Obama Hung in Effigy in Jimmy Carter’s Hometown – Secret Service Involved 01/04/2010

A dummy of President Obama was found hanging from a sign dedicated to Jimmy Carter in Plains, Georgia. The Secret Service is now on a hunt for the person or persons responsible.

“The sheriff made this clear: This is a country that has freedom of speech, and we protect that right even when we think it’s idiotic and stupid and in bad taste,” said Steve Whitmore, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department.

The display “appears to violate no law, said officials of the Secret Service.”

Yet, the Secret Service is investigating and is in search of who did it, when it is nothing more than a use of free speech? That is because the above quotes are not about the effigy of Obama, but another effigy:

Flashback: October, 2008, West Hollywood, California. Sarah Palin hung in effigy.

When Palin was hung in effigy, no one did anything about it because it was “free speech.” Even the Secret Service themselves admitted that the effigy violated no laws.

Hanging someone in effigy is a form of speech and protest, both of which the American people have a right to under the US Constitution. Hanging someone in effigy has long been a symbol of distaste, anger, or resentment and is sometimes used as an extreme way to communicate that you disagree with the person.

Whoever it was who hung Obama in effigy did nothing wrong. The Secret Service should not be hunting for them. The act was one of free speech and protest against the President – again, both rights are guaranteed through the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights.

http://hotairpundit.blogspot.com/2010/01/video-obama-effigy-hung-in-georgia.html
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/oct/29/local/me-palineffigy29