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09/22/2016 08:00 AMPolitics has turned people petty and childish. Grown men and women are vandalizing and stealing political signs from other peoples’ properties, yelling obscenities if someone chooses to endorse a candidate who’s not their own, or flipping people off because of the political bumper sticker on their vehicle. When did people become so immature about politics? Why can’t people simply respect someone else’s choice in candidates? Why do they think they’re entitled to enter someone’s property to damage or steal signs just because they don’t agree with the choice? Who are they to insist that everyone support only their candidate?
What ever happened to the concept of democracy, where people make their own choices about which candidate they support and where other people respect your right to promote your candidate, without backlash?
As we get closer to the November elections, how much worse is this going to get? Apparently we can’t even expect our own elected officials to conduct themselves with a reasonable level of decorum. Is this really the example we want to set for our kids?
When we put our candidate’s signs back out in our yard, is someone going to trespass onto our property and steal them again like they did during the primaries? Several signs were stolen out of our yard on two occasions and three times from our business. You don’t have to like my candidate any more than I need to like yours. I don’t go to your house and steal your political signs, so leave mine alone! Trespassing and stealing are crimes. Is it really worth the risk?
It’s time to grow up and start acting like decent, responsible adults again. We don’t need to agree on our politics, but we do need to respect each other’s right to choose for themselves.
Paula Pellerin
Clinton