It happens every two years, usually sometime in mid-September or early October. At least once during each election cycle, the Progress gets a call from someone in the community who has awakened one morning to find a campaign sign that he had recently posted in his own front yard either vandalized or stolen. These folks are always incensed and insulted. They feel that something ought to be done about it.
In the past, when this has occurred, a writer has been dispatched from the paper to go out to the scene, snap a few photos of the violated sign (or lack thereof) and write a brief report of the incident; simply reminding the community of the dire consequences in the law for such an act. This has become a regular election year tradition at the Progress.
And, sure enough, this year the call came again. We got it on Sunday morning. This time it was from our resident County Commissioner Tom Collins. Mr. Collins had, just recently, posted two large campaign signs, supporting his favorite U.S. Senate candidate, in highly visible spots along his fence line. At some point late Saturday night, someone apparently came along, under cover of darkness, and vandalized these signs with black spray paint.
Now, it is true that Mr. Collins has always been quite open about displaying his strong political views with great pride along the fence line of his Moapa Valley Blvd-fronting property. It has also been quite evident that his political views and positions, more often than not, seem to be at odds with those of a majority of Moapa Valley voters. Indeed, many members of the community have often been heard, half-jokingly, to express a kind of perverse appreciation towards Mr. Collins for instructing them on who they should NOT vote for. Nevertheless, the unpopularity of Mr. Collins views, or those of anyone else in the community, provides no excuse for such behavior as was displayed on Saturday night.
The destruction of private property through vandalism is a senseless and cowardly act. And in the specific case of destroying or marring campaign signs and political messages, the injury is all the more keenly felt because it shows an intolerance of another person’s ideals, values and convictions. Such an insult is, and ought to be, felt acutely by the entire community, no matter what a person’s political leaning.
In America, there may be times when one person is not able to reach an agreement with another about certain issues or ideas. Still, Americans enjoy a long, and hard-fought, heritage of respecting the sacred rights of fellow citizens to express their beliefs as they see fit (whether they be an ally or an opponent). When we start to lose sight of that ideal we are embarking on a downward slope; a slope that, in the past, has lead otherwise upstanding Americans into some very ugly and unsavory places. For example, this same slope is what eventually brought about the atrocities committed in the White South during the early and mid-20th century. It is also what brought about violence and persecution in mid-19th century Missouri. We could go on and on down a long, sad, list.
Now we recognize that this particular destructive act is far less severe than any of these abuses and certainly ought not to be overemphasized.
The fact is, such behavior is an all-too-common occurrence in the country, and certainly does not occur exclusively in this community. Indeed such things are so frequent in more urban areas that they go wholly un-noticed. But we are not in an urban area. In a small town, very little of such activity goes un-noticed. Such acts are very highly visible here. And the message of intolerance and disrespect which they carry is greatly magnified and deeply felt. Such behavior is an offense to the entire community.
For those who feel the need to participate in such dastardly deeds, we would urge them to find a more constructive way to get their message out. If they feel so strongly about a political candidate or campaign, they ought to get involved. Any political campaign will welcome volunteers of almost any age. Why not give the campaign headquarters a call and sign up to work on the campaign? If there is extra time on one’s hands, it might better be filled in constructive ways to forward one’s own political views rather than in violating another person’s views by resorting to the destruction of private property.
And since vandalism of campaign signs is, at best, a misdemeanor offense, this would be a much safer road to take as well.
