FREEDOM OF SPEECH VIOLATION

[wakeupamerica]

A Fort Lauderdale Republican came forward today as the creator of a sign posted in a Pompano Beach campaign office comparing Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to Karl Marx, Adolf Hitler and Fidel Castro.

He defended his work.

Richard E. J. Driskill, 52, said in a phone interview it was his poster that the Broward Republican Party removed from the office Thursday night after Sun Sentinel reporters stopped there to look at and photograph the sign. This was Thursday night's report.

Driskill's identity wasn't known until today. The volunteer in charge of the office Thursday night wouldn't identify the creator of the sign.

In a lengthy e-mail - posted in its entirety on the continuation of this blog posting - Driskill said, in part: "I do not apologize for the poster's content in the least. I apologize to any persons who may have been implicated in this false attack upon free speech. The 2 simplistic elements presented are true. If a person takes umbrage to what is presented, please consider evaluating your discourse position with intelligence and not emotional extrapolations."

Broward Republican Chairman Chip LaMarca, reached by phone today at a state Republican Party meeting in Orlando, confirmed it was Driskill who created the sign. He said he told Driskill the party "can't have you working in the office if you don't understand what's wrong with it [the sign]."

On Thursday night, when he was shown a picture of the sign, LaMarca called it "ignorant" and said he was "disgusted." He immediately went to the office to remove the sign.

The Pompano Beach field office is located in a strip plaza just South of the intersection of Sample Road and Federal Highway in Pompano Beach. It's marked by a large John McCain sign visible from the road.

The space is provided rent-free by the property owner, LaMarca said, and the county party splits expenses with the state Republican Party.

In a statement this morning, state party communications director Erin VanSickle said the "sign was absolutely not condoned by the Republican Party of Florida. We strongly condemn this hateful rhetoric, which is not representative of Florida Republicans."

The sign, printed on an 8 1/2 by 14 inch sheet of paper, was part of a gallery of posters and signs on the wall immediately inside the front door of the office.

It cited Obama's call for change and asked what other figures "called for change in this fashion." The answer: Marx, Hitler, Castro, Joseph Stalin and Benito Mussolini. "And you want Obama for President? Are you nuts!" the sign said.

Other signs on the wall included a portrait of McCain and his wife, Cindy, Republican elephants, patriotic sayings, and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin holding a large hunting rifle.

The sign in question:


Sun Sentinel photo/Juan Ortega

The gallery of posters and signs:

Sun Sentinel photo/Juan Ortega

Driskill's e-mail:


I do not read your newspaper; if I had I would have responded forthwith. I was informed after others had read your newspaper article and ultimately told me.

I am writing to inform you that I am the illustrator of the anti-Obama poster you have deemed fit to publish in the Sun Sentinel. I also created all 13 McCain posters (but not the caricature of Governor Palin holding a firearm, nor the blurry but classic 'Rosy the Riveter' poster with Governor Palin's likeness transplanted), along with one more anti-Obama poster not shown.

This series of posters was my sole idea, my creation, and I printed them all on my home printer within a period of about 24 hours a few days ago. I believe I did a very good job on all of them, as it is my forte to only produce quality in everything I do. The severe angle of the photographed poster does not do it justice; it is as though it is a photograph taken in a forbidden area on the sly. Did the photographer get permission to acquire my illustration from a position on private property? Did you get a signed release for my art work? I never gave anyone permission to reproduce any of them without my consent.

So, I hope we are now clear on where they all came from and who they belong to. I will now address how they came to hang on the wall of the facility in question. But I believe you are only interested in the one that you find to be inflammatory. I consider it to be informative.

I am a registered Republican, but I am not in the ranks of the Republican Party hierarchy in any way, shape, or form. I am not a member of the Executive Committee, I am on no roster, do not pay dues, am not paid, contracted, or delegated to any work schedule by any branch, division, or off-shoot of the Republican organization. I am but a common unpaid volunteer who travels 18 miles round-trip each time to help the people of this particular office as I have deemed them the most needy and deserving. It is my personal belief that people in general do not take a serious enough approach to political decisions, ergo with the 13 'cheery' posters completed (with the intent of instilling passion), I then created a few more that adressed the 'serious' ramifications of the present alternate choice. The posters appeared on the wall because I brought them up and placed them there. The official people of this particular office like and trust me; if they paid strict attention to the content of the poster in question is unknown to me. Clinically and morally there is nothing wrong with the poster. If I had know I was causing uneasiness with the display, I would have gladly taken it (or all) down; not out of a change of heart or mindset, but because it is not my right to impose.

To the content of the posters I created: I have no regrets at all except that individuals within the Republican Party incorrectly came 'under fire' from those of mindsets who did not read and digest the poster in question with the accuracy in which it was created. Instead an opportunity was afforded in your publication which allowed others to cry out in dishonest affront. If I compare the oration ability of Senator Obama with that of Adolf Hitler (both quite good in communicating), does that mean I am suggesting Obama will be a mass murderer? Of course not.

It is I who should have been afforded the ability to directly address your concerns. After all, it is the message you take offense to; not that this is an opportunity to attack the Republican Party, correct? I am the messenger, approach me. Alas, I am also disappointed that party personnel incorrectly responded in a politically correct fashion, rather than discerning the facts, determining it was I who had created and placed the posters, and discuss it with me, wherein I then would directly discuss it with you. The exact response given did nothing but fuel the false fire presented. By the way, your use of the word "mock" utilizes incorrect nomenclature. I did not mock Senator Obama's call for change (like an image of a few coins in your hand); rather I was shocked at the entire statement as it appeared and responded to that level of shock (to -change- the greatest country on the face of the Earth) with my informative association of other like-minded individuals.

The poster in question is very simple. It is straightforward in its content and purpose, no subterfuge or hidden intent is present. I call into question one's ability to make sane judgement after being presented with information that reveals a pattern of what I believe to be nefarious thinking. I asked 2 legitimate questions and give responses for the reader to ponder. There is no vitriolic verbiage or diatribe, just simple historical pattern precedence. If you and/or others find this poster offensive, it is not due to graphic imagery, expletives, or false associations. If your mental processes automatically jump to excrescent connections outside of what is being portrayed (that being a common thread of socialism), then I can not help you with that. Apparently it is justified to call President Bush a NAZI, and to alter the face of Vice President Cheney to make him have pointed teeth with copious amounts of blood spilling out; but apparently it is not within the bounds of civility to reveal simple patterns. I guess it would again be totally inappropriate to ask "Are you nuts?"

I do not apologize for the poster's content in the least. I apologize to any persons who may have been implicated in this false attack upon free speech. The 2 simplistic elements presented are true. If a person takes umbrage to what is presented, please consider evaluating your discourse position with intelligence and not emotional extrapolations. I did not call Senator Obama a NAZI, nor besmirch his genetic origins; the rest (being his history and character) is fair game, as long as it is presented honestly. Do you not concur?

The nature of my response to you may likely result in a request that I not return to assist the Republican Party; if that is what they wish, I take no offense. I will continue to conduct myself in a respectable and straightforward manner, in truth, as did the 12 previous generations of my name before me in this great land.

[JJ]

Very well said, as I am sure it will be the party's loss.
And may that be the intent??