New anti-anti-war signs sprout in Southwest
By Caitlin Pine
Cedar Isles Dean resident Joe Corneia had already been thinking about producing his own alternative to the "Say No To War with Iraq" signs dotting his neighborhood when he heard that someone had already done it -- Joe Repya, an Eagan Republican activist and retired lieutenant colonel."So, I called him up and said 'I'll take as many as you've got,' " Corneia said. "We had folks come pick them up. I offered to deliver them to my friends and family and put it up in their yard."
The white red and blue signs read "Liberate Iraq, Support Our Troops, Call Your Congressperson!"
Corneia estimates that he's put up about 50 signs in the metro area, and a dozen or so in Southwest Minneapolis.
"There's a lot of people who aren't politically inclined, and when those folks see the 'Say No to Iraq' signs in the neighborhood, with no opposition.... I think we need an alternative message, we need to support our men and women in uniform who are sacrificing for our liberty," said Corneia.
Corneia divides anti-war people into two camps;
people who oppose war under any circumstances and those guided by partisanship."The second group is those people who hate our current president and will do anything to oppose him. We need to support our president in his message and to free the people of Iraq," said Corneia.
Corneia says his effort to distribute signs is his first foray into political activism.
"This is all new to me. [The sign] tapped into kind of a wellspring of untapped feelings and desires," said Corneia.
One East Harriet resident, Gretta Morrison, bubbled up from the spring. She saw one of the signs Corneia had distributed, and called him up.
"I happened to see a sign at Emerson and 46th . I liked it because I do support our country and our president," said Morrison.
Morrison lives across the street from Barton Open School, 4234 Colfax Ave. S., and hopes her sign will show some political diversity in the neighborhood.
"The family next door -- they are very nice -- has an anti-war sign, and there's another one three doors down. When I had a Coleman sign up, eggs were thrown at that," Morrison said. "Diversity of opinion isn't allowed in Southwest Minneapolis; I'm surrounded by anti-capitalists."
Morrison is happy to post a sign that supports military personnel, despite any unpopularity.
"You can't go into an intelligent debate with a sign, but it's well done and essentially what I believe. My husband is a Vietnam vet and he knows what it was like to be involved and treated terrible," said Morrison.
Frederick Goetz -- who has lived next door to Morrison for 11 years and posted the "Say No" sign -- agrees that his neighbor is alone in her political opinions.
"I noticed it shortly enough when I heard the Rush Limbaugh radio program playing in her house. Now we let our signs do the talking, and mostly talk together about the weather," said Goetz.
When asked if he thought it was good to have a next-door neighbor with differing political opinions, Goetz said, "I wouldn't say it's an advantage, but it does make for lively discussions."
(Editor's note: Joe Repya is the father of Southwest Journal reporter Robyn Repya, who is not involved in the sign issue.)