Sign of the times

Phil Ohman and I were out planting signs yesterday when we decided to drop in on Robert Horr. You may have seen some news reports about him. He’s the fellow in New Gloucester who put up a humongous sign in front of his house that juxtaposes a painted image of Barack Obama in “Muslim” garb with John McCain in a flight suit. The heading on the sign reads “Who Do You Want Running the US Military?”

Robert was being interviewed by a reporter when we drove in. Despite the Obama sticker on my truck, he welcomed us cordially. When I asked him why he put the sign on his lawn, he insisted he wasn’t trying to make a political statement, just inspire discussion. Robert also mentioned that he didn’t make the sign himself. He wouldn’t discuss particulars.

I told Robert that I thought the purpose of the sign was obviously political. I said it was clearly meant to portray Obama as a sinister, treacherous, anti-American outsider who couldn’t be trusted with the country’s security. Robert told me that wasn’t his intention, and that I was simply projecting my own baggage. When I asked him why that particular image of Obama was on the sign, Robert said it was an accurate reflection of Obama’s “heritage”.

Robert was unaware that the image on his sign had nothing to do with Obama’s heritage, or where it came from. It was inspired by a photograph taken during Obama’s visit to a Somali village in northern Kenya a few years back, when he was given the outfit as a sign of respect by village elders. The image has been repeatedly used by Obama's opponents to falsely connect him to Islam. Barack Obama’s late father was a non-practicing African Muslim from Kenya. He was not Somali. But since Robert kept referring to Obama Sr. as an Arab, I suspect the distinction was lost on him.

Robert also told me that the Town of New Gloucester had notified him that the size of his sign violated local ordinances, but they let him keep it up as long as it didn’t cause traffic problems. In any case, Robert loudly proclaimed that he didn’t recognize the town’s authority over him because he was a “constitutionalist”.

Overall Robert and I had a friendly if somewhat incoherent discussion. As we were leaving, I asked him if I could plant an Obama sign on his lawn, because it might, y’know, inspire discussion. Robert declined. He said he didn’t want things to get political.