The sign above is just one of the controversial signs a resident, Timothy Reily, of an Uptown neighborhood has put up on his property at the 1500 block of Calhoun. A small group of protesters gathered and City Council Member Susan Guidry even showed up to talk to Reily, presumably to attempt to get him to stop putting up the anti-Obama signs.
Guidry goes as far as to state "We have to determine that there is a zoning law that prohibits perhaps the size of the sign, perhaps the way that it's erected, that it is leaning over onto public property. Whatever we can use, we will, but of course, we do have to balance that with First Amendment rights."
Yes, free speech rights, unless she can find some loophole to use to trample those rights.
Digby (definitely not conservative, but we seem to agree on the free speech aspect):
Of course it's legal. It's explicitly political and that's the most protected speech of all. The idea that any elected official would try to stop him is disturbing.
I will say what I said when the signage was of Bush made to look like Hitler. It is disrespectful to the office of President, but it falls under free speech and whether one agrees with the "statement" being made or not, free speech should be protected, especially on private property, even if that speech is disrespectful.
An uptown New Orleans resident put up an anti-Obama sign in his yard that many found distasteful. A protest began, and WIST's Kaare Johnson showed up to try to voice his opinion on free speech, regardless of whether or not he disagreed. It got tense.
Video filmed by listener Truman James.
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Other signs Timothy Reily has put up, via WWLTV.com:
(Click images to enlarge)
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