UPDATE: Ronnie Ford was seen by his neighbors putting this sign up. This billboard has appeared south of Mustion Creek on the west side of U.S. 63, according to the West Plains Quill [south central Missouri in the Ozark region]. The paper said it was unable to determine who is responsible for the sign.
I grew up in Shannon County, Missouri, which is a very low-income area. I attended school with people who lived in one-room shacks with earthen floors and I recall that when an African-American man hitchhiked into Shannon County, the sheriff picked him up and drove him to the county line "for his own protection".
I have relatives there who are voting for Barack Obama and they wish they could show their support by putting an Obama-Biden sign in their yard, but they're afraid someone would retaliate against them.
To whomever created that sign - shame on you.
Here's a link to Letters to the Editor for the West Plains Quill newspaper. Please feel free to express your opinions.
Update: Last night I emailed Patriot Boy and he posted the picture on his blog. Don't miss his comments section for funny comments.
The Springfield News-Leader picked up the story and now it's getting wider coverage. It was picked up by Salon.com.
I sent an email to Keith Olbermann in the hope that he'll cover this story on Countdown.
An I-Report on CNN's website has a mention.
Desdinova-Super Villain of the Ozarks has some hillbilly suspects.
The Exaggerator has an especially interesting post comparing the image on this billboard to those images from our racist past.
UDPATE II: A news report in video can be viewed at OzarksFirst.com. The news story is preceded by a short advertisement. Neighbors report that they saw Ronnie Ford putting the sign there. The West Plains Quill talked to Mr. Ford earlier and he claims he doesn't know who put the sign there even though it's on his property. If I can find a phone number for Ronnie Ford, I'll post it here.
