A bartender at Yester Years Pub & Grill on Greenfield Avenue in West Allis is being investigated by the Secret Service following the burning of a statue of President Obama according to WTMJ. You can see the videotape here. They haven’t set it up for embedding on other sites.
Apparently the bar’s name is reflective of the patron’s philosophy, as they applaud the burning in what symbolically looks much like the lynching behavior of yesterday.
Is it any surprise that this type of despicable behavior takes place given the hateful speech coming from the right wing?
WISN 12 also has a video on this and the reactions shown there (including the WA Mayor) are a little less inflammatory (no pun intended).
Although I think it’s rather disgusting, I am going to defend their 1st Amendment rights here to express their political views via burning in effigy. And I think the incident is being blown out of proportion.
I don’t think the Secret Service will find anything to be concerned about…but I would think the WA Fire Dept might wanna warn them about playing with fire (pun intended)!
btw: the reported death threats to the bar owner and threats to do damage to her personal property are even more reprehensible.
Yeah I’ll definitely echo that the threats against him are wrong. He may be a raving hateful person, but he has a right to be a raving hateful person as long as he’s not hurting anyone. That doesn’t mean he can’t be called out for what he did though, but threats are inexcusable.
I always say one person’s actions don’t excuse other bad actions in response. The whole concept of revenge is immoral, and threats like those on the bartender need to be called out.
If the Secret Service finds any plans for violence they need to take action through the due process that enshrines our country’s values in trying to ensure a fair justice system.
I hadn’t heard about the threats to bartender and bar owner, but agree with you that this is totally out of line. I would hope that the bar would feel the repercussions through negative publicity and declining sales.
I don’t think it would be out of line for the West Allis Chamber of Commerce http://www.wawmchamber.com/ and the Wisconsin Restaurant Association http://www.wirestaurant.org/to condemn this act as being counter to the values of the community and to the expectations of customers eating and drinking in a WI establishment.
Of course you have publicly condemned all of the effigy burning of George Bush….Right?
I wasn’t blogging then, so no I didn’t condemn it.
How convenient. You can’t comment on anything that predates 16 months ago? MadCityMan, I’ll have to take your word that you never engaged in any despicable behavior against President Bush.
But the difference between you and me is that I can say it was despicable against both Bush and Obama. I’m all for disagreements, but not disrespect to that extent. There was a whole lot more of that kind of stuff against Bush. And not every dissent against this President is racially motivated and warrants the NAACP getting their knickers in a twist.
I am not nor have I ever been a member of the NAACP. My comments don’t reflect those of any organization, but are based on my own values. So when “knickers get in a twist” as you so eloquently state, they are my own “knickers”.
Well lets hear it then!!! Don’t forget to add your disgust with the assassination movie too……
Have no idea what movie you are referring to so can’t comment on that. Is this a Glenn Beck created movie?
Hypocrisy and ignorance……. Why am I not surprised??…
I’ll happily attempt to rid you of your ignorance: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0853096/
Take a look, that is, if you seriously have not heard of it. I know it was three years ago, but it was kind of a big story. There are more stories than DADT you know.
Thanks so much for sharing forgot. If you look at my postings, you’ll see that they go way beyond DADT. Your focusing on this one aspect of the topics that I cover reflects a degree of discomfort that you might want to explore.
“They go way beyond DADT” — if only that were true! My focus was on that apsect because it’s a major aspect of your posts here. It’s a simple and easily apparent observation, nothing more. There’s no degree of discomfort on my end. And that’s a cheap shot. Yeah clearly because I might disagree means I’m a closet case, right? You might remember that I actually agreed with you on the issue in the past.
I think MadCityMan’s suggestions are very appropriate. The community NGO’s needs to address this incident quickly and forcefully. This entire incident is disturbing. The ignorance and conduct of the licensed owner and the patrons of “YesterYears” (incidentially the residency of the cheering patrons are not ID’d so please don’t associate them with West Allis) gives West Allis a big fact black eye. We’re a working class community that’s trying, through neighborhood and community associations/charities, to improve our City. We are not “Dirty Stallis”, a bunch of racist drunks, or lunatics with tire irons looking to clubber the Mayor of Milwaukee.
I hope that Keith Olbermann didn’t mention West Allis in his report.
Racists???? Please explain.
Thanks for the comment, unfortunately Keith did reference West Allis. While I live in Madison, I’ve stopped in West Allis for different social events and have always found it to be a nice place.
This was just a stupid prank certainly fueled by alcohol. I don’t remember the original stories indicating that the owner was on the premises at the time of the incident. But neither the secret service nor the local police have found any reason to bring charges against her, the bartender or any of the patrons. For any of us to make anything more of it is a waste of time.
Agreed
MadCityMan sure went out of his way to not condemn burning Bush’s effigy or the assassination movie.
Wonder if the ACLU would defend the bartender’s right to free speech?