Politics in Today’s America

We got home from church just before noon. As I pulled up to the driveway, I noticed that something was missing in the front yard. I couldn’t immediately think of what it was, and then it hit me, “The yard sign is gone.”

Once we got out of the car, I walked to the front yard and looked around. It rained hard earlier in the day, and I thought that maybe the wind had caught hold of the sign, even though I had the stakes buried pretty deep in the ground. Nope, it wasn’t lying in the ditch, and I didn’t see it anywhere along the street. I concluded that somebody with an opposing political viewpoint decided to remove it.

I told my wife and my daughter that the sign was gone. My daughter asked me eagerly,

“Do you want me to order another one?”

“Uh yeah, sure.”

“How about a flag too?”

“Sure.”

A couple minutes later, she said, “The flag will be here tomorrow. You could put it on the door or hang it on the house above the garage door.”

“Let me think about it.”

I called the police to report the theft. I knew that they probably couldn’t do anything for me, but I couldn’t let it slide either.

The cop showed up a few minutes later. It was Sunday afternoon during a Packer game, so he probably wasn’t very busy. He asked what happened.

I replied, “I had a yard sign in front of the house and now I don’t.”

“Somebody stole it?”

“Yeah.”

“When did you last see it?”

“It was there when I went to bed last night, but it was gone when I came home from church this morning.”

“What kind of sign was it? Biden/Harris?”

“No, Biden isn’t running anymore. It was Harris/Walz.”

The officer nodded, “Yeah. you’re right How much did you pay for it?”

“I don’t know. Maybe seventeen dollars. It’s not much to report.”

The policeman said, “A theft is a theft. Anything else you can tell me?”

“Not really.”

“Do have a camera on your house?”

“No, sorry.”

“If we catch the guy, do just want your sign back, or do you want him arrested?”

I chuckled. “I don’t think you’ll find the guy. If you do, you don’t need to arrest him. Just put the fear of God in the guy.”

“Got it.”

I told him, “The main reason I am reporting this is because whoever stole the sign probably is stealing other signs. I’m probably not the only person missing a sign.”

The cop nodded. “Here’s my card. This is the case number. If you need to do so, call my number and mention the case number.”

The officer left. I thought to myself,

“This is so chickenshit.”

What kind of person sneaks into somebody’s yard to take a political yard sign? It’s just totally gutless. This is what a coward would do.

This is democracy is America in 2024.

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Frank (Francis) Pauc is a graduate of West Point, Class of 1980. He completed the Military Intelligence Basic Course at Fort Huachuca and then went to Flight School at Fort Rucker. Frank was stationed with the 3rd Armor Division in West Germany at Fliegerhorst Airfield from December 1981 to January 1985. He flew Hueys and Black Hawks and was next assigned to the 7th Infantry Division at Fort Ord, CA. He got the hell out of the Army in August 1986.

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