Interesting Stuff

Obama Prompts Idaho Free Speech Movement

The election of Barack Obama has prompted a free speech movement among the

FLURRY OF INVERTED FLAGS AFTER OBAMA ELECTION.

FLURRY of inverted flags follows Obama election.

Red State residents of Idaho.

Elementary school children on a school bus in Madison County caused a stir among some parents when they chanted “Assassinate Obama! assinate Obama!” School officials, alerted by at least one concerned parent, sent memos to teachers advising them to counsel students against inappropriate comments.

In The northern panhandle–once home to the Aryan Nation headquarters–a sign erected by a northern Idaho landowner offers a “free public hanging” of President-elect Barack Obama and several other political figures. A noose fashioned from a length of rope hangs down the middle of the sign.

“That’s a political statement,” Ken Germana told the Bonner County Daily Bee. “They can call it whatever they want, a threat or whatever.”

In Nampa a resident displaying an inverted American Flag described Obama’s election as “vile” and “disgusting. ” He characterized the president-elect as anti-American.

North of Horseshoe Bend the owner of a shop selling Guns and Amish Quilts also flies the inverted flag at half staff.

Traditionally the inverted flag is a distress signal and has raised the hackles of veterans groups and other patriots when displayed as a political protest.

Meanwhile, local media reports sales of guns and ammunition took a big jump following the election. Several gun owners were fearful the new president would “take away our guns.”

Comments & Discussion

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  1. The last big spike in gun sales was during the Clinton Administration when the issue of high capacity magazines and assualt rifles were a big deal. Gun sales went thru the roof. What happened …nothing. Gun dealers made a lot of money and ignorant people got poorer.

    Bubba served all eight years and we still have all our guns, mags and ammo.

  2. We have our mags and select guns because Bush let the assault weapons ban expire.

  3. What an embarrassment these people are to Idaho and America – defacing the freedoms our forefathers fought for.
    The ungrateful deserve what they get.

  4. I did not vote for Obama, but I am praying for him. I did buy a gun last week, but it was because I am afraid that the bikers will take away my runner’s only path.

    biker’s beware…

  5. The Boise Picayune
    Nov 13, 2008, 8:39 pm

    “…defacing the freedoms our forefathers fought for.”?

    I’d say more like exercising the freedoms…

    “I may disagree with what you have to say Sir; but will fight to the death to protect your right to say it.”

  6. If the issue is free speech, I am for it. There was a time when all one had to fear by offensive speech was a punch in the mouth by the offended party. Today the entire force of government can descend on the poor slob who dares to speak his mind.

    That is not freedom or our tradition. I don’t like what these folk are saying, but they have a 200 year tradition of freedom supporting their right to say it.

  7. “The last big spike in gun sales was during the Clinton Administration when the issue of high capacity magazines and assualt rifles were a big deal. Gun sales went thru the roof. What happened …nothing. Gun dealers made a lot of money and ignorant people got poorer.

    Bubba served all eight years and we still have all our guns, mags and ammo.”

    Paul. you forget the so called assault weapons ban where a bunch of arms and magazines were baned for no reason at all, as demonstrated by the crime stats, other than making liberals happy and conservatives angry.

  8. Let’s all not forget six years of the Bubba’s Administration was controlled by a REPUBLICAN CONGRESS!! And we have had the Constitution of this great country trampled on by the NEO-CONS!

  9. I completely agree with JimV and the Picayune. However, that doesn’t negate that there are bitter, sick, twisted people in every area of this country. Even here in Idaho! I didn’t vote for him either but he is the president elect of this nation and I hope he has the ability to turn the current situation around. The vote said he has earned the opportunity!

  10. I just find it hard to believe that these people were ready to have another 4 years of Bush.
    Where oh where has the intelligence of this country gone.
    We needed a change. Now lets get behind him and see if its not to late to turn this country around.

  11. In the spirit of Free Speech, I’m offering a free public raping of Ken Germana. “That’s a political statement. They can call it whatever they want, a threat or whatever.”

  12. Idaho - The Reddest (Neck) State
    Nov 14, 2008, 11:16 am

    I grew up in this state. I know how bigoted it can be. One of my clearest memories was my grandfather criticizing my choice of college as being a haven for niggers, wops, chinks, and races of variety of other colors. He was talking about Idaho State University in Pocatello. And, yes, it was (is?) the most racially, and internationally, diverse of Idaho’s universities (but still very very white by non-Idaho standards).

    I learned that color does make a difference. The color is grey. The color of brain tissue.

    20 years of Reagan/Bush policies have this country drowning in a sea of ink colored red.

    Obama’s grey matter seems much more functional than his opponents.

  13. The last big spike in gun sales was during the Clinton Administration when the issue of high capacity magazines and assualt rifles were a big deal. Gun sales went thru the roof. What happened …nothing. Gun dealers made a lot of money and ignorant people got poorer.

    Bubba served all eight years and we still have all our guns, mags and ammo.
    —————

    Obviously you are not well educated on the topic. Your right to purchase many firearms was prohibited as the assult weapons ban kept you from purchasing certain items.

  14. Sure there are sick twisted ignorant people everywhere, BUT WHY ARE THERE SO MANY OF THEM IN IDAHO? When I travel and say I’m from Idaho, people look at me as if I said I was from Mars. It gets tiring.

  15. Group Hug……..Idaho does not have anymore sicko’s than other states. Intolerant views make the media get all hot and bothered, thus the publication of these views.

  16. Iaccus, for what it is worth I managed to purchase a Smith and Wesson Model 915 with three 15 round magazines during the ban at a local gun dealer legally. The ban did very little to stem the sale of anything if you really wanted to find something you desired to purchase.

    By the way, it does a great job of puching holes in paper but at a significant cost for each hole.

  17. Call me old fashioned, but i think that disrespect for our flag goes beyond “free speach”. US Code Title 4, Chapter 1, Section 8 speaks to when the U.S. flag can be flown with the union down, and I don’t see anything in there about when you want to exercise free speach or make a political statement. Simply ignorant, and a slap in the face to those of us that spend our lives striving for the honor of being buried with that flag over our coffin. Please speak your mind, but leave the symbol of all that protects your right to be ignorant out of it.

  18. I always get a good belly laugh when I think of people running out and buying pistols and assault rifles to protect themselves from the feds. The money would be better spent on LSD. But then, these guys don’t need drugs to hallucinate.

    The Freemen up in Montana, Weaver on Ruby Ridge, and the Davidians in Waco, had plenty of pistols and rifles. Lot of good it did them.

    If you are serious about manning a militia with half a chance of success, you need to be stocking up on RPGs Strellas, some tanks and a few tons of C4. When Puff circles your enclave, or when an Apache triggers a laser guided missile at your garage, your assault rifles won’t count for diddley.

  19. At the gun show last week you could hear the buzz everywhere about how Obama and the Dems were going to take your guns. The paranoia was thick. It is great marketing for gun dealers, they sell a lot of weapons to frightened folk. Then you see the guns and ammo in the classifieds for sale a few months later after the proud owners have lost their interest, jobs or marriages.
    What the stupid don’t get is, when they want your guns they will cut off the food supply. When the food is gone at Wal-Mart, the Liberals will get knocked off first, fewer mouths to feed, then frag the Mormons for the food stores. After that, hopefully the gun morons will start eating themselves. Most will line up to turn in their AKs for some Govt. MRE food product. I couldn’t get over how many fatties buy guns at the gun show. They will give up guns for a BigMac when the time comes.
    I don’t know if it is the water, inbreeding or NASCAR, but Idaho sure knows how to breed morons.

    Remember, these are the people who wanted you to give up Social Security so you could invest your retirement money in the stock market. Sali almost won again. He WILL be back. I suggest Liberals might want to get familiar with target practice.

  20. “I always get a good belly laugh when I think of people running out and buying pistols and assault rifles to protect themselves from the feds.”

    You miss the point. I was in LA right after the Rodney King Riots. People were not buying guns to overthrow the government or to take on the feds BUT to protect themselves and their property when those FEDS refused to for PC reasons or simple ineptness. Look at New Orleans and Katrina for a perfect example.

    People want guns in unstable times because they do not trust government to protect them, a VERY wise opinion.

  21. Chas, it’s really quite simple. Idaho has what? 1.6 million population?
    New York has 20 million?
    If we have 50,000 sick, twisted and idiotic residents, how does that stack up to, say, New York who has, say, 3-4 million wackos?
    See, it’s just a question of visibility. When there are 70 acres for each resident, we stick out a lot more than they do, even though they have way more wackos than we do.

  22. The Boise Picayune
    Nov 15, 2008, 1:45 pm

    Cyclops-

    I resent the implication that New York City has a meager 3 to 4 Million Wackos!

    Brooklyn and Staten Island alone are residence to at least 4 Million whom are Coo-Coo-For-Cocoa-Puffs!

    And… Uh… Naznarreb. WTF?!?

  23. The smartest person with the best education won. Why would anyone care about the color of his skin?

    My mother was raised in the midwest. When we moved to Idaho in the late 1940’s she said that the dumbest people in the world live in Idaho. Now I can see why.

    As for guns – how many does one person need? I’m old and have never bought a gun. Never felt a need to, don’t feel threatened by anything. Where does all the paranoia come from?

    When my father lived alone in his late 80’s he kept a handgun on his night stand because he did feel vulnerable but I also told all the family that if you want to visit Dad call first.

  24. Y’all seem to forget that there are other reasons to have guns besides to shoot feds or suchlike.

    As you mention, Idahoans are pretty spread out across a large area. If you live 50 (or even 15) miles out of town and hear someone breaking into your house, 911 ain’t gonna get anybody out there in time to save your, uh, whatever.

    But another reason is simply the economy: As jobs (and homes and cars and IRAs and 401-K’s) disappear, people worry about how to continue some of their habits, such as eating.

    Where I live, I see several deer, small rabbits, lots of quail and other assorted critters almost every day. While I dislike killing, and try to obey laws, if I get hungry enough, some of those critters are going to become dinner. Does that make me a conservative?

    And, yes, I voted for Obama. Does that make me a liberal?

    Yep, I believe in equal rights for all people — black, white, brown, yellow, in between, straight, gay, mixed … heck, even women! (How’s that for defying Idaho tradition?) Does that make me a liberal?

    I believe the federal government should be kept as small as practicable, and should do its job, which the Constitution delineates and then says everything else is up to the states. Does that make me a conservative?

    I believe the government should stay out of people’s bedrooms and pregnant women’s bodies — a definite conservative stance that so-called conservatives fight against and so-called liberals support.

    And, to confuse the issue further, I believe in supporting all 10 of the Bill of Rights amendements, rather than just the First Amendment like the so-called liberals or just the Second Amendment like the so-called conservatives.

    So, I have guns and support free speech. Where the heck does that leave me?

    Oh, I know: in some strange place where a person thinks for himself and makes his own decisions, rather than just accepting whatever someone with an R or a D printed after his or her name says to think and decide.

    How un-American of me!!!

  25. Tom Anderson
    Nov 15, 2008, 10:49 pm

    The ‘Guns and Quilts’ place out beyond Horseshoe Bend will never see my shadow darken their doorway.

    Neither will the place nearby that sells bears carved with a chainsaw, who thought posting a 5 foot high McCain sign up above their billboard sign was a good idea. Besides the bear carvers screwed us once with their 5 cent coffee offer. You ask for a cup, then the spend a half hour brewing it up to trap you there.

  26. “AN UPSIDE DOWN FLAG IS APPROPRIATE TODAY. The constitution is being challenged. Unless the Supreme Court properly and professionally settles the Berg Suit, the Constitution is not rock solid. I also have my flag at half mast and upside down. The December deadline in the Supreme Court is important to Americans.

  27. Ponder, you’re a little late to save the Constitution.

    Habeas corpus. It’s byebye.

    And, uh, the president-elect was born in Hawaii. Yeah, they’re kind of brown over there too, but they’re Americans. Like it or not.

  28. Rod in SE Boise
    Nov 17, 2008, 9:58 pm

    It is well established that yelling “Fire” in a crowded theater is not protected speech.

    Calling for the assassination or hanging of the president, or displaying the flag upside down as a “political statement” are not protected speech, either. And, in fact those actions are treason.

  29. OBAMA STONEWALLS SUPREME COURT

    News the Boiseguardian does not want you to read.

    Obama continues to stonewall Supreme Court documents demanding confirmation of citizenship.

    Alan Keyes jumps into ring with suit against Kalifornia and Obama.

    What does Obama have to hide? All he has to do is release his proof of birth documents with the doctor and hospital signatures. A Certificate of Live Birth does not confirm birth details.

    Until then, our nation is under duress. Our constitution is at risk. The flags should be upside down and at half mast.

    EDITOR NOTE– We edited out a link to a site soliciting money for OBAMA CRIMES.

  30. How bout next time we turn our country over to constitutional scholars like Ponder.
    Ladies, hide your shoes.

  31. Although I have lived in Idaho most of my life, I didn’t realize there are so many nut cases running around. Maybe I will go buy a gun.

  32. “EDITOR NOTE– We edited out a link to a site soliciting money for OBAMA CRIMES.”

    Unless the internet ate my post your also ‘edited out’ my entire well reasoned and respectful post on the issue….

    Obama would be well served by producing the proper documents or this issue WILL linger like the “Bush AWOL’ canard for years. Unlike the Bush lie, Obama can stop the issue cold by simply producing a single document.

    It is in the countries interest to stop this argument cold now and not let it linger.

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