President Obama: The View from Brazil: Halloween display aims for 'shock value'

quarta-feira, 15 de outubro de 2008

Halloween display aims for 'shock value'

By Jeff Murray • jdmurray@gannett.com • October 14, 2008

Democratic backer sends message by showing McCain, in KKK robe, chasing Obama

CATHARINE -- Ron Havens has a reputation for provocative Halloween displays that reflect his strong political views.

But even Havens was pretty sure his latest effort was over the top. That didn't stop him from setting it up in plain sight anyway.

Havens, who lives on Schuyler County Route 15 (Ridge Road) just south of Odessa, this week set up a Halloween display featuring mannequins that look like Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and Republican rival John McCain.

But the Obama figure looks like he is running, and the McCain likeness is dressed in the hooded robe of the Ku Klux Klan and is carrying a baseball bat.

Havens is quick to point out he is a liberal and a big supporter of Obama, and that the scene is meant to provoke thought about the way he believes Obama has been unfairly treated by the McCain campaign.

"I figured it would be equally offensive to everyone. It's just for shock value," Havens said. "McCain has been rabble-rousing, calling Obama a terrorist and a Muslim. The McCain campaign has gotten so ugly. That's what the message is. I can see how people could take this the wrong way. I'm not advocating anything. It's sarcasm."

The display is in Havens' front lawn, only a few yards from the highway.

Two years ago, Havens set up a display with a Wizard of Oz theme, with President Bush as the Scarecrow, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as Dorothy, Vice President Dick Cheney as the Tin Man and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld representing the Cowardly Lion.

During the 2004 presidential race between Bush and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, Bush took on the persona of Dracula in Havens' front lawn, while Kerry appeared as Frankenstein's monster, complete with neck bolts.

Georgia Verdier, president of the Elmira-Corning Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said she was concerned about the injection of race into the presidential campaign when someone called her to complain about the scene.

After viewing a photograph of Havens' display, Verdier said it seems innocuous enough, but she's still concerned it may send the wrong message.

"It looks friendly but I am concerned not so much about this display, but in general about the fear and hate that have entered the campaign," Verdier said. "This display appears friendly to me. But that's my take. A young lady passed by and had other feelings. We need to be concerned about that. I think we all need to be careful about what messages we send. The message we send is not always the message received."

Havens said he has no plans to take the display down at this time.

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Quotes

“When I take that oath of office, there will be kids all over this country who don’t really think that all paths are open to them, who will believe they can be anything they want to be. And I think the world will look at America a little differently.” - Barack Obama, 2006
"I didn't come here to debate the past. I came here to deal with the future ... We must learn from history. But we can't be trapped by it." - Barack Obama, Summit of the Americas 2009
“To those who would tear the world down: we will defeat you. This is our moment. This is our time.” - Barack Obama
"Sasha and Malia, I love you both more than you can imagine, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House." - Barack Obama
"'I think people will see that I'm not afraid to have folks around me who complement my strengths and who are independent. I'm not a believer in a government of yes-men. I think one of the failures of the early Bush Administration was being surrounded by people who were unwilling to deliver bad news, or who were prone to simply feed the president information that confirmed his own preconceptions." - Barack Obama
"I would not be running for President if I didn't believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation - the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election." - Barack Obama
"The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice." - Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Electing a black president says around the world that you can overcome old wounds. I’ve said in our case, We have a birth defect, but it can be overcome." - Condoleezza Rice
“Look what we did. Look what we did. He’s won. It’s over.” - Colin Powell
"Things do change. There is a God. They do get better." - David Dinkins
“I think that Senator Obama brings a fresh set of eyes, fresh set of ideas to the table. I think that Senator McCain, as gifted as he is, is essentially going to execute the Republican agenda, the orthodoxy of the Republican agenda with a new face and a maverick approach to it, and he’d be quite good at it, but I think we need more than that.” - Colin Powell (endorsing Obama on 19/10/08)
"I will vote for the individual I think that brings the best set of tools to the problems of 21st-century America and the 21st-century world regardless of party, regardless of anything else other than the most qualified candidate." - Colin Powell
"The United States of America is an extraordinary country. It is a country that has overcome many, many, now years, decades, actually a couple of centuries, of trying to make good on its principles. And I think what we are seeing is an extraordinary expression of the fact that 'We the People' is beginning to mean all of us." - Condoleezza Rice
"[Obama] is running for president of all Americans, not just African-Americans. [We] must be careful not to segregate Senator Obama and impose some litmus test that is unfair and unproductive." - Rev. Al Sharpton
"Welcome to the murky world of modern racism, where most of the open animus has been replaced by a shadowy bias that is difficult to measure. As Obama gently put it in his race speech, today's racial 'resentments aren’t always expressed in polite company.' However, they can be — and possibly will be — expressed in the privacy of the voting booth." - Charles M. Blow
"Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you're going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them and even if you don't agree with them. And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values and pass them on to the next generation, because we want our children and all children in this nation to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them." - Michelle Obama

quarta-feira, 15 de outubro de 2008

Halloween display aims for 'shock value'

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