Thursday, April 03, 2003

Tie a Yellow Ribbon and Watch the Fur Fly

It began as a thimble-size dispute in the tiny South Jersey town of Fieldsboro, which ordered last week that some ribbons be removed from a sign welcoming drivers to the borough of 522 people.

But those ribbons, it turns out, were yellow. And the ruling by Mayor Edward Tyler that they violated a local ordinance banning displays on public property has thrust little Fieldsboro into the eye of a national, and even international, maelstrom.

The ban has been chronicled by news organizations from the local talk-radio station to the British Broadcasting Corporation. The coverage, in turn, has drawn condemnation worldwide from supporters of America's troops in Iraq, who believe ? like the mayor's opponents here ? that Mr. Tyler is behaving a bit like, well, a certain Iraqi dictator.

People, people, people...a little perspective please. Our boys are dying and you're comparing a small-town mayor to Saddam. What an insult to our troops.

Kansas @ 3:02 AM