Someone took offense at the sign in my yard:

Our yard sign was torn in half, its remains deposited next to our garage. The wire was still up in the yard.

Here’s the thing. I was ready to take down the sign. Now, it’s going to stay up a while longer. And I do have replacements.

Clear packing tape and useful information.

The useful information:

Missouri Revised Statutes

Section 569.150

Trespass in the second degree.

569.150. 1. A person commits the offense of trespass in the second degree if he enters unlawfully upon real property of another. This is an offense of absolute liability.

2. Trespass in the second degree is an infraction.

Missouri Revised Statutes

Section 569.120

Property damage in the second degree.

569.120. 1. A person commits the crime of property damage in the second degree if:

(1) He knowingly damages property of another; or

(2) He damages property for the purpose of defrauding an insurer.

2. Property damage in the second degree is a class B misdemeanor.

And there’s this, too:

Missouri Revised Statutes

Section 115.637

Class four election offenses.

[….]

(19) Stealing or willfully defacing, mutilating, or destroying any campaign yard sign on private property, except that this subdivision shall not be construed to interfere with the right of any private property owner to take any action with regard to campaign yard signs on the owner’s property and this subdivision shall not be construed to interfere with the right of any candidate, or the candidate’s designee, to remove the candidate’s campaign yard sign from the owner’s private property after the election day.  

Maybe I’ll take the sign down tomorrow. Maybe.

Previously:

“Liberal” schadenfreude is a dish best relinquished cold, very cold (November 11, 2012)

Morning in America (November 8, 2012)

And then there were two… (October 25, 2012)

What’s missing? (October 25, 2012)

Previously:

Morning in America (November 7, 2011)

“Liberal” schadenfreude is a dish best relinquished cold, very cold (November 11, 2012)

It’s still out there, on a cold and rainy day. It’s gonna stay out there until it gets much colder.

It’s colder. Yep, it’s still up.

And the votes are still being counted. The latest totals, as of this afternoon:

2012 National Popular Vote Tracker

Overall Obama/Romney Vote Shares, 2012 (Includes Third Party Votes)

Maintained by: David Wasserman @Redistrict

U.S. Total

Obama ’12 – 64,558,738 – 50.81%

Romney ’12 – 60,331,728 – 47.48%

Other ’12 – 2,164,118 – 1.70%

California

Obama ’12 – 7,465,913 – 59.77%

Romney ’12 – 4,697,734 – 37.61%

Other ’12 – 326,590 – 2.61%

New York

Obama ’12 – 3,873,650 – 62.65%

Romney ’12 – 2,224,963 – 35.99%

Other ’12 – 84,401 – 1.37%

Missouri

Obama ’12 – 1,223,080 – 44.37%

Romney ’12 – 1,482,387 – 53.78%

Other ’12 – 51,085 – 1.85%

[emphasis added]

A 4,227,010 vote margin – more than a mandate as defined in republican terms. Heh. Fancy that, 47 percent. That was downright prophetic.

Interesting. There’s a slight difference in the Missouri numbers at the Missouri Secretary of State (election night numbers):

President, Vice President (3394 of 3394 Precincts Reported)

Barack Obama, Joe Biden Democrat 1,223,092 44.4%

Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan Republican 1,482,397 53.8%

Gary Johnson, James P. Gray Libertarian 43,150 1.6%

Virgil Goode, Jim Clymer Constitution 7,935 0.3

[emphasis added]

Previously: Schadenfreude, schoener Goetterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium… (November 11, 2012)

Success! Already getting over three thousand paranoid temper tantrum signatures, at the White House “We the People” petition site:

We petition the Obama Administration to:

Peacefully grant the State of Missouri to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own NEW government.

As the founding fathers of the United States of America made clear in the Declaration of Independence in 1776:

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

“…Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and institute new Government…”

Created: Nov 10, 2012

Signatures from other states:

Troy G

Corinth, TX

November 12, 2012

Signature # 3,632

CAROL i

Painesville, OH

November 12, 2012

Signature # 3,631

Michael B

Trinity, AL

November 12, 2012

Signature # 3,630

Michael M

Roseville, CA

November 12, 2012

Signature # 3,628

Dallas T

Mesa, AZ

November 12, 2012

Signature # 3,625

[….]

Roxanne L

Quitman, AR

November 12, 2012

Signature # 3,484

Ryan J

Kent, WA

November 12, 2012

Signature # 3,483

Kevin A

Brewton, AL

November 12, 2012

Signature # 3,481

Tiffiney C

Cottonwood, AL

November 12, 2012

Signature # 3,480

Michael I

Ocala, FL

November 12, 2012

Signature # 3,479

A N

Lansing, KS

November 12, 2012

Signature # 3,478

Lee C

Halifax, NC

November 12, 2012

Signature # 3,477

robert s

Reading, PA

November 12, 2012

Signature # 3,476

Jim W

Hardesty, OK

November 12, 2012

Signature # 3,474

Jessica L

Little Rock, AR

November 12, 2012

Signature # 3,475

Tyler D

Poland, ME

November 12, 2012

Signature # 3,472

Roy R

Oak Grove, LA

November 12, 2012

Signature # 3,467

Eric F

Stafford, VA

November 12, 2012

Signature # 3,466

Jon S

Pittsburgh, PA

November 12, 2012

Signature # 3,465

Rachel H

Christiansburg, VA

November 12, 2012

Signature # 3,464

Michele B

Allentown, PA

November 12, 2012

Signature # 3,463

[emphasis added]

And on and on…

Quitman? Really? Heh.

So, do the out of state signers get to vote in Missouri if this gets on the ballot here? Think about that for a minute.

Previously:

Schadenfreude, schoener Goetterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium… (November 11, 2012)

Morning in America (November 8, 2012)

It’s still out there, on a cold and rainy day. It’s gonna stay out there until it gets much colder.

Yeah, right:

Liberal Schadenfreude Is Out of Control

Why gloating after the election is nastier than ever.

By Katherine Goldstein|Posted Friday, Nov. 9, 2012, at 8:04 PM ET

….I had just turned 21. My vote for Kerry was the first I’d ever cast, and boy did losing hurt.  But there was no one to around to rub my face in my own misery. In order to do that, someone would have had to call or email me or come up to my red-rimmed eyes and laugh in my face. Given that my immediate family is liberal, modern social media was in its infancy, and I went to a strongly left-leaning college, nothing like this happened. My friends and I consoled each other and moved on, and I never had the experience of anyone reveling in my despair….

Seriously? Obviously a viewpoint stemming from a wealth of experience. 2004 was the writer’s first election. I remember 1968, and 1972, and 1980, and 1984, and 1988, and 2000, and 2002, and 2004, and 2010.

Especially 2000.

Concern trolling coming from the sort of establishment. Please, Flying Spaghetti Monster, make the stoopid stop.

Now I think the yard sign stays up quite a while longer. And I have plenty of replacements.