Fear of Pumpkin Attacks

This weekend, a giant inflatable pumpkin stack in my family's front yard was torn apart by vandals. It was clear that they had taken the Obama sign out of our yard and used it to tear the material sometime Sunday night. Monday morning we found the pumpkin with giant holes in it, and the Obama sign taken out of our yard, laying next to the pumpkin with a bent wire. We had a different Obama sign that was stolen, and now this one was used to destroy our fun Halloween decoration. My family called the police to report the vandalism, and they came over for an interview Monday night. They told my dad that yard signs belonging to both the McCain and Obama signs have been vandalized and stolen recently in Wilmette, and suggested that we put the sign away. I think it is terrible that people cannot do something to express their political views as simple as a yard sign without having to worry about vandalism. People need to be able to express their political opinions without fear that their personal property will not get punished. During the Salem witch trials, people were afraid to express their opinions because they could get hung for disagreeing with the government. While a hanging and a pumpkin attack are two entirely different stories, the question still remains the same; do we hide our opinions from fear of getting hurt, or speak out and risk the consequences? My family is deciding to speak out by putting the Obama sign out during the day to show our support, but taking it down at night to make sure our other Halloween decorations are not vandalized. In this case, we were able to find a solution to speak out but still be safe, but that is not always the case. During the times of McCarthyism, government officials who spoke out against McCarthy's policies were punished, because this was viewed as a suspect for communism.