Playing with Fire and an Obama Effigy
People do imbecilic things when alcohol enters the mix. It is a fact of life. On one end of the spectrum, drunkenness promotes relatively harmless buffoonery, whether it is singing along to “Sweet Caroline” completely out of tune at the bars on Water Street or repeatedly professing one’s love for his or her friends and family. Sometimes, the passions of the moment, coupled with inhibitions lowered, push one to act out ill-conceived ideas that the voice of reason would have prevented, such as drunk-dialing. On the other end of the spectrum, a beer- and liquor-swilling patron’s conduct may cross the line into the unlawful.
As the story develops, the burning of a statue of President Obama in West Allis may be in the company of the latter behavior. TMJ4 reported that at the Yester Year’s bar, patrons lit a bust of Obama on fire. The video footage was blurry given the room’s darkness and only focused on the statue placed on the bar, though “hoots and hollers” can be heard in the background. Though West Allis is investigating whether the burning violated the city’s municipal fire code, the Milwaukee District Attorney’s Office will not charge anyone involved in this incident, and the Secret Service has terminated its own investigation.
This incident may very well not prompt legal action beyond those for possible fire code violations. One cannot help but wonder, however, if the First Amendment would provide protection for burning an Obama effigy.