Palin billboard goes up in SF's Castro district

[Newsjock]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's smiling face was beaming over San Francisco's Castro District today, after the conservative Liberty and Freedom Foundation decided to unveil a billboard at the corner of Market and Castro to push her visit next week to the South Bay.

As our Chronicle comrade Carolyn Lochhead reported earlier this week, Palin will be speaking at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts on Oct. 14. Promoters of her event (there's still tickets) said they could think of no better place to remind about her visit than in the shadow of the Castro's landmark rainbow flag; they unveiled the Palin sign today in a ceremony pushed by conservative radio station KSFO 560 AM.

"The Castro is supposed to be about a message of tolerance, and we hope that tradition stays,'' Victor Cocchia, executive director of Liberty and Freedom Foundation told us. "We were looking for a place to spend our ad dollars, and this came up..and we thought, "That's what this is all about."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/nov05election/detail?entry_id=74044&tsp=1

[tridim]

1. Good luck billboard.

Have at it SF!

[kenny blankenship]

2. Talk about barking up the wrong tree!

[Ken Burch]

3. Are there any significant number of drag performers who play Sarah?

It'd be interesting to see if one of them could "pass" as her well enough to get past security and do the speech in her place.

[Newsjock]

4. The consensus is that it's a deliberate provocation

So teh gheys will deface/protest/destroy/whine/whatever, and then KSFO -- one of the nation's worst scum-of-the-earth hate-talk stations -- and Fox News can run a week of stories about teh intolerant gheys.

But why should "tolerance" extend to "tolerating" those who want us silent or, worse yet, dead?

The most interesting aspect is that the "billboard" is actually a sign placed over the sign for a gas station, which some believe might well be a violation of the city's sign ordinance. And it's a rather safe bet that the gas station in question just lost much of its key business. (Yes, $3.09/gal for regular is a somewhat good price in SF these days.)

[depakid]

9. How about doing something creative and artiistic for them to talk about

Come on, this is the bay area- no shortage of talent!

[Bluenorthwest]

14. "A" gas station?

Which brand is it? People should know the name of the station. Is it an independent?

[Newsjock]

15. It's a one-shot independent

It's a former Arco station, and the owners merely painted over the A and the O to make it the "RC" gas station. (That's why the price sign still looks very Arco-ish, although if you look real close, you can see that the Arco logos have been painted over on each grade.)

A commenter on this story at SFist notes:
I think the station owner is full-on insane. She drives a big S-class mercedes, painted metallic purple. I stopped buying gas there when I saw her verbally abusing one of the employees.

http://sfist.com/2010/10/07/sarah_palin_event_banner_at_castro.php

[proteus_lives]

5. I think Palin will end up being very camp.

I can see her in a John Waters film.

[asdjrocky]

6. That won't last long. nt

[one_voice]

7. They are trying to provoke the community...

to prove we (liberals)are intolerant and destructive. What they're doing is small and petty. Don't stoop to their level. I wouldn't deface or damage the sign in any way. I would however, put up a sign of my own with Palin's comments that high lite her intolerance.

She'll look like the hypocrite she is, and the conservative liberty and freedom foundation will look like fools.

[jillan]

17. Yep - that was my first thought as well....you know she wants to bash liberals, esp those living in

San Francisco! I hope it's left alone too.

[givemebackmycountry]

8. Comments-

"Are those the prices of gas or the prices to see her?"

The Billboard sits on top of a gas station pole.

:rofl:

[NOLALady]

10. Yep.

They are trying to provoke a negative response

[eleny]

11. "message of tolerance" my ass

how annoying. but that's what the conservatives do best.

[Gormy Cuss]

12. Cocchia is so full of it. Of course this is meant to be provocative.

KSFO loves to stir the pot like this. IMHO the best reaction is to ignore it, making the "ad" a complete waste of money.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

13. Remember how upset the Pailns got

when that writer moved in next door in Wasilla?

They put a big fence.

[Zorra]

16. I see a little black "toothbrush" fuehrer type mustache in the future of that sign.

Lots of talented, creative artists in the Castro.

[EFerrari]

18. We need sign holders down here at the Center

"Barbie Go Home!" "Half Baked Alaska on Sale!" "Refudiate Mooselini!"

[HughBeaumont]

19. I see an errant bucket of black paint in that sign's future . . .

[Historic NY]

20. A little lip stick goes a long way.............

:evilgrin: