To the Editor:
Your article on the stolen political signs was particularly telling because I know from personal experience that presidential signs are fair game to nighttime marauders (and ignoramuses) but I had a difficult time believing that anyone would tamper with a sign for a local candidate (state senate for instance). Today I learned differently.
I work as a volunteer for the Lincoln County Democrats and a couple from Jefferson came in today with a sign and a story. They saw two men on motorcycles (unfortunately they didn’t get any ID – but they are forewarned and will be more vigilant). The individuals removed their Obama sign, ran over it with the cycles and replaced it with another sign.
That sign was turned inside out, stapled many times on and had also been run over. It was formerly a campaign sign for David Trahan. On the new side was a sign saying that “we should check the facts because Obama was born in Kenya and thus not eligible to run for President as he was not a US Citizen.”
I thought this sign represented an interesting amalgam of disinformation.
1) Barack Obama was born in Hawaii – as I understand it Hawaii, along with Alaska, was became one of the (now) 50 states in 1959. Anyone born in one of the United States is automatically a US Citizen.
2) It was kind of surprising that these individuals, with either little to do or no knowledge that sign tampering is illegal, did know that it is a Constitutional requirement that all presidential candidates be US Citizens.
Oh, stupid us. We didn’t realize that a man who has had a two year vetting process as he ran for President was not a citizen and that we needed a homemade sign (stolen to boot) to tell us that.
Patricia Manning
Damariscotta
