For the best interest of our communities it is good the election is almost here. Most of the campaigns and causes are pretty mild but Proposition 8 has been fraying the patience of many people.
Both sides have been stealing each others' signs. I have no way of verifying or knowing which side is more likely to steal signs. A Yes on 8 supporter suggest I call the Sheriff and ask. I don't think that would prove much except people shouldn't be calling the sheriff over a stolen yard sign.
My No on 8 sign was stolen Friday night. My Mom's and her neighbor's signs were stolen WHILE I WAS THERE Saturday night. They did leave behind the Barack Obama signs though. If you are like me when you look in your front yard you are somewhat surprised your sign is still there. I am going to check on my sign now. Alright, I am back and my sign is in my lawn.
At the rallies and around town people are getting angrier and angrier at each other. It isn't normally the people waving signs, but people driving by. Here are a few examples:
1. Lots of name calling on both sides. From people trying to promote equality or promote their version of family values the language doesn't always makes sense. Besides, yelling something from a car doesn't often elicit a thoughtful response. F$#@ me? Well then F%# you!
2. A young woman I know had a bottle thrown at her for holding a No on 8 sign last week.
3. The Star reported a knife being brandished at a Thousand Oaks rally. Click here to read the story. Sidenote: If you think the comments on my blog get heated or don't make sense I urge you to go read the comments on many of the news stories. They make CAP, Flamo, and the gang here look like a poetry recital!
4. Today at the corner of Los Angeles and First street I came across a ugly scene.
I saw a young man getting pushed into the street so I pulled over. I got my camera out and starting filming.
The Yes on 8 people from Sonrise Christian Church said that the young man got out of a car and tried to take away a sign from a woman supporting proposition 8. Somehow she had trash thrown on her, they started wrestling and the young man went back to his car. By then another person had pulled over and was standing in front of the alleged attempted sign thief and was blocking his vehicle and traffic from moving. That's when I showed up.
I didn't interview the person that allegedly tried to steal the sign, as he was in his car with someone yelling at him in a threatening way to get out, but I did interview the Yes on 8 people and I did watch what happened next.
The man blocking traffic was yelling at the young man to get out of the car and the young man in the car was blowing his horn constantly. Eventually the car, that was in the turn lane left and the man that was blocking it lashed out with some R rated words including a common insult for gay people.
I did get the license plate numbers of the people involved on video.
I then interviewed the Yes on 8 people who told me their side of what happened. I waited with them for the police to show up in case they needed to see any of the video.
The police were there quickly and after talking with me and the Yes on 8 people for about 5 minutes they said there wasn't anything for them to do as the woman wasn't injured. I offered to let them see the video but they declined. I did direct them to my blog if they wanted to contact me later. I don't think they got the phone numbers or names of the Yes on 8 people that were there, although I might have missed that.
I am not posting the video at this time because it contains the license plate numbers of people from both sides that were involved. I do not want to give the information away to anyone reading my blog to go after each other. But if law enforcement or another person has a legitimate need for it, let me know. When I have the time I might get a friend to edit out some of the video for us.
It seems clear from the scene I arrived at that the Yes on 8 people were the victims of someone going after them for their political views.
I don't agree with their views, but their freedom of speech should be protected. I feel law enforcement didn't spend enough time on this situation, but I don't know what other calls they needed to respond to next. People should feel safe waving a political sign on a street corner in Simi Valley.
If you were there, add any details that I missed. There was about 5 to 6 Yes on 8 people I think.
5. To end on a more uplifting note the other day at the Corner of Sycamore and Cochran there were many No on 8 people and just a few Yes on 8 people.
A sign twirler, not a No on 8 person, started getting in a Yes on 8 person's face and trying to intimidate him. My brother, who was there waving a No on 8 sign, got between them and stopped the sign twirler from harassing the Yes on 8 supporter.
Brother, thanks for defending freedom of speech, even of those that disagree with you!
Everyone else, bring a camera with you! People tend to be on the better behavior when there is a camera pointed at them. If you go to a rally without getting someone to bring a camera, then you aren't prepared.
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