There is a series of road signs mocking President Obama about 88 miles south of Seattle along the I-5 corridor. You will love these signs if you are a fan of Teabonics. If higher “Taxe” concerns you, if you are “prabably” a terrorist or if you are concerned ordinary American citizens are being replaced by “Comerades” then you are at the right place.
The original source of these photos seems to be this forum posting from late 2010:
http://forum.punjabijunktion.co.in/f6/funny-obama-signs-find-near-chehalis-washington-88758/
Sometime shortly thereafter, inflammatory headlines along with the following text has been added, resulting in a viral distribution of this myth spreading to literally hundreds of Tea Party and right-wing websites, blogs and forums.
“The federal government is now petitioning to have these signs removed or Washington state will be denied additional monies for interstate highways.
The State of Washington replied, they will secede from the Union rather than be intimidated. These are a matter of free speech paid for by a private citizen.
It seems the Obama government uses intimidation and ignores the first amendment when they want to silence someone.”
The obvious problem is that there is no truth to the notion that the feds “petitioned” anyone to remove the signs, nor any credibility to the notion they are going to withhold money from Washington. There is also no credibility to the notion that Washington State has even acknowledged these signs, much less threatened to secede from the union over it.
Apparently NO ONE in the right-wing blogosphere can be bothered to confirm such ridiculous claims before running around in an outrage and repeating the claim in spite of a lack of sources like it was the gospel truth.
Here is a sprinkling of sites reposting these lies, but there are literally hundreds of them out there using this lie to attack President Obama. Do a quick check on Google and see for yourself.
- http://www.teapartytribune.com/2012/02/05/on-i-5-88-miles-south-of-seattle/
- http://teapartyorg.ning.com/forum/topics/northbound-i-85-washington-to-secede?commentId=4301673%3AComment%3A782605&xg_source=activity
- http://itmakessenseblog.com/2011/02/06/these-signs-appear-on-northbound-on-i-5-near-chehalis-wa-88-miles-south-of-seattle-they-speak-for-all-of-us/
- Source Links – August 29, 2020
- About Pat Warde: Eulogy Tribute by Eleanor Hughes – April 1, 2019
- Editorial Note – January 15, 2019
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