As Predicted

Remember the effigy of Sarah Palin hung in the yard of a family home? The response of authorities was:

We have been getting some phone calls complaining about it but if (the homeowner) isn't in violation of municipal code we have no reason to cite them," West Hollywood spokeswoman Helen Goss said.

"People have First Amendment rights (to free speech)," Goss said. "I would speculate that if it's part of a Halloween display then its political satire."

Got that? Free speech.

Yesterday a life sized effigy of Barack Obama was found hanging outside the Mines and Minerals Building on the University of Kentucky campus:

Police said they arrested Joe Fischer, 22, a senior at the university, and Hunter Bush, 21, a former student at Bluegrass Community and Technical College.

"This was a serious incident. It caused a lot of wounds to be opened from racial tension," Monroe said.

OK, which is it? Free speech or serious incident? If Obama is elected on Tuesday, will individuals be free to hang him in effigy repeatedly as they have George Bush over the last 8 years?