Bush won...........get over it.
Posted on 12/07/2004 10:07:49 AM PST by Phantom Lord
Flap erupts over photos of Bush at market stand
Democrat City Councilman Nelson Polite says the photos are inappropriate in a public place.
Others rally behind standholder.
LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - David Stoltzfus says there’s only one reason he would take down the photos of President George W. Bush that he has displayed at his Central Market baked-goods stand.
Bush would have had to have lost the recent election. Instead, he beat Democratic challenger John Kerry to win a second term.
“If it were Kerry that won, he’d be up there,’’ says Stoltzfus, who operates the Upper Crust stand.
Doesn’t matter, says City Councilman Nelson Polite. “It should come down. This is a public market.”
Besides, says the Democrat, “Bush didn’t win here (in Lancaster City). It is like rubbing salt on a wound.”
Polite approached Stoltzfus on Nov. 12 and ask him to remove the pictures. The standholder has refused to do so, prompting Polite to say he will ask City Council to change the law so that all political items would be banned in public places.
Today, Stoltzfus pointed proudly to a photo of a smiling Bush, framed in green, that hangs above his stand.
The photo, attached to the stand portico with four brass screws, has hung there for nearly two years, since Stoltzfus and his wife, Nina, opened the market stand in March 2003.
They sell cakes, cookies and other baked items.
They also have a signed 8-by-10-inch photo of the president and first lady Laura Bush sitting on a shelf below, “right next to the pictures of my grandkids,’’ says Stoltzfus.
“I’m just trying to sell a few cakes and give honor to the president,’’ he says.
But Polite, a Democrat, says the photos should go.
When he approached Stoltzfus three weeks ago, he said the photo offended him and city Democrats.
Polite says he had received complaints from constituents who thought the photos were inappropriate, especially after the presidential election.
The market is public property and displaying political paraphernalia, no matter what the intent, says Polite, is inappropriate and divisive.
Stoltzfus is a Republican, but that hardly matters, he says. He displays the photo to honor the office, not the man.
Polite says political items do not belong in Central Market and if Stoltzfus refuses to take down the photos, he’ll take the matter before City Council to get the city law changed to ban all political items in public places.
“There should be rules,’’ says Polite.
Even if Kerry had won, he’d be asking Stoltzfus to take the photos down, says Polite.
A string of supporters, including Republican Mayor Charlie Smithgall and former Republican Mayor Art Morris, have made their way to the Upper Crust to offer their support to Stoltzfus.
“We have no regulations against it,” says Smithgall. “He is the president of the United States. If he wants to put a picture of (Democratic) Gov. Rendell up, that’s fine by me.”
Smithgall said Stoltzfus asked for a picture of him to hang up.
“I said, ‘Yeah, right.’”
Some of Stoltzfus’ fellow standholders are considering putting up photos of Bush in solidarity with Stoltzfus.
Kim Moyer, at the Lancaster Juice Company, says Polite was “out of line.”
“(Stoltzfus) has every right to put the pictures up. We pays rent here. Anyway, we’re in America.”
Market Master Ernie Thomas said there are no rules about hanging political items at market stands.
Even if there was, says Thomas, “That is our president, whether it is a Democrat or a Republican.”
Jim Zink, the owner of the Herb Shop stand, says he is a Democrat. But he’ll hang a photo of Bush to support Stoltzfus’ right to hang his.
“He has every right to hang it,’’ Zink says of Stoltzfus. He says it doesn’t offend him as a Democrat to see Bush.
Remember that guy who sued some years ago because Mary Hart's voice drove him crazy? Sounds like Polite is cut from the same cloth.
Rules?
Thought there was a "Rule" about political speech.
(The First Amendment is still in the Constitution Sir Billybob, isn't it?)
Bush won...........get over it.
Seriously.
Does this whacko suggest that all pictures of presidents, mayors, and governors (and City Councilmen) should also be removed from all state, county, and city office buildings?
No, I didn;t think so.
Polite is quite a rude dude.
By his logic, no images of President Bush should be shown on public TV, hung in court houses, or in police stations.
Don't you just love it when the libs show what they're made of!
Hmm, the law can be changed, but I don't think it could be enforced against the owner of this stand. A little something known as "ex post facto" would come into play, methinks.
I can't figure out whether to break out in laughter or tears.
But whupped Kerry's ass in the rest of the county.
"It is like rubbing salt on a wound.”
Too bad you you, Mr. Polite, that the nearest Kerry-Therapy group is probably in Philly. But Amtrak will take you there.
offened by a pic of the prez? I might open my own store just to do the same...haha
I may even put a sign in it: NO LIBERALS ALLOWED
But a picture of a half-naked Paris Hilton - that doesn't frighten children and living things as much as President Bush does.
It is that separation of STATE and STATE.
Simple solution for Mr. Polite and the other whining clymers: Don't patronize Mr. Stolzfus's business. If the President's photo is so offensive, the free market will punish him.
As an example in this case, say the law was changed and the penalty was a fine of $100 a day per violation. He could be fined for every day that the picture remained up after the law went into effect but could not be fined for days it was up prior to the law taking effect.
I am getting so damn sick and tired of all the libs being offended by everything. I find them offensive but do not tell them to shut up. I found Clinton offensive to be President, but he was still our elected President. These little fascist wannabes need to get on with their lives.
W crushed sKerry in Lancaster County:
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/PA/P/00/county.001.html#42071
as he did over here in York County:
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/PA/P/00/county.002.html#42133
Sour grapes and the easily-offended, liberal-demokkkRAT-socialist-commie-nazi-fascist scumbag pol. Bite me, Polite! I gloat in your specific direction.
Just for fun to see how the Rat's react, add a picture of Christ right next to George's.
Does Mr. Polite realize that the Blue State's stars are still on the flag and could be misconstrued as tacit support for The United States of America!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.