When I posted this picture I took of a house here in Austin,* I was informed by commenters that it's just not possible that someone could be be that bad, and it had to be a joke. Well, if it was,** then whoever thinks it's so funny to do stuff like that sure gets around because they hit up Sara Anderson's mom's car, and her mom doesn't live in Austin, as far as I know.

They're also erecting signs in Missouri.

We seem to have the face of the prankster. Because this guy who showed up at McCain/Palin rally with a stuffed monkey that he's stuck an Obama sticker on can't be serious, right? He has to be pretending to be a wingnut, because no one would really do this, would they? (Hat tip.)


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In all seriousness, it's genuinely hard to believe that these people could be for real. I have no idea how it got this bad. The good news is I think this sort of proud ignorance and racism is not being passed down to younger generations. Obviously, some young people are picking up the torch and running with it, but the percentage of the population that are proud ignoramuses is shrinking by generation.

*By the way, some people at Sadly, No seemed to think it was a double wide. It's not. It's a really nice house that, if I had to guess, would probably sell for $400,000 without batting an eye, even in the midst of the bubble bursting. My guess is based on what the asking price on other houses in the neighborhood are. Having advantages like money and the access it buys you---or living in the middle of an enlightened part of the country---doesn't necessarily translate into being a better person. Some people's privileges actually make them meaner and more bitter, weirdly.

**It's not, but you'll be interested to find out what's happened since I took that picture. At first, the entire display came down and was replaced by a sedate McCain/Palin sign. Then the wooden signs went back up, but this time he hung two American flags instead of a Dixie flag and an American flag. So there was clearly some negotiations on how much they wanted to freak out the neighbors going on.