Liberals in Limestone, Alabama are enraged after the school board voted to keep an advertisement next to the high school’s score board that read “Go Trump #MAGA.”
“This is a clear, unambiguous endorsement of a current candidate running for office in a presidential election,” local resident James Hickman ranted on Facebook. “This sign represents paid partisan political speech displayed 365 days a year on public school property.”
Hickman wrote that he and his wife Sandy “absolutely object” to the Make America Great Again message, but they’re most disgusted that the district “opened the door for local and outside advertisers with deep pockets, plus individuals, seeking to influence our children and our opinions, to purchase advertisements containing all manner of political messages and viewpoints.”
James and Sandy think everyone should bombard the superintendent and school board members with messages to get their way.
Ken Hines, with the Limestone County Democrats, sides with the Hickmans.
“We don’t believe that either party should have signs in schools, endorsing candidates or endorsing political parties,” he told WHNT. “It would be an affront to logic to say that ‘Go Trump #MAGA’ is not a political sign.”
Skip Van Pamel, owner of Veep Electric, said he buys ads next to the score board every year to support schools in northern Alabama, and a previous sign at East Limestone High School that did not contain the MAGA message was damaged in a storm in 2018. Van Pamel added the support for Trump when he purchased the new sign and heard some grumbles about it during last year’s football season.
This year, someone complained to the school board.
“Frankly, I’m amazed at the fact I’m standing here today,” Van Pamel told the board at a meeting earlier this month. “I’m standing here today to defend a sign that not only advertises my business but expresses our support for the president of the United States.”
Van Pamel said the Make America Great Again hat and business shirts he designed display the same support for Trump to encourage others who agree to become clients. The News Courier reports the shirts “featured the company’s name in a Harley Davison-style logo on the back and additional support of President Donald Trump on the front.”
“These shirts, just like our sign, are not aggressive, do not attack any specific demographic or contain any offensive subject matter,” he said, adding that he doesn’t care if folks are triggered by the #MAGA.
Superintendent Tom Sisk told the news site he’s reviewed a lot of signs for how they jibe with the district’s policy against political signage, and the Veep Electric sign is fine.
“It has to say ‘vote for’ or the year (the candidate is) being elected, or it has to be directly affiliated with that candidate,” Sisk said.
Regardless, Hickman continues his crusade to rid the district of all things political, while Van Pamel argues students could use more exposure to civics and politics, not less.
“There’s been nothing but nonsense, and people out there decrying his election. ‘Not my president, wah wah wah,’ so I thought that a show of support for the president was what was needed,” Van Pamel said. “I could see if there was some kind of maybe negative message of any kind up there. I believe that would be a violation of policy.”
“I support the president, I voted for him,” he said. “But there’s no hidden agenda behind it.”
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