Posted on 12/09/2004 10:46:02 AM PST by Daveinyork
Bush photos draw ire Lancaster official calls for removal By By JOHN M. SPIDALIERE Lancaster New Era
Thursday, December 09, 2004 - David Stoltzfus says there's only one reason he would take down the photos of President George W. Bush he has displayed at his baked-goods stand in Lancaster's Central Market.
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 all political items would be banned in public places.
Stoltzfus said the photo of a smiling Bush, framed in green, has hung from his stand ever 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," Stoltzfus said.
"I'm just trying to sell a few cakes and give honor to the president," he said.
But Polite, a Democrat, says the photos should go.
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.
"There should be rules," Polite says.
Even if Kerry had won, Polite said he'd be asking Stoltzfus to take the photos down.
Stoltzfus is a Republican, but that hardly matters, he says. He displays the photo to honor the office, not the man.
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.
Some of Stoltzfus' fellow standholders are considering putting up photos of Bush in solidarity with Stoltzfus.
Market Master Ernie Thomas said there are no rules about hanging political items at market stands. Even if there were, says Thomas, "That is our president, whether it is a Democrat or a Republican."
'The market is public property and displaying political paraphernalia, no matter what the intent, says Polite, is inappropriate and divisive.'
So does this guy want to do away with campaign signs also, if they are on public property? They also can be considered divisive! What about when you go to the federal courthouse and you see Bush's picture posted there? You can really carry this too far. And do not even think about posting this guy's picture, that would divisive to me! This guy a is a real horse's behind!
Does this guy "Polite" now what he sounds and looks like?
No wonder these clowns lost. I think this guy must have the IQ of a carrot.
Figures - he's a militant minority Leftist crapstain with WAAAAY more authority than baseline intellect.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but specifically in public places, doesn't the First Amendment address precisely this sort of public expression?
What kind of a public moron would not know that?
Does this guy "Polite" know what he sounds and looks like?
No wonder these clowns lost. I think this guy must have the IQ of a carrot.
Correction: know not now. sorry
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