In what appears to be an homage to Clint Eastwood’s much-maligned debate with an imaginary President Barack Obama at the Republican National Convention, Bud Johnson, a 73-year-old Texas man, has hung an empty chair from a tree in his front yard.
Burnt Orange Report posted the photo of the Austin Republican’s display and interviewed Johnson.
“I don’t really give a damn whether it disturbs you or not,” Johnson told the publication. “You can take [your concerns] and go straight to hell and take Obama with you. I don’t give a sh*t. If you don’t like it, don’t come down my street.”
Johnson is reportedly the August 2010 winner of the Homeowners Association’s “Yard of the Month”
This story comes the same week as reports surfaced of a Georgia bar facing criticism for posting a sign that reads, “I heard the White House smelled like collard greens and fried chicken.”
UPDATE via NBC News: In Virginia, a photo posted on Tuesday on Blue Virginia, a Democratic-leaning political blog, shows an empty chair with a handmade “Nobama” sign strung from a tree by a rope.
The blogger, who goes by the username “lowkell,” said photos of the display were taken with a cellphone by someone who was leaving the KORUS festival, an annual gathering organized by a local Korean-American association, at Bull Run Regional Park in Centreville over the weekend.
“Obviously, it’s beyond grotesque (it also boggles my mind that this was allowed to be put up, let alone to stay up, at a festival presumably visited by thousands of people – wtf?),” lowkell wrote.
Lowkell told NBC News the photo was forwarded to him by a source who “wants to remain anonymous.”