Is this for real in Pennsylvania?

[icymist]

Link to tweet

Alex Cole
@acnewsitics
What the hell is going on in Pennsylvania!!!!???? How is this sign even allowed???

1,464
11:15 AM - Mar 26, 2019

[lillypaddle]

1. Free speech and all that? nt

[TheBlackAdder]

44. Something about being Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and a whole lot of Alabama in between.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. Did you read further in the thread? Free speech is a thing, and racists in all states exercise it.

Link to tweet

[icymist]

9. I did. Didn't watch that video, though.

Yeah, that guy's a patriot "You all should stand for the flag" MAGAT! There was one reply stating that between Pittsburgh and Philly was Alabama. Pennsylvania sure has opened Pandora's box these days.

[Takket]

17. yup.........

and as people point out, it does NOT mean freedom from public judgement or responsibility for what you say.

Hope this guy gets ruined. i'd say "hope he gets fired" but he's probably already retired.

[johnp3907]

3. It's real.

https://www.wtae.com/amp/article/armstrong-county-billboard-featuring-antwon-rose-michael-rosfeld-sparks-controversy-on-social-media/26922603

[TwilightZone]

4. There's a reason part of it is referred to as "Pennsyltucky"

I'd say this is a part of said part.

[customerserviceguy]

29. During the 1992 presidential primary season

James Carville, who was Bill Clinton's adviser, said that Pennsylvania was "Pittsburgh on one end, Philadelphia on the other end, and Alabama in the middle." Or something like that. My experience confirms that.

[dalton99a]

5. John Placek: "Racism is misunderstood in America"

[k8conant]

7. No it's not. The billboard is racist and must go.

[jberryhill]

11. Must go where?

I doubt it’s going to walk away on its own.

[UniteFightBack]

12. Well ain't he a muthafuckin peach ...just like his liege. nt

[Lars39]

27. Is he a retired Armed Forces Colonel?!

[dalton99a]

30. Army Lt. Col.

Said he did two tours in Vietnam as infantryman and helicopter pilot, and was shot down twice and survived. A local newspaper mentioned he received a Purple Heart.

[k8conant]

6. OMFG!

[Atticus]

8. I've heard Pennsylvania described as "Philadelphia on the east end, Pittsburg on the west,

and Mississippi in between."

[The Wielding Truth]

10. Pittsburgh

[Atticus]

21. Oops! Thanks. nt

[cornball 24]

15. Live outside Philly and have been all over the state. Pennsyltuckyississippi it is!!

[FakeNoose]

13. This is the first time I'm seeing it

Yes we still have a few MAGAts here in Pennsylvania, but Worthington is very small town in Armstrong county. It's halfway between Pittsburgh and Erie, near Butler which is another small town. Not many people are seeing this billboard, it's mostly farmers and a few retired coal miners. Don't worry, somebody will complain and they'll take it down eventually.

[Totally Tunsie]

26. "Not many people are seeing this billboard..."

Sadly, FakeNoose, if it's on the evening news. somebody is seeing it. Things like this have a tendency to spread quickly. Just wait 'til it hits Facebook.

[FakeNoose]

32. Not many drivebys

... that's what I should have said.

[spanone]

14. America, turning into trump's shithole

[SallyHemmings]

16. I wish I was surprised

I live in the Philly suburbs. I work in sales and my territory is the whole Commonwealth. There are parts I simply drive through. I gas up in Harrisburg and don’t stop again until I get through the Allegheny tunnel.

PA born and raised in the southeastern part during the 60’s. Dinner table talk was avoiding Klan rallies and crazy cops.

[madinmaryland]

18. I used to drive thru that shithole on 422. It gets really Alabama through certain parts of PA.

They have always been tea baggers in that area.

[0rganism]

19. might be worth finding out which company leases that billboard

free speech in public space is one thing, but this might have other applicable regulations.

if it's a 3rd party, not Mr. Douchebag Placek, they may have some rules of their own which limit the kinds of content renters can display on their property. it's quite possible the owning company knows nothing of this, or expects very few people to notice and object. if they see a growing awareness that their brand is tied to some sick racist bullshit, they might be persuaded to take it down.

if the asshole owns the billboard outright as well as the property on which it stands, then there's little recourse. on the other hand, if one had, say, a paintball gun and needed target practice, there might be a more challenging, but possibly more rewarding, path of mitigation.

[Amishman]

20. Not too surprising, this state is really conservative outside the cities

If it wasn't for Philly and it's suburbs, this state would be redder than Kentucky

[Turin_C3PO]

35. Red and Republican yes,

But, maybe I’m naive; outright white supremacy still shocks me, even among Republicans.

[octoberlib]

40. I think most states are like that. Even the the blue ones.

It comes down to whether the cities have enough people to overcome the rural red.

[athena]

22. Can someone set up a GoFundMe for a competing sign nearby, advocating love and acceptance?

Seriously, that's the only way to fight this. If some DUers who know where this sign is can organize something, I would contribute.

This could be a non-profit that would collect money and put up signs everywhere advocating love. It could be a huge success. Many people are tired of having hate and fear shoved down our throats every day. We want to live in a world of love. Why doesn't such a non-profit already exist? Please, DUers who know how to set up and run a simple non-profit, get together and get to work on it! Let's fight all the billboards spreading hate, fear, misogyny, and racism with billboards spreading love!

[John1956PA]

23. A few weeks ago, on the local news, I saw a report about the billboard and its promoter.

Much of rural Western Pennsylvania is very red, especially east of Pittsburgh.

In April 2008, then-candidate Barack Obama was correct when he said the following:

You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years, and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate, and they have not.

And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

[Efilroft Sul]

33. Greater Pittsburgh is the nation's northernmost southern city.

The city itself and a few surrounding suburbs are staunch, traditional Democrats, and the young people really are the best and brightest around with a much-needed progressive vibe. However, Trump knew the way to win the hearts of voters in the dead steel towns and in the backwoods where the banjos play is appeal to their generational racism. He hates like they hate, and America is great to them again because they can more openly express their disdain for anyone not white.

[John1956PA]

34. In 2016, the hatred against Hillary and President Obama was fueled in part by social media bots.

I was shown examples of the social media propaganda which those haters "bot" into.

[maxrandb]

36. Ah yes, Pittsburgh, the Manhattan of West Virginia

[Efilroft Sul]

42. Gotta admit, that's a new one on me!

[Azathoth]

24. There's some backwoods stuff in blue-collar Pennsy

Appalachia doesn't stop at the northern border of West Virginia.

[Trenzalore]

25. Outside the major population areas

Philly, Pittsburgh, Lehigh Valley, Scranton, Erie there is little difference than the deep south. You will even see confederate flags with all the irony that their ancestors probably fought against that flag.

Our shit ass republicans have gerrymandered the state in a way that these areas are overrated in the state legislature. Our congressional representation was that way till the past election when the Supreme Court struck down the federal districts.

[democratisphere]

28. There is something strange going on in rural Pennsylvania.

Wish I could blame it on the fracking, but discovered it was actually something else.

[Yavin4]

31. No matter how hard America kicks White people in the nuts on a daily basis....

from sending their jobs overseas, to the Opioid crisis, to send their children off to stupid wars, etc...They will always, always, always blame African Americans for their problems.

It's literally like their entire existence and identity is dependent on being better than Black people. They wouldn't mind standing in soup lines for food so long as they're in front of a Black person.

[allgood33]

39. That!!

[RobinA]

41. Actually,

These people used to be Democrats until good ol' Reagan came along. Back when I lived out there they were in the process of being massively laid off from decent jobs and from companies that depended on the people with the decent jobs. They didn't really blame blacks then, but have been convinced by subsequent race baiters from both sides of the fence. That and the gun issue, which has been used to get them riled. They were basically hunters, but the gun hysteria hit a nerve. Then, as they were trying to figure out how to scrape together a living, they started being told they were "privileged" because they were white. They didn't feel too privileged, so this pretty much sealed race into the mix. Democrats need to address these people's job issues as well as ease up on the privilege talk, which is insulting to them, in order to get them back.

[DeminPennswoods]

37. Oh yeah, plenty of rednecks out here

in western PA. These areas are almost exclusively white and homogeneous. Fortunately they are dying off in droves if the obits in my local paper are any indication.

However, this sign is apparently in reaction to the not guilty verdict in the Rosefeld (police shooting) trial. Ironically, the verdict is causing a lot of soul searching regarding the laws under which almost any use of deadly force is allowed so long as the cop believes he or the surrounding community is in danger. IMO, everyone, including the jurors, knew Rosefeld was lying when he claimed on the stand he felt "threatned", but it's nearly impossible to prove otherwise. Legally, the jury really had no choice but to find Rosefeld not guilty.

[maxrandb]

38. Thanks for this

Now every time some dumbshit tries to tell me that this asspickle in the White House doesn't represent "real" American values, or tries to sell me that bullshit about how "America is better than this", I'm going to show them this.

Donnie Shit for Brains has ripped the mask off America and what we really fucking stand for.

For the rest of our lives, everytime someone sees an American flag, there will be a giant orange shitstain smeared right down the fucking middle.

There's no compromise with these fucksticks. We either beat them, or they kill us.

[Efilroft Sul]

43. Hell to the yeah!

"Asspickle."

*snort!*

[DeminPennswoods]

45. Update on sign status

From the Tribune-Review:https://triblive.com/local/regional/sunoco-cuts-ties-with-armstrong-county-gas-station-over-controversial-billboard/

The sign owner owns a Sunoco gas station a short distance from the sign. Sunoco, who got a lot of complaints, has now dropped him as a franchisee. Local officials, the volunteer fire dept (sign is on land leased from them) and the PA state rep are also getting an earful about the sign. The adjoining Subway posted on it's lighted sign board that they are not affiliated with the Sunoco owner and do not support his views.

File this under, actions have consequences.

[Catherine Vincent]

46. .....

[NoDJT]

47. Five years late to this conversation

I only discovered the billboard recently when I drove by it for the first time. What an abomination. I drove by right when it was showing the protesting January 6th "patriots" outside the Capitol building with a caption stating what an unjust travesty it is that so many of them are languishing in jail.

I don't live far from that billboard and I think it's a disgusting embarassment to the region. I would absolutely contribute to a Go-Fund-Me for another billboard exposing the idiocy of this guy, but I think I read somewhere that it's already been tried and taken down shortly after when death threats were received about it (not sure how true that story is but I don't doubt it).

I do believe in freedom of speech but all that guy is trying to do is to inflame people and pit them against each other, much like Trump who is likely his hero. Has anyone verified that he was actually a colonel in the military? It's scary to think that bozos like him were in any position of leadership. He must have been infantry because it seems his brain was permanently scrambled by a few too many concussions from exploding ordinance.

Someone said the billboard will be taken down sooner or later, but that was 5 years ago and the thing is still up there spewing Placek's bullshit.

[KS Toronado]

48. Welcome to DU !