8 August—Yesterday’s Sunday Republican ran a front-page-over-the-fold story on anti-Biden signs and flags in Torrington that tend to be rather crass, especially pissing off neighbors with kids who are subjected to words like fuck and shit. In politics? In Torrington? Anti-Biden? Go on. As if the innocent little angels don’t use those words almost as much as their hypocritical, censorious, pain-in-the-ass parents.

The story mentioned that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1971 Cohen v. California decision reversing the Flake State’s trial and appeal courts, established that, thanks to the First Amendment, the government cannot criminalize the use of profane words in public places. As Justice John Marshall Harlan II’s majority opinion reminded the oversensitive, people offended by dirty words “could effectively avoid further bombardment of their sensibilities by averting their eyes.” (The Cohen decision was, rather surprisingly, five to four, and crossed liberal-conservative lines, as was possible in those halcyon antediluvian times, despite the Vietnam war going on.)

A Democratic (of course) Torrington city councilor lamented that there must be something the city could do in the face of such “crudity,” some way to “protect kids from this coarsening of our society.” Oh, the horror! There certainly is: Heed Mr. Justice Harlan’s suggestion, asshole. Live with it.

It occurred to me that the Sunday Republican story was limited to anti-Biden crudity, implicitly pro-Trump. Nothing anti-Trump, however. Could the reporters have been evincing a bias, inadvertently or otherwise? So I considered some more. Till my brain couldn’t take the unusual pressure.

My conclusion? No bias at all. It’s simply that, first, even though Trump is still being a nuisance to good people and a threat to the country, he’s no longer president (and hopefully won’t be again or even come close); and, second—and perhaps more to the point—even if he were president (or threatening to be), people would be afraid to display anti-Trump signs and banners.

That’s right, normal, civilized, civil people are afraid of Trump’s hooligans. While certainly not all Trump supporters are ruffians or villainous maniacs like the morons who invaded the Capitol, his followers have nevertheless earned a reputation of being rather more intemperate and violent than intelligent, thoughtful, rational people.

Lawn signs and flags likely would be vandalized or even stolen by Trump’s horde of savage misfits. No doubt about it. Back in October of 2020, a Biden-Harris sign I had put up (to express my utter disdain for Trump rather than my support for Biden and Harris, to be sure) among signs for Republican candidates whom I actually supported for state office was vandalized. Wasn’t even anti-Trump, except by implication.

I wrote at the time, in Litchfield.bz, “the vandalism—sixth-degree larceny, a class C misdemeanor in Connecticut—very likely was perpetrated by one or more of the antisocial thugs belonging to Trump’s Outrageous Nincompoop Goons—the dreaded and dreadful TONG. But I can’t say for sure.” (Apologies to goons, by the way, especially the Goons.)

Think about it. I’m thinking about it as I type. And I’d think twice about putting an anti-Trump magnet or sticker on my car, lest it be keyed or otherwise vandalized. Then I’d think again and again. An anti-Trump lapel pin or button, on the other hand . . .