Get your daily load of dumbass here- Bill board in Wash. state

[underpants]

Billboard Stirs Up Controversy
http://www.abc2news.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=edf4115f-174b-4b20-9cdc-ee53541af358

Billboard Stirs Up Controversy in Washington A controversial billboard is the talk of the town in Lewis County, Washington. A restaurant owner says he's using a billboard to send a message to illegal immigrants.

It reads "No Mexican olympic teams, all of their runners and swimmers are here." The Hispanic community says the sign is offensive and they want it removed.

The restaurant owner says he's been using his sign to share his political opinions for years. Click play on the video player to the right to hear reaction from people who've seen the sign.


http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_111707WAB_billboard_KS.125f6745.html
Wash. - A longstanding controversial billboard in Lewis County is once again garnering attention.

Over the years, the owner has used the board to air his opinions about everything from politicians to homosexuality.

The latest message is raising deep concerns in the local Hispanic community. The grinning face of Uncle Sam is what drivers usually see first. Then the written message on the billboard near I-5 gets clearer:

"No Mexican Olympic teams?? All the runners and swimmers are here!"

Owner of the billboard Mike Hamilton, who did not want to go on camera, says he's trying to deliver a serious message on illegal immigration -- but in a funny manner:

"I wanted to use humor to draw attention to illegal immigration," he said. "My goal in the sign is to stir things up and inspire people to educate themselves about the subject."

Hamilton has definitely stirred things up. While residents in the area are well used to the political and pointed messages on the billboard - this time people are speaking up. The message seems to be especially painful for the growing Hispanic community in Lewis County. According to the U.S. Census, the population of Hispanics has doubled from 3,500 to 7,000 living in the area. Many are not laughing at the message

"Very hurtful - I am Hispanic and I'm proud of it and that's really wrong," said Adelina Petersen, resident.

Others say it's an obvious joke that is thought-provoking.

"It makes you stop and think about it you know? I mean look at all the illegal immigrants we do have here you know," said Travis Jones.

[marmar]

1. Huh huh huh....that there was the funniest dag-gum sign I dun ever seen, Bubba.

:dunce: :dunce: :dunce:


Evolution has been unkind to some.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

7. "It really makes you think."

[DU9598]

2. And

Apparently the racists are here too.

[Sabriel]

3. I appreciate signs like those.

They show me where NOT to spend my money.

Keep it up, morans. It makes things easier for me.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

4. If it's a private billboard, I think he has the right to keep it up.

Plus it keeps those who disagree with him from wasting their money on his place.

I find it most amusing that a.) anyone believes "it really makes you think" and b.) the owner thinks he's somehow original for saying that tired old line.

[NekoChris]

5. Nothing racist about it

He has an opinon on illegal immigration and he's sharing it.

[Zorra]

13. And the funny thing is, the billboard might be partially true.

Quien sabe?
:shrug:

[underpants]

16. No it isn't

Look up the Tarahumara and then look the long history of Mexican runners. They have, to my KNOWLEDGE, no history of success in swimming. So that takes care if it NOT being true even "partially" from a historic perspective now lets look at it from the aspect of not being a dumbass like this guy.

If you had the aptitude to be in the Olympics why on earth would you come to the US and get lumped into our pool of athletes ESPECIALLY in those two fields of competition? YOU WOULDN'T

This dumbass is just make a not so sly attempt at calling them WETBACKS and THAT is more than "partially true"

[regnaD kciN]

19. To play Devil's Advocate for a second...

...if Letterman or Leno had made that same joke in their monologue (and they make a lot of jokes about immigrants from Mexico), would it have been considered "racist" in the same sense? Or is it easier to project that attitude on someone who's already identified as a small-town conservative, as opposed to a Democratic-donor celebrity from New York or Los Angeles?

[Richard Steele]

22. He's a racist douchebag, and that billboard is racist douchebaggery. nm

[marmar]

6. "board to air his opinions about everything from politicians to homosexuality."

I wonder what elightened banter the owner shared on those subjects? :think:

[regnaD kciN]

8. Actually, that's a lot milder than some of the previous messages...

...such as the one from a number of years ago describing nearby Evergreen State College as "a haven for Commies and faggots."

This sign has been around for decades (at least it was there when I first moved up here 25 years ago), but it keeps getting shifted from one location to another, generally less prominent each time. I think the ownership has changed, too -- it used to bear a label indicating it belonged to one of the farms in the area, but, since it moved to an RV lot further south, that label has been missing.

Although the opinions expressed there are fairly Neanderthal, I've noticed that the owner (or owners?) seem to have switched from Religious-Right Reagan worshipers to something more libertarian. And the Bush administration is no longer above criticism there, either -- on one of my trips down to Portland, I was shocked to see that sign bearing the message "Where are 'signing statements' mentioned in the U.S. Constitution?"

[Cha]

9. I got down here without seeing it..

:) I actually don't need a daily load of dumbass..I get enough of that!

[stevedeshazer]

10. I drive by that thing every day.

I do find it racist.

Not all his messages are racist (he changes it once or twice a month), but that one strikes me as especially offensive.

Lewis County is very conservative, but I know not everyone there shares Mr. Hamilton's views.

BTW, that billboard has been on I-5 between Seattle and Portland for close to forty years. The guy who built it died, his son now runs it.

Interesting article about it from three years ago is here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/28/national/28billboard.html

[WGS]

11. He is just

exercising his right of free speech...

[underpants]

12. Me too- he's a dumbass

[Richard Steele]

23. And his right to express ignorant racist opinions with a sign. nm

[alphafemale]

14. One of the benefits of Freedom of Speech is it is very revealing.

I'm even glad he expressed these thoughts because now I would never make the mistake of spending money in his restaurant, but he certainly has a right to voice that opinion on his property.

And I'm sure our Freeway Bloggers piss plenty of people off, too.

[Quantess]

15. That billboard faces the I-5 and always has a new message on it

every time I drive past it.

About half the time, I agree with the statement on that billboard, and half the time I don't agree.
Put it this way: the person behind the messages is not a liberal, but is not a neo-con, either.

[provis99]

17. I'll bet Washington State has more illegal Canadians than illegal Mexicans

The Hispanic population of Washington state is pretty small, but Washington is right on the Canadian border, where Canadians have been migrating south for decades. So why hasn't this idiot put up a sign complaining about Canadians? Oh, right. because Canadians are (mostly) white, and Mexicans aren't.

The billboard is racist.

[stevedeshazer]

18. BS.

"The billboard is racist."

I agree with that.

But, where are the migrating Canadians?

[Batgirl]

20. Look, children ...

This primitive magnetic sign is how idiots were forced to convey their lame-ass attempts at humor before the invention of forwarded email spam.

[rucky]

21. I'd like two orders of douchebag and a side of asshole...

to go.

[windbreeze]

24. OMG surprised to see this sign on DU.....

I pass by it every time I head to Portland or points south...some times I agree...sometimes I want to get off the road, find the owner, and tell him exactly what I think about his sign...yes, the sign has moved...from one side of I-5 to the other, over the years...and I never knew it had anything to do with a restaurant...I am sure it creates a lot of ongoing conversation inside the establishment....wb

[judaspriestess]

25. the owner did not want to go on camera?

chickenshit!! If you are going to spew hate like that for everyone to read then might as well go on camera. Why hide?

[Sanctified]

26. Wasn't that a Carlos Mencia skit? n/t

[Richard Steele]

27. Probably. Hardly any stale racism left that HASN'T been one of Mr. Holness' "Carlos Mencia" skits