more important than having to go to Earl Scheib.”
Exactly.
OK, then. Can I put the sticker on someone else’s car? No? Ok, just checking….
I’ve had my Bush, NRA, Palin, Nobama stickers ripped off my car right in front of my house, which is a little disconcerting, knowing that at least one of my own neighbors is a political vandal. Just makes me put up new ones. But I also get positive responses. You’re right about conservatives liking to see other conservatives flying their flags. People occasionally even come over and talk. The Mormon missionaries know they will at least get a smile. The Eco-proselytizers approach with trepidation. It’s great. Just need to get me some “Romney”s.
At the time, were you sharing a cube with a sweet old guy who had a Bush administration dartboard that he would gleefully cross faces off of when anyone left his administration?
I drive a Honda Civic (named The Silver Palindrome). Here in Westchester County, NY, there are approximately thirty thousand small silver compacts just like it, so both bumpers are festooned to make it easy to find in parking lots. The front reads “Rearden Steel” and “For God, Country and Andrew Breitbart.” The back reads “Who is John Galt?”, “An Army of One,” “We Are All Breitbart Now – November 2012,” an Israeli flag, and a Hebrew-language number that translates rather aggressively. You bet your buns that I’ll put on a Romney sticker if I come across one. And the Pal has never been vandalized, not even when it read, “Keep working! Millions on welfare depend on you!”
Love the sentiment.
I live in Memphis. My deductible is $250 for vandalism. I’ll send that $250 to Romney instead.
I put a Romney sticker on my car today, and another on my wife’s car. Screw the Left. This is precisely what my parents and I fled when we lived behind the Iron Curtain.
Kudos to you.
You don’t know what it is like to live where I do. I do not trust the people here not to attack my car or me or my wife or daughter while they are out in it. The prevailing attitude of the locals when it comes to political dissent is shut up or else. I know that the police would do nothing, even if I have a positive ID on the attacker. All I can do is contribute and vote.
It is sad that we have ended up here, but here we are.
I have yet to see a Romney sticker here in blue Austin and I don’t want to be the first. OTOH I have yet to see a new Obama sticker, either. And not very many old ones at that. Most people know they’re hard to get off and will only lower the resale value of the car.
My wife and I both have one here in deep blue CT and no problems yet. Her car is red and mine is blue, needless to say they look pretty great. If you are in the market pick up a Romney window decal, they won’t mess up your paint job.
When I had a pickup with a gun rack in evah so Blue Juneau, I had all sorts or conservative stickers and other things calculated to offend my neighbors like a Dale Earnhardt (the real one, not the kid)sticker and whatever tickled my fancy. I even had a McCain/Palin sticker, and if any of you think I don’t like Palin, I was a true Palin fan compared to most of Juneau and the rest of Southeast Alaska, at least I knew why I didn’t like her. Right now I have a Mercedes SUV that I share with my wife who is a federal employee high enough up that it would be noticed. I do have a Molon Labe decal, in Greek letters, on the rear window of the MB. My accross the street neighbor with the Obama sticker on the Suburu asked me if that was a fraternity. I have a Romney sticker on my scooter though.
The Molon Labe fraternity. Heh. What a doofus.
Well… in a way it is.
Helen, where do you live and work? Are you in enemy or friendly territory? I wouldn’t have the least concern driving around here in the burbs with a Romney sticker, but I wouldn’t dare park it in cobalt-blue downtown.
I’ll put a Romney sticker on the back window of my 8 cylinder pickup…I’ll put it right above the ” I’ll keep my gun, money and hope” one
Romney wants to eliminate my job and give it to a visa immigrant.
I’m gonna vote for the fool, but I don’t feel very excited about putting his sticker on my car.
Seriously?
I,v still got my Mc Cain, Palin bumper stickers on my cars, with McCains name cut off, of course I,m going to hate to see them go. I,ll go with the Romney stickers, but would like to keep the Palin stickers too . Maby Miitt could help me out. And choose Palin as VP.
The only bumper sticker I have is a “Semper Fi” bumper sticker. I find that usually sets the proper tone and makes the case for who I will vote for at the same time. I also don’t have to change it every 4 years.
Surprisingly enough, no one has ever tried to vandalize the car. I suppose that’s only because the nearest Navy base is 800 miles away.
Nah, Frank, most of us squids have learned better then to pick a fight with a jarhead
Honestly, you’d be surprised how often they require reminding!
“I take back every rust-picking, squid-eating thing I ever said about swabbies!”
Well, since the Marines are just a dept of the Navy, we’d only be picking a fight with ourselves.
The Marines are only associated with the Navy until they learn how to march on water!
Sorry, Dr. Helen, I have to side with the “pick your battles” crowd on this one. If you live in a Deep Blue city with a substantial “activist” population, that’s an invitation to have your car trashed. When I lived in San Francisco I did not dare to put any right-leaning stickers on my car. I had to park it on the street where anyone who walked by it could key it (or worse). At the time, I heard about cars keyed and tires slashed for having Dubya stickers on them. And there’s almost no way to catch the punks who did it.
Neutral territory, or even “blue” suburbs are safe – your neighbors may be staunch Obama supporters, but they are not thugs or vandals. Putting a bumper sticker on your car in a “blue” urban area is painting a bulls-eye on your car, and I completely understand the desire to not pay an insurance deductible (and the resulting increase in rates) over an election.
How do you suppose those “blue burbs” became so blue? It’s because so many of the decent, patriotic residents with traditional values allowed themselves to be intimidated by the loud-mouthed, leftist bullies that gradually began moving in. If you let the bully control the dialog, you’d better prepare to fork over your lunch money for the rest of your life.
I once lived in the Bay Area as well and had lots of bumper stickers written over, scraped off, etc. I replaced them. I had yard signs stolen and trashed. I got new ones.
No one ever vandalized my car, but if they had, I would have fixed the damage and moved on. No pencil-necked lib is going to control what I put on my car.
I had the side mirror in my truck smashed because I had a Bush 2000 sticker on the truck. This happened in South Carolina of all places.
I saw a sticker that read “I never thought I’d miss Nixon” (it came out during the Bush years) I may put one of those on the truck as its largely trashed anyways.
Living in the left wing of Arizona now, Tucson. There are a lot of scurvy Occupy-turd types here who would vandalize a car,but there are also lots of folks packing so they may be deterred.
I cannot believe so many of you are weak-willed puthehs. Our Founding Fathers are ashamed of you. Our forefathers who fought for freedom are ashamed of you. ‘Waaah, somebody might do something to the cosmetic appearance of my vehicle at some indeterminate point in the future.’
I guess back during the Slavery Era, you’d have been afraid to let your neighbors know that, you know, *owning* another person was wrong.
Shame. For shame! This is how D’s win elections they shouldn’t.
I live in NYC, 85% democrat. 2 Bush and 1 McCain/Palin sticker later I’m still loud and proud to support my preferred candidates. It’s how preference cascades get started…
I agree, take the hid, it’s worth it.
Well, I respect the frustration you express and your admiration for courageous behavior, but I live in Seattle and the libs here are vicious in their self-righteousness. Because of that they can rationalize anything. For this reason I have to side with those who withhold the bumper sticker. After all, even our Founding Fathers fought the war by hiding in the bushes and waiting until the time was right to ambush the enemy. They knew it was foolhardy to stand in the open and fight. The hard lefties in Seattle are truly hateful of any form of individuality except the prescribed, politically correct, America-hating, homosexual marriage loving, “generous” people who are dedicated to eliminating poverty and sickness and death using YOUR money without your permission by riding roughshod over the Constitution. And when they do get the chance to use your money in their saving of those lesser beings who they believe depend upon them, you get boondoggles like MoveOn dot org and Solyndra and a 1,200 page health bill nobody read before passing (which alone ought to get people impeached). Today’s news from the White House is also a throwback to anthill motto from the book The Once And Future King: “ALL THAT IS NOT COMPULSORY IS FORBIDDEN.” That single line perfectly sums up what it is the Progressive hard left wants for you and for me. Not for themselves, so much, but for the rest of us because, you know, we’re the ones who need it.
Well, I’ve had a Romney windows decal on my vehicle for about two months now.
Of course, I live in Texas…
And my vehicle is a 4×4 Ford F-150…
And the sticker is on the rear window, which is too high for the Prius drivers to see…
So, that probably explains the lack of damage.
But it could be the gun rack, now that Art mentions it.
Surveys show- most Prius owners are conservatives, contrary to popular belief. There is no disconnect between being conservative and driving a Prius. Saving gas money is saving gas money. And conservative at that.
OTOH, there is disconnect between driving a Hummer and being a liberal. Yet, tehre are Hummers with Obama stickers. In them are first order hypocrites.
Sad to say but I don’t want anyone vandalizing of my property. The past 4 years have shown the capacity to which the Left’s idiots will go for their boy. I’m also Tea Party living on a corner lot, nope, don’t want to pick up their trash either. As much as I would like to show my support the Obamonites have proven they have no regard for personal property.
I did however see 1 Obama bumper sticker today. I was small, round (about 4 inch circumference) with no name just his stupid logo. My how things changes in 4 years.
Already have. Both cars.
I live in the metro Detroit region. I wouldn’t drive my Romney-stickered car into Detroit proper, but then, I try not to go south of 11 Mile Road anyway, sticker or no sticker.
I forgot to mention that Virginia has Tea Party (Don’t Tread on Me) specialty license plates. My truck already has its plates (http://a-shadow-world.blogspot.com/2012/06/election-2012-ready-to-rumble.html); we haven’t received the plates for the Honda yet.
Dr Helen,
“The next Romney sticker I find goes on my car.”
I have an extra one. Want it?
We put a McCain sign up in our yard in west Los Angeles last time around, and it kept getting stolen and ripped down (I got a bunch of extras just for the purpose.) On the day of the election, someone put their dog’s poop bag on our car. No permanent damage, just childish vandalism.
Three words: motion activated sprinklers
Yes, that sprays honey.
Then deploy the Red Fire Ants…
Helen,
Bless you! A woman after my own heart.
I’ve been waiting to get a bumper sticker with the VP’s name on it next to Romney’s.
It’ll go right next to my “Defeat Jihad” bumper sticker. And yes, I do live in Texas- but Houston is full of Democrats.
When I think of the sacrifices the founders made to give us this free country,I would be ashamed to be too fearful to put a sticker on my car.
although i will vote for romney i wil not put stickers or posters supporting romney
i will go the anti-obama route
something like these:
http://www.zazzle.com/nobama+stickers
Way back when, please donut ask me for the specific date, Blob the Slob Beckel was on Fox sporting a black eye …. His car had been wearing a bumper sticker that said, “Bush lied, people died”, and it was parked in a grocery store parking lot or somewhere that made some people angry! Guess swat! Some bad azzzzzzzzzzzzzhat went off on him and punched him out. Still there at Fox, next segment? The black eye was made over, as in makeup or make up. And Beckel still does not get it.
Take care out there, seriously! Some people are SNUTS and could hurt any one of us for expressing our God Given Rights for Free Speech!
It must be kept in mind that the people on the left are, often, nuts. The name you see me commenting under is my true name: had I to do it over again, then ten years ago I would have picked a “nom de poste” and never let my real name out. I’m a small time blogger – a blog so small in traffic that if I get 900 page views a day, we’ve done well. But because of views I’ve expressed on the blog I’ve had my car vandalized, I’ve been stalked at my place of employment, someone posted a picture of what they thought was my house (turns out it belongs to a different Mark Noonan who lives in a nearby community) and I’ve had direct threats of violence made against me…all for really doing nothing more than stating my views (though it probably also had partially to do with, over the years, deleting long, hate-filled, vulgar screeds from the comments in the blog…nothing, it seems, ticks off a leftist more than refusing to allow your blog to become a cesspit of liberal hate). So, yes, there is a risk involved in putting a conservative sticker on your car.
But I am going to get a Romney sticker to put on my care – if these idiots want a civil war, we’ll give it to them.
I have a Romney bumper sticker. I applied it to a
rubberized magnet the same size. I can remove the
bumper sticker when I have to go to certain areas.
I have had no problems in my own neighborhood (western
suburbs of Detroit.)
I will display a Romney sticker on my shopping trips into the peoples republic of Asheville. But then my car is a 1997 Accord with much of the top coat already flaked off. It’s not worth the effort to key.
I was cured of the disease of car as a status symbol a long, long time ago.
Why don’t those who live in the People’s Republik of Madison, and Asheville put a Romney sticker on a lefty’s car to cover their Obama sticker? It’d be hilarious to see them key their own cars.
There’s a variation on that theme:
When you see a car with an Obama sticker just leave a hadwritten note under the windshield wiper that says that you want to let the car’s owner know that some antisocial, arrogant libtard has defaced their vehicle with socialist propaganda and that you are sure the car’s owner would want to remove the sticker as soon as possible.
“And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.”
My Romney sticker is in my desk drawer. After I bought it I realized gays around here would not like it, and on campus, the professors and students won’t either. I decided -Better safe, than sorry so no bumper sticker on the car or sign in the yard.
I’ve looked for a sticker that says “I’m an Independent for Romney” but can’t find one. Anyone know where I could get one?
I don’t like the Romney bumper stickers, because they suggest that if you believe in America then you have to be a Romney supporter. I strongly support him, but lots of people who believe in American don’t.
I am a retired cop here in the Peoples Republic of California. I recall a spate of vandalized cars in 2004: always “Bush” bumper stickered cars were victimized. Also homes that had Bush signs on their lawns were attacked. The Left feel they have a right to “express themselves” in this manner. Sadly, we could only prosecute if the vandal was caught in the act, which they rarely are. I found the best solution was to purchase some magnetized plastic (used to cover AC vents), put the sticker on that and cut to fit. I would put it on my car when driving, remove it when parked. Worked great.
I suggested to the Romney campaign that they create a bumper sticker that says “Courage” – with the Romney “R”.
This would have the added benefit of pissing off Dan “Courage” Rather.
My sister has both a Romney sticker on the rear glass, and a Chick-Fil-A box on the dash.
We have a souped-up Mini Cooper Clubman and we live in downtown Chicago. I wanted to put an NRA sticker on it, but my husband said that that would be inviting disaster. Sad, but true. I’d love to put a Romney sticker on it. We fly under the radar, here in BO Land.
Hiya neighbor! – well, I’m up near Welles Park, but still well into the Blue Zone Heart of Darkness.
I don’t have a car, but I do have stickers on my front door: USMC, NRA, and Bristol Shooting Ranges. One result of this is that we get just about zero foot traffic in the form of people with petitions to be signed, or asking for money.
Hiya Anne! Two years ago, I wore an NRA baseball cap to a White Sox game. Just about everyone gave me dirty looks. On the Red Line after the game, a group of slovenly college students even looked at me with fear in their eyes. I noticed movement out of the corner of my right eye, and there driving alongside the train, on the Dan Ryan, was a Jeep. The driver and the passenger pointed at my cap and gave me a thumbs up!
I had a Romney sticker on my car, same as yours. In the middle of the night last weekend someone from my neighborhood tore it off while the car was parked in my driveway.
Four years ago it was a NOBAMA sticker. Driving through Montclair, NJ (Obama by 92%) an older African-American man in a beater POS became “extremely agitated” upon seeing it. He tried to run us off the road, with my wife and daughter in the car, cursing and making a gun symbol with his hand. We managed to lose him in traffic, but my wife was so shaken she removed that sticker right there. I can’t say I blame her, Going to Earl Scheib is one thing, going to the hospital is a whole different kettle of fish.
Ah, Montclair, NJ. Love those tolerant, northeastern college towns!
This is the problem; that leftists will not stop at mere vandalism if they think they can get away with assault. In some ways it makes it more necessary to put the stickers on there, but then it becomes something different if you aren’t just risking yourself, but the safety of your family.
F*ck the unconstitutional laws.
Keep a loaded gun in your car and in your home.
Next old Upper Montclair dick that flashes the “hand” gun, flash yours.
Before this ends, there will be blood.
As soon as someone tried to run me off the road with a vehicle I figure they are trying to kill me, so the next thing they would see is my window rolling down and either a 40 or 45 caliber handgun pointed in their direction and if they persisted in trying to run me off the road instead of fleeing then bullets would be flying in their direction!
My co-host John Weston’s car has been vandalized multiple times in Massachusetts over pro-life bumper stickers and pro-life candidates.
I do lawn signs but not bumper stickers if I had a few more bucks and could afford the insurance costs I might think differently but at the house I can film these guys
Still holding on to my Bush/Cheney stickers… waiting for Jeb and Liz to announce.
I live in Cleveland Park, NW DC. This place is so blue that when my wife and I go across the street to vote, the poll workers glare at us like hostile space aliens when we ask for Republican ballots (which are always buried in the bottom of a drawer). I fly a US fiat at my home at all times – the only flag in the neighborhood. Have yet to see a Romney bumpersticker. All the local Volvos come from the factory with O-zero stickers firmly affixed.
I’ve had my Mitt Romney bumper sticker on for several months, now. I got it off of eBay. Then Mitt sent me an official one after I contributed to his campaign.
It’s on the left side of the Dakota’s rear bumper. It compliments the NRA Life Member and Army Dad decals proudly displayed on opposite sides the cab’s rear window. Plus, just yesterday, I spotted my first Romney yard sign.
Why not have some fun? Buy some small surveillance cameras and aim them at the Romney sign in your yard. If it gets trashed, you have a video record you can post on YouTube; especially fun if it is one of your fine upstanding neighbors. A little public shame just might do wonders.
I live in a 90% Democratic machine town whose largest population group supports Barack Obama 90%. Candidates for local or state office have posters showing a rear view of Mr. Obama with the headline “[Candidate X] has his back.” I ride the same bus as the New Black Panther guy with the jack boots and the nightstick. Vandalism has been accepted political speech in this town for decades. I will not be displaying a Romney sticker.
I won’t put a Romney sticker on my car because I’m not that. It a fan – yet.
I do have one that reads Vote No (Obama logo in no)
My husband hates that on my Nissan 350Z I display the following bumper stickers: “OMG: Obama must go,” “Hype and Blame 2012,” “The Bigger the Government the Smaller the Person” and finally “Proud Parent of a US Marine.”
But we owe it to the men and women of our military, who have much more to worry about than a vandalized house or car, to BE BRAVE and proudly display our Romney signs in our yards, and bumper stickers on our cars.
I will NOT be silenced. Especially while our country is on the brink of complete and utter disaster.
If the other side can strike such fear in you that you will not in public, stand up for what you believe in, then the other side has already won.
Ask yourself, if not now, when? I say, bring it on…
Absolutely right, and well said!
The time is NOW to take a stand for freedom!
(Also a Marine Mom. Semper Fi.)
We must never let fear stop us from doing what is right.
I’ve been sporting a “1-20-2013 The End of an Error” bumper sticker on my Camry since February of 2009 here in the TRUE People’s Republic of Massachusetts. No problems at all. I’ve added a Scott Brown and the Mitt sticker will go on as soon as I get one.
Fight the insanity!
Hey, I only recently removed the Perry for President stickers from our trucks. I’ll get some Mitt stickers soon.
This is Texas. I’m not at all worried about my Tundra that was built right here in this city by well paid non-UAW workers.. There are lots of cars with Obama stickers here too. They have even less to fear from their neighbors.
I did have my first “No Socialism” sign taken from my yard, but the second one has stood unmolested for three years now.
I have a Romney sticker and a “Nobama” sticker ready to go. They’ll go on either side of my NRA sticker.
The trick is to put it next to the Proud to be Sicilian bumper sticker
No one has mentioned union thugs yet. After the election, union thugs and minority savages will target those they believe are responsible for the end of Christmas. They have a right to free speech; we don’t. I’m more concerned about self-defense than I am about bumper stickers.
See my comment above.
We currently live in Portland Oregon. We used to put Republican and Support the Troops stickers on our cars. My car was keyed three times. My husband’s SUV was keyed and twice box cutter blades were shoved into his tires. We tried magnetic stickers that can be removed when the car is parked. Every time – EVERY TIME – we forgot to remove the stickers, they were stolen off the car. Once we came back and the Support the Troops yellow magnetic sticker had been cut to pieces and sprinkled on the car hood, and Supports Killers was written on the windshield in red lipstick. We gave up. When my husband’s job permits, we are moving to Texas. I can’t even begin to describe how much I hate living here.
You have my greatest sympathy. I was born in Portland in 1960 and once upon a time it was a pretty nice place to live. That all ended, however, and I never hesitate to tell people that Portland is a miserable hell-hole. I hope you get to leave really soon.
I was talking to one of Austin’s finest who is part time security at Whole Foods. He said that someone had vandalized his truck – THE MAN’S TRUCK DAMMIT! – on the lot because he had politically incorrect bumper stickers. So he vigilantly patrolled the area around his truck, just waiting for it to happen again.
I, for one, will never underestimate the cowardice and Stalinist impulses of the typical Austin Leftists. It’s not that I’m afraid of having my truck scraped. It’s just that I’m too handsome for jail.
Amen Mark!
I live over in Northwest Hills, but I work in East Austin.
I suspect for the crime of having a Romney sticker on my car, they might not just key it but maybe steal it. I’ll support Romney where it counts, with my money and my vote!
Just put my Romney sticker on my car yesterday.
Will NOT be afraid!
The post has convinced me that it’s important to go ahead and get both a bumper sticker and a yard sign. (And I intend to work for the campaign, too. By and large, I am quite pleased with the way Romney is handling things so far.)
Now that you mention it, I seem to recall that I chickened out on putting a Bush or anti-Obama sticker on my car during the last election for exactly this reason. Not this time. The stakes are too high. The Cold Civil War seems to be well under way and it is no joke. If nothing else, I can at least speak up.
Thank you for this post.
Cowards. I’ve got a ONE TERM sticker with the obama logo and my license plate is BBYE BHO. It’s parked on Connecticut Ave in DC right now. Get some nads. Remember the founders pledged their lives their fortunes and their sacred honor.
YES! Get some nads indeed.
Thank you.
I saw a Romney lawn sign yesterday, the first of any lawn sign, in our very, very liberal neighborhood. Brave people.
I think the preference cascade has begun.
I still have the Goldwater sticker on my Studebaker and dammitall I want some credit for that.
+1
Some proposed ideas:
1. Put a Romney sticker on your car and then, before you leave the car unattended, also put up signs in the windows saying, “Thinking about keying my car? Smile for the camera when you do it.”
2. Better yet, get a Romney sticker and then find some Prog’s car that already has dozens of stickers on the back and slap the Romney sticker on HIS bumper. Hilarity will surely ensue. (LOL).
I live in deep-blue Massachusetts, and I DO have a Romney sticker on the back of my truck.
The only sticker on my car is a “Who is John Galt?” No problem, because nobody where I live seems to know what that means.
I have a bumper sticker that says “Going Galt.” Most people have no idea what it means but occasionally someone will understand it and smile or ask me about it.
My Benz 300D has the license plate”JN GALT”. I figure that there are those that understand it and that the lefties won’t get it.
I’ve been sporting a “Palin/McCain” sticker since 2008. It’s getting pretty ragged. Wish I had bought more.
Someone like Breitbart’s operation needs to set up a bait car and record what happens. It could be part of a package showing the intimidation regularly engaged in by the left. There are plenty of examples that would make a nice package. To the extent the OWS movement has any point it is intimidation.
Basically we have to break the press barricade on news and we have to force the truth into the open. We should probably spend a lot less time on sites like this one and more time on mainstream sites trying to dominate the comment sections. People need to perceive that leftist views are out of style and not cool. Bumper stickers are OK but the left dominates the articles that are appearing day in and day out so we have to dominate the comment sections and mock them and counter them because most of the bilge they are spewing is transparently ridiculous.
Its a great idea….
Better yet, two cars – one with a Romney sticker, and one with Obama.
Allows for a ‘compare and contrast’ set of videos.
Here is a simple experiment, put on a Obama T-shirt and walk around videotaping at a Romney or Tea Party event. Then, try it with a Romney tee at an Obama or OWS event.
What do you think the results would be?
My old but paid for Mercedes is frequently parked on streets and in garages in Cambridge, MA (Commie Central) for business meetings. The car is proudly festooned with bumper art saying “O-bummer” and “1-20-2013; Are We There Yet?” and a Second Amendment Sisters sticker and one for Scott brown in 2012. Yes, my car has been keyed a couple times but I don’t care. It’s just a car and since I will never sell it (I’ll drive it till it dies), when I get a Romney/TBD sticker, it will go on the car, too. By the way, I fly a lot on business and I always wear my “Anybody But Obama in 2012″ and similar clearly anti-Obama T-shirts as I go through screening. I get many more favorable comments than dirty looks from TSA agents, flight crews, etc. We have to make our voices heard every way we can or we get O-bummer for another 4 years. It’s as simple as that.
The first rule of safety is to be aware of your surroundings. I live in a 85% Donk, bright blue area. My neighbors EXPECT everyone to think alike.
Putting up a Romney sign would be to invite a Mennonite-style shunning at best and vandalism at worst.
I’ll make my statement in November.
Don’t need to put political stickers on the car – I’ve got NRA stickers on it. That defines where I stand.
A vote for anyone but Romney (icluding abstention) is a vote for Obama.
“Other people told me at that time it wasn’t safe. I say “bullshit.””
I’ve seen plenty of vehicles vandalized over this stuff. With all the “hope and change” going on, many of us cannot afford to repair that sort of damage.
I have a responsibility first to my household to not make our important assets vandalism magnets.
Agreed. I’d rather send what money I can to the Romney campaign rather than spend it on car repair. Signs will go up in my yard when the VP is announced.
Put an Obama sticker on your car, and then drive recklessly and cut people off.
Seriously though, the best thing you can do is let your lefty friends know that this fear exists throughout the blue areas of the country and is well-founded. It might make them think twice about the political company they keep. Most lefties who see the light and change sides do so because they realize that the other lefties are hateful, intolerant, ignorant thugs. Or as David Mamet put it, “Why I am no longer a brain-dead liberal.”
wouldnt work
we all know those obmama stickers are on the cars that get in the left lane and loaf obliviously as the rest of the traffic has to adjust
I live in the SF Bay Area and wouldn’t normally put a Romney sticker on my car. However, I made a couple that say “Drones” and “Goldman Sachs” in which the “O’s” are the Obama logo. I think this confuses libs.
Bumper stickers? Really?? Here in the canyon its a standing joke about how to pick out the cars of the lefties. There the ones with all the bumper stickers. I would not want to be confused with a leftist. I give stickers to children as gifts.
I had a conservative bumper sticker on my car slashed up with a razor down next to the Hike & Bike Trail in siuper-liberal Austin, Texas. When I called it in to the police, I got an attitude from the black female police officer who took the call on the non-emergency line. I had a series of Bush and Support the Troops bumper stickers torn off my car here in the suburbs of Washington, DC. So it’s a problem in more than one state.
It’s dangerous to put a conservative bumper sticker on your car if you live in a predominantly liberal city. So maybe it’s better to place your Romney bumper sticker over an Obama bumper sticker. Let the liberals hate on themselves and bear the sting of their own intolerance, the lash of their own hatred of free speech. Perhaps even better, you can buy an “I Heart Gay Porn” bumper sticker one right wing website was selling and follow its instructions to place it next to every Obama bumper sticker you saw.
OTOH, vandalism can work both ways.
But NO TRUE CONSERVATIVEtm would consider such retaliation.
The Patriots were not particularly restrained. I’m sure Loyalists, who suffered regular harassment, would have been happy to have their coaches vandalized rather than some of the more extreme attacks, such as “asset forfeiture” or tar and feathers.
Hmm. Let’s see. Pay $3 for a bumper sticker, drive to work in eastern Massachusetts, get vandalized, pay $500 for paint repair.
Or
Give Romney $100, no risks and no inconvenience and the money will be used by them more effectively.
Seems like a no brainer to me. Ineffective posturing vs. Effective use of money.
Bought a new Toyota Camry (get a new one every twelve years); it’s a beautiful, metalic black. Live in West Michigan…usually a safe area for Republicans…but this year I’m not gonna tempt fate. Black shows damage too easily.
There’s a temper in the air…politics have turned really nasty; and let’s face it…Progressives tend to be nasty thugs.
My conservative bumper stickers on my old car (Bush/Cheney & another one) got my car vandalized more than once, but that won’t stop me this year. It’s too vital a choice this time.
Put anything conservative on anything I own in Scabattle? Surely you jest.
I’ll make my statement in November.
There are two different element to defeat: the left, as a movement, and the crazies, as individuals. Two problems, two methods, perhaps more difficult than just using bumper stickers: First, the privacy of the voting booth gives us a real chance to oppose the robot-libs side of the electorate without engaging oneself in pointless one-on-one confrontations.
The other challenge is of a different nature: how to wake up people drunk with incoherent theories? Defeating the left will accomplish some of that, by diminishing how cool it is to be a leftie, like it used to be in the old days. But that’s just step one. The personal conversion from lib to con, if it ever happens, is not likely to happen quickly. I guess one has to mourn the loss of a cheap method of intellectual comfort before embracing a more demanding one. Then, one-on-one conversations can help, but certainly not by emulating their methods. If we are truly Christians, our duty is to love them in the first place.
Andrew Breitbart pointed out that we live in the age of dog whistles. How to show solidarity with fellow travelers without triggering the knee-jerk reflex of mindless people who like to think of themselves as supremely civilized and tolerant? Maybe we can use dog whistles too? I propose home-made bumper stickers, not pre-printed ones. Mine says “We the Lemmings???” We can all design your own dog whistles, to show your solidarity with your fellow travelers, and enjoy receiving approving gestures and honks without necessarily triggering the knee-jerk reactions of the supersonic thinkers.
The funny thing is that I drive a Volvo. When I bought it I was completely unaware of the statistics showing that the typical Volvo owner is a liberal. Nice car, but not necessarily a dog whistle by itself!
Bumper sticker on my car:
Vote Democnrat!
Why settle for the lesser evil?
drat. html tag no work. Imagine a strike through the “c”
Think I’ll go the magnetic route, and use my car for vandal bait. Might be fun to get some youtubes up showing these fascists in action…
Back in the ’80′s, when I was in college, I had a “right-wing” (read: pro-freedom) bumper sticker on my car. I parked in a campus parking lot. When I returned to my car, all four of my tires had been slashed.
I pick my battles, and I choose to fight mine in the ballot box. Nobody needs to know my politics, just as they don’t need to know where the heck is Wall Drug.
Its not safe or good manners. Bumper stickers throw your opinion in others faces with no opportunity for them to respond. A lot of republicans just wont use them because of this.
I live in San Francisco and I assure you my car would be keyed within weeks if not days were I to put a Romney sticker on it. I attached my McCain/Palin sticker to a piece of cardboard and placed it in my rear window while driving, but then flipped it down while parked. In this part of the country, this is not paranoia, it is merely prudent.
I had a huge “ABO 2012″ sticker made at the printers and put on the back windows of all my cars at the beginning of the year. And I work in Stockton, CA. Talk about living dangerously!
I still have a Bush sticker on my back window since 2001. I alo had a license plate that displayed Bush 43 and had it on there for 4 years. I live in a county that
I have had a Bush sticker on my back window since 2001. I also had a license plate that displayed Bush 43 and had it on there for 4 years. I live in a county that is quite blue and was concerned, however nothing happened to my vehicle. I travelled in an RV with Bush stickers from Fl. to Az. and all was fine especially after 911. after 2004 it still was ok. I now have a Romney sticker on the rear window and a Romney sign in the yard. So far so good. Be brave and display.
Please ignore #86. I hit submit before finishing my comment.
I live in the Seattle area, and despite the high military concentration in the area, I would never put a bumper sticker on my car. One of the bad things about a right-to-work state is that if the boss decides your bumper sticker’s political stance doesn’t mesh with the image of their business, you’re out the door and they can give any reason they want and you’ll never prove a dang thing.
I cannot afford the insurance premiums or discrimination a Romney bumper sticker would elicit. Now, NRA and military stickers are fine since the crazy lefties routinely get blasted for being anti-military out here and are slowly learning to pick their battles. We’re less scary than Portland only because of the military culture.
I fully understand the fear that’s been expressed, but we can’t let the liberturds win! They’ve learned intimidation works, so they take it to new heights. Especially with the encouragement and blessings of Obamao. This country is in a sorry-assed state and we must take it back or die as political prisoners.
Nice sentiment but they left out something important:
did their car get keyed or vandalized? Were they on the receiving end of some other form of leftist hate?
Me, I’ve got a damaged car so it wouldn’t matter but I don’t blame anyone who has an investment (motor vehicle, house or other object) that is accessible to the public and cannot be surveilled 24/7.
It’s unfortunate but that’s what happens when factions turn to physical violence and property damage. It’s happened throughout the ages and the US has been fortunate, God loving enough and law abiding that it took this long for widespread acts like this to become the norm. (read some history about factions/faction fighting through the ages)
We live in Red LA, but the license holder on our Prius reads: “Global Warming Is A Lot Of Hot Air”, and my Infiniti has one that reads: ” The Tea Party: Fighting Tyranny Since 1773″. I also display a Romney bumper sticker. No keying yet, but it’s worth the risk to let fellow conservatives know there are others of like mind here in liberal la-la land.
I will not put a Romney sticker on my car for the same reaon I never put a Bush or Reagan sticker on my car:I don’t like wearing my beliefs or opinions on my sleeve (or my bumper).
If someone asks my opinion I will give it to them. If they don’t, I will assume they don’t care and be polite enough not to foist it on them.
Even if I do decide to publicly proclaim my opinion, I will do so on my person by wearing a t-shirt or a campaign button. If anyone then has a problem with it they will have to confront ME, not my unattended car. Advertising my position on my car only gives some jerk the opportunity to enjoy the satisfaction of damaging my property without fear of consequence.
Like I said on another thread, the libs only kick a man when he’s down. If you lie down,you’re asking them to kick you, and they won’t stop until you quit twitching.
You have to stand up, or they will never stop kicking. They don’t have any balls, they only get nasty when you are outnumbered or when you refuse to fight.
trunk monkey
Bumper stickers are tacky. The fact that you see more Obama stickers than Romney stickers is one more reason to vote Romney.
The liberal paper in my liberal fever swamp of a home town published a list of everyone who has a concealed-carry permit, including me. I have a bright shiny truck and have put a Romney sticker right above one of the Reagan stickers that the Reagan Library has sent out (I still have a couple of old CFTR stickers and Reagan with the Jesse Helms, chairman small print on the bottom–I’m not going to use those) They have been there for three months and so far no one has dared to touch the truck. I wonder why?
To discourage keying and other such vandalism, may I that you affix this one adjacent to your Romney bumper sticker:
http://www.zazzle.com/a_gun_in_hand_bumper_sticker-128919871862904449
On 9/ll I put a flag up in my yard. When it was stolen I replaced it with one that caused pain for the people who tried to steal it. I have worn out two flags since then but none have been stolen. When the political signs were vandalized in my yard I coated them with cheap syrup and let the bees be my security; cured that problem. I refuse to let fear keep me from doing what is right nor will I let others determine what I will or will not do. I have insurance for my car and smith&wesson and police for personal protection. We cannot allow fear to be our strongest motivating force.
for everyone in Austin…. and everyone who doesn’t get why Austinites are cautious…..
Liberals are 400% more likely to be mentally ill, mostly with more serious mental illnesses, than conservatives. I can’t remember the statistic for schizophrenia, but, basically- it’s liberals. It was when it started- bohemians in mitteleuropa and paris- and now sometimes, it’s conservatives. But mostly, it’s liberals.
The Austin State Hospital is in the middle of town. It’s ?how many acres? of a giant mental hospital village for the entire state. It’s been mostly shut down, and the people who used to live there escorted out the door to live in “freedom” under a bridge, or camped in the woods. You can reference Mr Clayton Cramer’s articles about mental illness, posted two weeks ago. Well, most places had the crazies from their town or region. Austin got the mentally ill from all over the whole state. Texas is bigger than FRANCE. Imagine getting an entire major European countries crazies shipped to your door, living in your town, and, oh yeah, free to roam at will.
Austin is also a college town. There is a dorm with its own postal code: the dorm is more populous than most towns in Texas. That’s one dorm. That’s one uni. There are so many colleges that I can’t keep count. Add in the largest community college system in the country. Lots and lots of young, poorly educated, young, fractious, opinionated types. So, a high possible “youth enthusiasm” count.
Oh, and tech move-ins, from all over the country. Not just conservative ones. Liberal types like having jobs, too. They move to Austin as a mecca of liberal-ness. That whole bit where Texan Democrats are likely more conservative than some states’ republicans doesn’t get semaphored in the media.
15 minutes that-away, I’d be okay putting a bumper-sticker of Romney on our car, and I’d get complaints about how he’s too liberal. But here? I can’t afford to get the car fixed. There’s a higher concentrated dose of crazy here, than in other cities. Not just liberal- just plain crazy.
ARE YOU EFFING KIDDING ME???? DOES GENERATION X HAVE TO DO ALL THE HEAVY LIFTING OF AMERICA, NAMELY WE BREITBART CONSERVATIVES????? I live in the most liberal part of Houston. I wanted to put a Romney sticker on my car and a sign out in my yard for the longest but I wanted to wait until he had the nomination locked! The last straw was when the Democrats targeted Ann and her dresage horse she uses in therapy for her MS and the LIES about when Romney left Bain….not only could I not find any bumper stickers, I found them on Romney’s Web site purchased them and donated an extra 100 bucks to his campaign and I have been donating 50 bucks a month until the election!!!! I got my cool bumper stickers and promptly put them on my car….my conservative neighbor told me that I was asking for trouble!!! I DON’T CARE!! IT IS MY FIRST AMMENDMENT RIGHT TO VOICE MY OPINION and honey I am not a little puss….for the first time in my 43 years I am active and actually voted in a runoff primary FOR TED CRUZ…. I am over all the mamby pamby weak pussified Establishment types who have put our country on the cliff we presently find ourselves, not to mention that I’m tired of my freedoms being taken away not by honorable means, but by one person who has annointed himself as king who IGNORES the limitations of his office by the Constitution…..I am TIRED of worrying about if I have a job tomorrow. I am tired of wondering if I’ll ever be able to retire. I’m tired of seeing my creativity as an Architect being stifled everyday by regulation. I am tired of seeing my country being taken over by radicalism of epic proportions….I am exceptional and I am taking a stand for my individual freedom. Everyone should do so and FIGHT BACK.
The only bumper sticker I have on my car says “Proud Parent of a U.S. Army Soldier”. I will be putting a Romney sign in my yard though:D
I’ve read both parts of the article but just a couple of the comments. Here’s how I see it:
Libscum are very likely to vandalize a car with a bumper sticker for a conservative candidate because (a) their cause is so holy that any means at all are justified (yuppie libscum) and/or (b) they really don’t give a good goddamn about other peoples’ property (quota-filling libscum).
I don’t have any stickers for any particular candidate on my car but I do have: an American flag; the shoulder patch of the Army’s First Cavalry Division; the Royal Arms of Scotland and my boonie hat from my tour in VietNam is in the rear window. Even the lowest-end libtard ought to be able to figure out that I’m not likely to be a fan of Der Schwartzenfuerher and his sidekick Algonquin J. Holder (the Arms of Scotland likely confuses them – they just might think its a soccer club somewhere).
Now I’ll go back and read the other comments.
“What isn’t safe is being so fearful that you will not take a stand to turn this country around and are willing to hide out. Screw that. The next Romney sticker I find goes on my car.”
SERIOUSLY! The lady is correct on many levels. I ask the collective “US” where and what does your fear come from? exactly what are you afraid of? I hear vandalism, I hear property damage, I hear physical violence! YES in certain neighborhoods or zip codes thats very possible, or if the Bob Beckel story is true-(I have no reason to doubt it) also possible.
HOWEVER FRIENDS WHAT YOU ALL ARE NOT SAYING IS YOUR AFRAID OF TYRANNY.
Union thugs, or others had better note, they are not the only ones who can fid baseball bats, or related paraphernalia for street work during forth coming election cycles
And thats on all of “US” for we are the ones who have not paid attention our political system in the manner a REPUBLIC” needs to be paid attention to.
The disgraceful OBAMA and his cronies running roughshod over the constitution, & the various policies, procedures, rules, regulations & even historical precedent should and finally may be the wake up all those of “US” who have not and are not engaged in the politics of our Republic!
But there is even a Bigger But – a more dangerous BUT!. It is said this Republic is made up of three co-equal branches of government! Does it appear to any of you that the Congress has acted in a manner indicating it has equal status with this executive? The court has become politicized since the days of Earl Warren.
Who is responsible for that, look no further than your mirror (WE ARE!). The collective “WE” have elected people many of whom – appear to lose their principle(s) of character when they enter office
The greater danger is we miss this- fleeting moment, when most of “US” appear to be engaged in our Republics political activity – where by we might be able to at least organize an effective grass roots movement or initiative to set effective term limits on all federal office holders to a 10 or 12 year total.
In other words return to our Republic to one based upon “PUBLIC SERVICE FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD”! that person is in fact is a public servant who takes time out of some career to serve for the good of the Republic, not his or her pocket or any one industry, business or group.
It is unfortunate that this likely will happen only when “pigs fly”
Till then those of “US” who believe in the conservative American ideal of self reliance where ever and when ever possible will forge ahead into the wind.
These “public servants” should be addressed as such, and their net wealth disclosed every time that they open their mouths.
The American people should demand that the government maintain a website database posting their incomes from the time they enter their “servitude” up until their demise. What a story that would tell about why they enter into “public service” in the first place, now wouldn’t it?
I used to have “Still Voting Democrat? You’re Stuck on Stupid” on my car. I have had my tires slashed, dents, door dings, the paint keyed, and my mirrors ripped off. I replaced the sticker 3 times, because it was stolen.
Since the last time the sticker was stolen, I never replaced it, and my car has been repaired, I have had no vandalism at all.
Ken Gladney was beaten up for daring to be a black republican; a state official decided that Joe the Plumber’s opinions meant he was a worthy subject for a state investigation; a businessman contributes to Romney and, pffft, he is under investigation from the feds. Oops: with Andelson make that two prominent people.
Is the media watching? The media that has a case of the vapors over a delta smelt? Well, no. Europe is falling apart, California cities going bankrupt, the US has trillion dollar deficits and no sign of stopping them, Iran and NoKo are nearing a bomb, and the Iranians meddling in South America: but the LA Times runs stories on….2 year old photos from Afghanistan that embarrass the US and endanger its troops, and for good measure, …Ann Romney’s horse. Her horse. And don’t forget Mitt Romney in high school. This after the LA Times made the GOP candidate’s illegal alien maid, (not the state’s economic problems), the main feature of election coverage in 2010.
James O’Keefe finds ballots being handed out to anyone, ACORN funding whatever they feel like, and some state AG’s decide to prosecute…O’Keefe and that woman that assisted him.
Chick Fil A is boycotted and its locations spray painted. A CFO of a company, obviously an educated man and a true liberal full of tolerance, verbally abuses a cashier there, accusing her of working at a hate-filled company. He was so sure that he alone was right. He had the “right” be be crass, mean, and abusive to her because she was obviously with the ‘stupid’ and ‘wrong’ people. If you haven’t watched the youtube video, please do so: there is the flower of full tolerance and respect for all people on display.
So, we are asked, “Do you worry about putting a Romney sticker on your car?” The obvious answer for anyone living in a coastal state or a university town, is “are you serious? How could you NOT be worried?”
Liberals are not liberal, tolerant of very smart. They are hyper-opinionated, and believe that others are stupid, wrong, backward and oppressive. They don’t celebrate my opinions as diversity.
In the middle ages they would have resisted capitalism in favor of the lords, just as today they celebrate the Sandanistas, and lament the United States.
A Romney bumper sticker in many parts of California will get your car keyed, at a minimum. it can trigger a hostile encounter on the street. A refusal to serve you food or worse.
Women who would swoon over Che Guevara and find Castro cute, would end dates then and there when I foolishly floated the suggestion–just the suggestion-that, you know, maybe Farenheit 451 isn’t fully accurate, and maybe it was a good idea to take out Saddam before he invaded anyone else.
A writer in SALON felt compelled to say he was embarrassed when US fans shouted “USA” at the 2012 Olympics!
I don’t feel compelled to risk my car, time, money, food, or the well being of my kids trying to parade my political preferences for intolerant people.
Nor do I feel compelled to “stand with” the GOP, which rarely stands with its own: Gladney is forgotten; Bush seemingly could not veto a spending bill: Cheney boasted of “big government,” Dennis Hastert, the GOP Speaker under Bush, presided over deficits and pork. And looking far and wide, where was and is the GOP reaction to the federal investigations of GOP contributors? Those contributors risked much, gave money and what happens to them?
And while we’re on it, I find the GOP’s hostility to gay rights and its receptivity to people who want to roll back Roe v Wade as misguided and senseless. The country is going down the tube while the GOP focuses on this nonsense. I don’t think the GOP ought to be a party of partial freedoms.
SO: If you like Romney, do what voters did when they ousted the sandanistas: vote. Be sure to vote. That is what you need to do. Vote every time.
Your litany of left-liberal outrages is accurate, if incomplete; your litany of GOP failings, alas, is also.
But the fact remains that—like it or not—in this election, at this time, the GOP offers the only alternative to the outrages perpetrated, and being perpetrated, by the Left. That means that one must “stand with the GOP,” faute de mieux—or stand with those perpetrating the current outrages.
It is sad that you had to sully your post with the following: And while we’re on it, I find the GOP’s hostility to gay rights and its receptivity to people who want to roll back Roe v Wade as misguided and senseless. The country is going down the tube while the GOP focuses on this nonsense. I don’t think the GOP ought to be a party of partial freedoms.
Sorry, but this is so much cant. It is unclear what you mean by “gay rights,” but for the record, there are no actual rights that “gay people” are denied. Nobody stops “gay people” from voting; “gay people” are not denied the right to trial by jury, the right to gun ownership, the right to be secure against unreasonable search and seizure, etc., in any way. In other words, unless you can point to a genuine civil right which “gay people” are routinely denied, the “hostility” you speak of is towards a pressure group demanding special privileges under the banner of “human rights,” which have no legitimate place in American jurisprudence.
Likewise, it appears that you are using “desire to roll back Roe v. Wade” as a shorthand euphemism for “opposition to abortion.” It is certainly true that many people who would like Roe v. Wade overruled would also like to see abortion entirely outlawed. It is also true that many believe that decision to be an egregious overstepping by the Court which tramples the prerogatives of the states. That is a legitimate discussion which will not be held while the government is under the sway of the party of runaway federal power.
Gay couples can’t file a joint tax return.
A gay man can’t name his partner as his automatic next of kin for hospital end-of-life decisions or for estate planning.
There are numerous other laws–federal, state and local–that provide all kinds of rights and privileges to married couples that gays can’t qualify for. Ever notice how many applications you fill out that have a place for you to name your “spouse”?
“Gay couples can’t file a joint tax return.” So? Until recently it was actually a disadvantage to file a joint tax return (the marriage PENALTY remember?)
“A gay man can’t name his partner as his automatic next of kin for hospital end-of-life decisions or for estate planning.” No one can atuomatically name a next of kin for estate planning. It must be done through joint ownership w/ rights of survivorship, beneficiary designation or a will, ALL of which are avenues available to gay partners (a beneficiary can NOT be denied because they are gay).
As for naming a partner for end-of-life decisions, that is also done with a legal paper, a medical directive. That, too is an avenue available to gay partners. Too lazy to have the paperwork drawn up? Too bad.
“There are numerous other laws–federal, state and local–that provide all kinds of rights and privileges to married couples that gays can’t qualify for.” Privileges yes, rights, no. The govt has always used laws to encourage or discourage behavior. One can get a $7,500 tax credit for buying a Chevy Volt. Can I claim that it’s a violation of my “rights” to not get the same tax credit for buying a Ford Focus or a Toyota Camry? It’s not a rights issue; that is a manufactured argument. it is a privileges issue and as such it is just as valid for one to say “No” as it is for one to say “Yes.” The argument about access to a privilege is, however, a substantially different argument than one which claims a violation of a “right.”
Gay couples can’t file a joint tax return.
A gay man can’t name his partner as his automatic next of kin for hospital end-of-life decisions or for estate planning.
There are numerous other laws–federal, state and local–that provide all kinds of rights and privileges to married couples that gays can’t qualify for. Ever notice how many applications you fill out that have a place for you to name your “spouse”?
Neither the benefits which you are (falsely) decrying the unavailability of, nor the ability to marry from which they flow, is a “right.” As T has pointed out before me, you are confusing “rights” with privileges, and you are not even accurate in your confusion; domestic-partnership laws, and, increasingly, social custom, permit such things as naming a same-sex partner as “next of kin.” But, once again, these are not “rights”—they are privileges, automatically extended to married couples because they are married couples, which have not, traditionally, been extended to unmarried heterosexual couples either—and which, as T also notes, can be replicated in law by unmarried couples of whatever composition with a modicum of effort.
Buzzsawmonkey,
I know we’re off on a tangent here, talking about “whether or not coconuts migrate”. For the record, though, I’d add that I am absolutely unreceptive to the denial of “rights” argument regarding gay marriage. The current pro-gay-marriage argument mostly boils down to “we want what we want when we want it!” I’d listen to a reasoned argument as to why thousands of years of exclusive heterosexual marriage privilege should come to an end, but no one is making any argument of that sort. At least not yet.
T: You are correct that the argument is largely “we want what we want when we want it.” I would add that while the promise of cha-ching—marriage benefits—is used to galvanize the base, it also obscures the fact that the gay-rights movement was founded on the loudly- and oft-proclaimed objective of destroying traditional marriage, family, and religion, these being oppressive, patriarchal, hetero-normative institutions.
The gay-rights movement does not trumpet this as much as it used to, for obvious reasons, but the hostility to “heteronormativity” still exists unabated in “Queer Studies” and “Gender Studies” programs, which now exist in most universities. One must, therefore, regard the push for same-sex marriage as being merely the current Cloward-Piven tactic by a movement whose hostility to traditional relationships and to First Amendment protections remains as strong as it was when the New Leftists and Maoists took over the old Stalinist gay-rights movement following the Stonewall riots.
“It is sad that you had to sully your post with the following: . . . the GOP’s hostility to gay rights and its receptivity to people who want to roll back Roe v Wade as misguided and senseless. The country is going down the tube while the GOP focuses on this nonsense. I don’t think the GOP ought to be a party of partial freedoms.
Sorry, but this is so much cant.”
Interesting, and a thoughtful post. But the GOP’s fixation opposing someone else’s freedom distracts us all from the Really Important issues–mounting debt and the inability of our schools to function under the suffocating control of unions, for example.
They are also a fundamental wrong: imposing social, and religious limits on freedoms in a secular republic where freedom is not supposed to be restricted on those grounds.
Since Reagan, the GOP appears utterly unable to figure out what it stands FOR, as opposed to what it wants to oppose. Worse, it flirts with people who want to impose religious restrictions via law, e.g., reverse Roe, deny gay marriage. (Q: When a Muslim voting majority in a city or state wants to do that and more, will you agree? On what basis will you oppose?)
let me give an example: The California GOP briefly got control of the California legislature in the 90′s. Their first act was not to control pensions, limit taxes, or debt, abolish public employee unions, or even impose a Three Strikes law (the People voted for the Three Strikes law and Prop 13). Oh no. It was to…[drum roll] ban gay marriage.
Almost 30 years later, our debt is out of control, pensions are too, cities are going bankrupt, many of our schools suck [a legal term], our public school textbooks are “victimology” texts, and we are borrowing from the feds to pay what appears to be endless welfare benefits, while we tax our productive people even more. One reason: the GOP cannot wrest itself from the wedge issues.
Oh, and did I mention gay marriage? Still being fought here by those who live in horror that tax paying, hard working gay people might get married. I have no right to bar them from the “pursuit of happiness.” Do you really think you do? On what basis? If you could solve all the problems in the US tomorrow if you gave up opposition to gay marriage, what would you do?
Regards,
You are looking through the wrong end of the telescope.
California has probably the strongest domestic-partnership law in the nation; if it is not the strongest, it is certainly among them. This means that the vast bulk of the supposed benefits available to traditional married couples were already available to same-sex couples under California law—yet the gay-rights lobby insisted on pushing for same-sex marriage.
The question is not why opposition remains in California to inventing a new form of marriage for the sake of a vocal pressure group; the question is why that vocal pressure group, having already gotten the benefits which were supposedly the object of its quest insisted on pushing for something additional.
For sure. Darn them anyway. They’ve been given a neighborhood and a pool that’s good enough for them. Why can’t they see they ought to be content with an equal separateness that we think is fine? And what does equal protection or equal dignity have to do with it?
More to the point, let’s not be distracted by exploding federal debt, bloated pensions, dysfunctional schools, a 66% divorce rate for first marriages, the rising number of kids with single parents, endless gender and ethnic studies classes replacing history, rising unemployment, and bankrupt cities. The real worry for most sensible people is a pesky lesbian that wants to get married. That’s what we really need to worry about. That’s seeing life thru the right end of a telescope. Uh huh.
Once upon a time, this country was about freedom of speech… Now the only speech that is protected is that held by the liberal gestapo…
I must be living dangerous here on the left coast. I have a Romney 2012 sticker on my brand spanking new Audi S4, it even matches my car color! I also just bought a “government did not build this business, I did” decal for our business.
“You get the Government you deserve”
Speak up!!
http://store.mittromney.com/?utm_source=topnav&utm_medium=mainsite&utm_campaign=20120723_d_topnav_mainsite&utm_content=topnav
Just put the #@**!! bumper sticker on your car already! Here’s some interesting info: I contacted my state gop for a bumper sticker, and have yet to have even been sent an autoreply. We gave money to Romeny 12 and begged for a bumper sticker….. they said “none available until we have the VP”. Really, how stupid is that. I am an artist, and it isn’t like those stickers are great design. I live in WV, close to Pittsburgh, Pa and cannot stomach another obama sticker, so I went to zazzle dot.com and made my own Romney 12 sticker…. I highly recommend this option. Choose an elephant graphic, or just text. Make it funky, whatever you like. Free enterprize at work, artists get paid for any art that you use and plus you get to design a sticker that you actually enjoy looking at and it is unique. Be creative and don’t be afraid, or they win even if they lose.
You can also get bumper sticker templates for Microsoft Office. Microsoft offers some on their own website.
I’m surprised Microsoft allowed this template on their own website:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/results.aspx?qu=bumper&ex=2&av=all#ai:TC030000118|
The whole discussion is misplaced. People are arguing whether it’s safe or not. The whole point is that it should be done even if it isn’t safe. Yes, yes, yes — the rational thing to do is to not take the risk: it’s just a small thing, I don’t want to be bothered, etc.
But cowardice is always rational — that’s why it’s so tempting! Bravery is still the correct thing. It’s just not the easy thing. And as an added bonus, you just might find our being brave is not as hard as you imagined. It seems to me that, while it’s not a negligible risk, it’s hardly a latge one. And if worse comes to worst? Treat it as a mark of honor.
Epictetus said it best: “the brave man is always called a fool — by the coward.”
Why not just put Romney stickers over Obama stickers on democrat cars and see what happens? Just kidding. But it might make for a real interesting short documentary film to put a bunch of conservative stickers and leave the cars (under video surveilance) in Liberal neigborhoods and then use the film to either prosecute or shame. (Prosecution might fail given the current regimes lack of interest in prosecuting blacks or liberals for crimes).
Just a thought.
My brand new Honda Civic was vandalized just *one month* after I got it home from the showroom. It didn’t have any bumper stickers on it. But it did have new tires and expensive-looking wheel covers.
In the age of the Internet, bumper stickers are obsolete anyway. You can put a bumper sticker that says “John Smith for President,” but it doesn’t say why anybody else should want him as President. Whereas with Facebook and Twitter, you can actually explain your preferences to others.
I do not, nor did I ever, like bumper stickers. Vandalism is not much of a concern since I drive a 14 year old Astrovan. I just cause advertising of any kind on my vehicle unwarranted and they’re too difficult to remove.
I do, however, put up political signs on my property. I install them on the porch roof so as to avoid vandalism and theft. In 2008 my neighbors and I had an entire block-long row of McCain/Palin signs in a predominantly blue-collar working class union dem neighborhood. We hope to repeat that this fall with Romney signs and suspect that these blue-collar union democrats will be much more sympathetic to the message than they were in 2008.
I will never put a Romney sticker on my care, and when asked I am Obama all the way.
Remember Nicaragua years back. The Sandinistas thought they could have an election because everyone was for them in the polls. Well, people do lie, especially to a biased questioner, and they lost big.
Obama and his people are the same arrogants I have met from college forward. I want that they get confident I want them to preemptively gloat. I want them to be happy until the farmer comes for them rather than to feed them.
We have a bumper sticker on our car — Cadillac Deville – 2002 — it’s orange with white letters & says “Fire Obama” — no vandalism at all – no comments – nothing… of course I live in Oklahoma – small town – that may have something to do with it… oh – and we are an oil town… perhaps the writing is on the wall & Okies don’t need bumper stickers to throw the bum out!! You Yankees need to wake up!! (j/k on the Yankees thing) AND I like Romney – I don’t need my Prez to be warm & fuzzy — just smart & willing to do what is RIGHT for the people!
I too would not expose my vehicle to vandalism with a conservative bumber sticker…I will however, put a Romney sign in my yard…..
On my private property…they can make my day……
I live in the Washington, DC area, where relatively few people display bumper stickers (lots of federal workers here). Nonetheless, I have had my self-designed “DETHRONE OBAMA” sticker on my car for several months with no problem.
I placed a Bush sticker on my car during the second term, and lo and behold watched my sister sneak out of the house and attempt to deface it when she thought no one was watching. She didn’t even blush when I confronted her. My parents didn’t reprimand her. Nothing. It was disgusting. I haven’t spoken to her since nor will I.
She’s a registered communist living in Chicago. She has NO respect for others property rights or freedom of expression. I’ve found her to be representative.
The commielibs simply raise the price for being exposed as an opponent, conservatives hide, rinse and repeat, the commielibs win.
The conservatives even nominates candidates following this recipe and then are exasperated when their candidates won’t fight. The candidates are only about 1% more cowardly than the voters. The voters just refuse to recognize their part in this play. They keep thinking if we nominate a blander candidate we will eventually be loved. Politics is war. You win or lose, you don’t become loved.
It was 2004 and the election was in full swing. I was working in the local transit company, in the handicapped paratransit section. This being the South and very religious, George W Bush had a lot of support among the African-American community, among others of course. We had lots of friendly discussions that year at work among my co-workers, never strident. We were always respectful. That was the year of “The Passion of the Christ”, remember. I took it on myself to explain why I thought the Jewish community had misgivings, at least about the title. My boss, a very nice, educated African-American lady, and I knew each others political views. The next day, after the election results were in, she came into my office. She asked what I thought, now that President Bush had been re-elected. I sighed, “Well, I guess we’ll survive”. Oops, my bad.
I think, frankly, it’s downright weird to present putting a bumper sticker on your car (or not) as some great act of courage. There are even quotes by Epictetus above (surprised that there are no comparisons – yet – with the movie Gladiator).
My idea: Put it on your car if you want or don’t if you think it will lead to vandalism of your car and you don’t want that (I pick the second because although I don’t like Obama, I don’t like Mitt Romney either). In any case, I don’t care about your “courage”.
This is really, truly what America has become. Completely soft, self-important, self-righteous armchair pontificators who wouldn’t know courage if it bit them on the behind.
I’ve noticed this peculiarity of Helen’s “courage” before. She wrote years ago about watching a five-foot woman bitch out some male aggressor in some kind of confrontational situation (where she was calling for “courage” – but basically from men – and this was her evidence that women could do it too, and men were sometimes worthless as protectors – cue Helen Reddy), and I wondereed why, if she was there as a witness, she didn’t also step in with her “courage”. I guess only men are required to do that in her world view.
In any case, I guess putting a bumper sticker for a controversial figure on your car is kind of like jumping between a madman shooting real bullets and some skanky date at a movie theater.
IRONY ALERT!
Unlike the courage of one who would launch an ad hominem attack under the anonymity of a pseduonym.
There really is not irony. I’m not claiming to be courageous.
The real irony is some person who is totally anonymous using the anonymity of another poster as a complaint.
I have this old dump truck. It has a front bumper that just screams out “I can crush your imported electric car as an afterthought.”
It has a trailer hitch on the back that says “Why yes, I do put heavy construction/destruction equiptment wherever I think it needs it to be.”
It has Ross Perot, Ron Paul, and “Live Free or Spaz” (NH libertarian/Free State Project)stickers on the back. I’ve never had an issue with vandalism.
In fairness, perhaps the “I AM the NRA, and I VOTE” sticker also on the back has something to do with that.
Personally, I wouldn’t put a Romney sticker on it as I don’t find “middle of the road” Republicans conservitive enough. Generally I wouldn’t put ANY “This is the drivers opinion” stickers on ANY passenger car. I DID put a small 1″ Cosmic Charlie on the front of my Jeep to differentiate it from all the others in N.H., and I blacked out the “D” of the “Life Is Good” spare tire cover on the back.
That’s about the limit I’m willing to FORCE the public at large to “tolerate” my personal “lifestyle choice”.
I do have other cars. They’re FAR too valuable to put ANY bumper stickers on.
I’m not enthusiastic enough about Romney to put a bumper sticker on my car, but both recent discussions have moved me to go ahead and put one on.
Firstly, I value freedom MORE than my cars.
Secondly, if my sticker, or my car, is vandalised because of the sticker’s sentiments, then I have a fantastic talking point against the self-pious liberal hypocrites I encounter every day who think soooo highly of themselves and their cause.
Obviously not recommended for people who don’t think quick on their feet…
By a magnetic sheet and put your Romney sticker on it. After November, peel it of your car, no mess. $5 at an art supply store. Go to the city or a rough looking Starbucks crowd (lol), put it in your glovebox.
Have a Romney sticker on my car in Blue Northeast Jersey. No problems.
thanks for writing this. I have thought about it. IF I lived in the suburbs of Chicago, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I live in the heart of limousine liberal country. The guys that park it in the garage would vandalize it. I’d find small door dings and bumper gashes on it for sure.
I will get a T shirt though and wear it on the bike path.
People are afraid to do this? This is a thing apparently, and I had no idea. I’ve stayed apolitical because I’ve been in the military and thought it was inappropriate, but I’m retiring in a couple of weeks, and when that happens, I’m going to slap one on there. Not for me, but for those of you too afraid or embarrassed to do it yourselves.
On second thought, have some gonads and do it yourself. Anyone who thinks less of you for it doesn’t deserve to be in your life anyway.
Judging from the comments in this thread, the left’s goal of “shut up” has won. Not only if you see someone vandalizing your car, if you see someone vandalizing someone else’s car you should report it. If we look out for each other it makes it a lot harder for them to play this game. And if it isn’t effective and people continue putting the stickers on their cars, they will stop doing it.
Look, we know the left is completely vile and without any scruples but we can’t be afraid of these animals.
Show people that “you are never alone” and put it out there that you are either pro-Romney or anti-Obama. Protect your investment with a car alarm if you need to. And if you are keyed, fight fire with fire by keeping a bundle of Romney stickers with you and then putting them OVER Obama stickers on cars. Fair’s fair.
I haven’t put a Romney sticker on my car yet, mostly because it’s a new car and I really don’t like stickers. Also trying to respect the feelings of my generally apolitical girlfriend. I did just get a “Restore America” flag sticker from the Romney folks which I plan to put on the rear window.
During the last election the Obama stickers far outnumbered the lonely McCain sticker on my old vehicle. I live in a purplish-red area but work at a blue stronghold, and no one keyed me or scowled at me or any of the other horrible things people seem so scared about. I guess casual vandalism for political though-crime is a thing, but I’m not really interested in structuring my life around avoiding stupid people’s bad behavior.
I live in Orange County, and would not be concerned but where I work in So Cal, cars with Arizona plates were vandalized.
Funny, but my Santorum sticker helped me beat a speeding ticket in Central California so there’s upsides too.
I had passed a slow truck on a two lane road, right in front of a CHP cruiser. The blue lights came on immediately and I pulled over promptly. The officer asked for my paperwork and while I was gathering it he did a walkaround. When he returned to the window I still hadn’t located the registration so he said forget it and wrote a $25 fix-it ticket saying it was that or a $300 speeding ticket. I took the cheaper alternative.
He then asked me if Santorum had a chance for the nomination and we spent the next 15 minutes talking conservative politics on the side of the road.
Got my Romney sticker on here now in San Jose and I’ll take my chances with the vandals. It is a small risk I’ll take for doing my duty as a citizen.
I like to think of myself as brave when it comes to my opinion, but have to admit to being intimidated by the Leftist bullies that show zero tolerance for conservative’s views or their property. I am too afraid to put a Romney or anti-Obama bumpersticker on my minivan. I will definitely try the magnetic strip, though. At least it can be removed in unfriendly territory. I must say that Obama has sure CHANGED the level of discouse in our country; for the worse.
Romney sticker is on my car, concealed carry license in my wallet.
Go for it.
Just purchased my Romney/Ryan bumper sticker, buttons, and yard signs.
Thanks for reminding us of the importance of speaking up, Dr. Helen.
And isn’t Ryan the ideal candidate to underline that point? He earned my respect when I saw the video in which he explains to President Obama exactly what is wrong with the health-care-takeover legislation. Ryan appeared to be the only person in the room who was willing to tell the truth, but he was undaunted by the cowardice around him. Heartening, encouraging, and exactly what we need right now.
The decision to put up signs and such just got a lot sweeter!
The left/muzzies are so predictable! Where-ever they are, they are the same! They use tactics of fear and intimidation, lies and deception. This whole voting process is to insure the freedom to put stickers on our cars if we want! Why the second thoughts? There shouldn’t even have to take time to think about it.
Is this still America?
For all those who are on the fence, I applaud you if you are brave enough. I get a thrill every time I see a Romney or conservative sign or a bumper sticker. I also get nauseated every time I see Obama’s name. I am debating the issue right now, as I have order my decal and yard sign, but live in a blue county/city in a red state. If I didn’t have children it would be a no brainer.