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.
If I lived there, I'd be there in a heartbeat.
**All the good FReep opportunities happen in the East, DANGIT!!!**
Dude, you're on the City Council. You want a rule? Propose it at the next City Council meeting, don't try intimidation. You're not very good at it.
Let's see, we've got the bogus notion of separation of church and state. I guess he wants separation of ... what? Politics and state? Personality and state? Republicans and state?
Isn't this intolerant hate speech on the part of Councilman Polite? I'm sure it is. Perhaps the State AG should investigate this virulent hate speech.
He feels it’s important to pass a law regarding hanging a picture of The President of the United States?
Democrats sure love totalitarianism.
why the heck was his number pulled? he can get in someones face but cant take a call?
we got more probs than libs in this country.
Alles klar, Herr Kommissar?
And the Democrats don't understand why the Republicans are winning despite themselves...
I believe that George W. Bush is President of the United States. “If it were Kerry that won, he’d be up there,’’ says Stoltzfus, who operates the Upper Crust stand.
Don't believe this is a political statement by David Stoltzfus.
http://hometown.aol.com/lincolnv93/myhomepage/business.html>
[H]e will ask City Council to change the law so that all political items would be banned in public places.Go ahead. Make our day.
There are rules, Mr. Polite. The highest authority in the USA, the "biggest rules", are embodied in the U.S. Constitution. I cannot imagine a more direct violation of the right to free speech and free press than the ban you suggest. You should be immediately removed from office for even suggesting such a thing as an elected official. To do so would be not only heinous in its illegality, but monumentally offensive to freedom-loving Americans everywhere.
Resign your office and hang your pathetic head in shame, Mr. Polite.
Do you think he has or had a picture of Bill Clinton in his office? That is also public property. There should be rules!
Because it is bad form to post peoples home phone numbers on this site. Something about bad press and stuff like that.
Of course that's just my opinion.
I'm telling you folks, these people are truly your enemies. They hate you, your family, your religion, your life, your car, your house, everything about you. They will never like you or want to like you. They hate you for existing. Unless you are a liberal / leftist / communist / socialist, you are their enemies. Being an American means nothing to these people. They care nothing about being "American." They only care about their socialist wants and needs. They are just like the Soviets. They would rather see you DEAD if you are not RED. If you don't believe that, you need to examine the playing field again. One day, this will all blow up in another civil war. The left vs. the right. They hate you that much. Never forget that. They HATE YOU!
Polite? No I said....Budlite! :o)
"Democrat City Councilman Nelson Polite"
The EPITOME of Girly-Man names! And he salivates well when he hears the VRWC bell ring!
Here Nelson! Here Nelson! Let me tell you about private property. No--YOU roll over. Play dead.
There are several excellent anti-ACLU pro-Conservative legal groups that come right to mind--
Rutherford Institute
Pacific Justice Institute
American Center for Law and Justice
Liberty Alliance
for starters....
Done, here's mine
"From Lancasteronline.com 12/3/2004 “The market is public property and displaying political paraphernalia, no matter what the intent, says Polite, is inappropriate and divisive.”
So displaying a political sticker on an automobile on a public road (public property) in Lancaster is what?
You’re being ridiculous.
A reminder: “
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”"
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.