They don't own the flag and they don't own all the chainsaw art

Posted Election Day, Tuesday morning, November 3, 2010.

Gardiner, New York. Around 8:30 this morning.

I guess they sold the life-size wooden hand-carved Grizzly that stood on its hind legs on top of a log pedestal outside the shop for the last couple of years as mascot and roadside sign, telling you immediately what work goes on here. But it’s still the artist’s open-air studio and gallery, and, as you can see, the artist---or someone in the family---is a painter of signs. Which is a reminder to Republicans: Despite what you think, you don’t own the flag. You don’t own the Constitution. You don't own religion. You don’t own all the guns even. And you don’t own all the chainsaws or all the chainsaw art.