There was one in a front lawn in Iowa, and the owner's reason for hanging it was that he refused to vote for a black man. The figure also had a swastika painted on its head.
I think you have to give people the benefit of the doubt and believe it's an expression of free speech until they say otherwise. The man attached to the Obama effigy was making a direct comment on his race and heritage, not his political views. That's a hate crime. The same thing would be true (in my opinion anyway!) if those responsible for the Palin effigy said the impetus for creating it was because c*nts/b*tches shouldn't be in office. If it was an attack on her being a woman and not her positions as a politician, then I think it's crossed the line into hate crime territory.
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Date: 2008-10-29 11:03 am (UTC)I think you have to give people the benefit of the doubt and believe it's an expression of free speech until they say otherwise. The man attached to the Obama effigy was making a direct comment on his race and heritage, not his political views. That's a hate crime. The same thing would be true (in my opinion anyway!) if those responsible for the Palin effigy said the impetus for creating it was because c*nts/b*tches shouldn't be in office. If it was an attack on her being a woman and not her positions as a politician, then I think it's crossed the line into hate crime territory.