Praxis: "He looks so mean, gruesome and evil." Of Jokers, Swastikas and the Street Propagandist's Best Friend -- Pet Milk.

OK, guys and gals, let's have a few words about effective street propaganda. Here's an example of how not to do it.

Swastika painted at Georgia congressman's office

By BEN EVANS, Associated Press Writer Ben Evans, Associated Press Writer – Tue Aug 11, 4:45 pm ET

WASHINGTON – A swastika was found Tuesday painted on a sign outside Rep. David Scott's district office, an act the Georgia Democrat said reflects an increasingly hateful and racist debate over health care and should serve as a reminder for people to tone down their rhetoric.

Scott's staff arrived at his Smyrna, Ga., office Tuesday morning to find the Nazi graffiti emblazoned on a sign bearing the lawmaker's name. The vandalism occurred roughly a week after Scott was involved in a contentious argument over health care at a community meeting.

Scott, who is black, said he also has received mail in recent days that used N-word references to him, and that characterized President Barack Obama as a Marxist.

"We have got to make sure that the symbol of the swastika does not win, that the racial hatred that's bubbling up does not win this debate," Scott said in a telephone interview. "There's so much hatred out there for President (Barack) Obama."

A moderate Democrat who represents a majority-white district near Atlanta, Scott said he thinks the racism is isolated but can't be ignored. He said the swastika probably was intended as a warning. He hopes it instead persuades reasonable people to maintain a more substantive debate over health care changes.

"We must not allow it to intimidate us," he said.

Scott said his office immediately notified authorities, including the U.S. Capitol Police, who have warned lawmakers about potential threats stemming from the increasingly emotional debate over health care reform. An FBI spokesman said the bureau is investigating along with Capitol Police and the Smyrna Police Department.

Scott's Smyrna office is located in a bank building, so the congressman said he was optimistic that surveillance cameras captured the vandalism.

At an Aug. 1 community meeting in Douglasville, Ga., Scott angrily yelled at protesters who peppered him with questions and complaints about Democratic health care proposals. He has said he was upset that they interrupted a meeting that was supposed to be about plans for a new highway in the area.

OK, now what message does a swastika send in this context? It could be a neoNazi advertising for his pus-filled belief in a dead one-testicled Austrian homosexual prostitute. It could be somebody on our side trying to get across the message that the congressman is a functional Nazi (in the most obtuse fashion possible). It could be that the Congressman (or one of his cromies) wanted to discredit his opposition and get his name in the news. (Most likely, but it is anybody's guess.)

Get the idea? Muddled message. Who knows what was intended or who did it?

This is not to say that spray painting cannot be effective. But you must have the right symbol. A "V" for victory,



or even the shorthand Morse Code version used in World War Two, dot-dot-dot-dash,



say, or an Omega for Resistance,



or hey, what about a III?

Now this is effective street propaganda:



A closer look:



And now we find it has migrated east from LA to central Florida.



Post Office Vandalized With Obama 'Joker' Posters

Posted: 6:14 pm EDT August 11, 2009

CLERMONT, Fla. -- A vocal and graphic Internet campaign attacking
President Barack Obama just hit Central Florida and one of its first targets was a U.S. Post Office (see images). Several Lake County residents called WFTV when they spotted the 'Joker' posters on stop signs and saw workers scraping them off the post office in Clermont.

"He looks so mean, gruesome and evil and this is not something you want to portray your president. Very disrespectful," Clermont resident Charlene Forth told Eyewitness News.

The postmaster told Eyewitness News he was deeply offended by what he saw, as were many residents who drop off mail at that location. He said he was getting so many calls he had to come out and scrape them off himself.

Now, it could well be that there are super glues available today that I am unaware of that make it harder to get a poster off than the little trick I'm about to impart, but I'll guarantee that if there is, it isn't as cheap as this:

Meet the street propagandist's best friend.

Yes, dear friends, it is a can of Pet Milk. Oh, any brand of condensed milk will do in a pinch, but I have a fondness in my heart for Pet. Many are the evil communist posters I put up with Pet Milk in my mis-spent youth, my Benedict Arnold period as I now call it. And fifteen years later, while cruising the University district in Columbus, Ohio with my present (and last) wife, I was able to point out some of them to Rosey; weathered, faded but still legible. "30 Hours Work for 40 Hours Pay! -- Worker's Action Movement" read one of them.



Here's how you do it.

Ingredients: One gallon zip lock bag. One clean cotton washcloth. (Or sponge.) One can of pet milk, poured into the bag as needed. (Remember to have several cans in the car. I remember one fine, soft night we went through hundreds of posters and a couple cases of Pet.) Also, if the modern cans still require it, the ever popular church key to open them.

OK, you put the Pet Milk and the cloth in the zip lock, and the zip lock in a purse, gym bag, whatever, but it needs to be slung over your shoulder and, if possible, attached to your belt so it doesn't go swinging -- very messy. Your partner (this always works best with two poster commandos -- one with the posters, the other with milk -- and at least one lookout) carries the posters individually rolled in a larger gym bag so they can be rapidly pulled without fumbling. (Once we had some monster posters to put up and we used a long baseball player's bat bag.)

Lookout gives the go ahead. You open the zip lock and pull out your soaked washcloth, as the commando with the poster whips it out and places it up against the surface to be postered, front side down. The wiper takes his soaked rag and saturates the back of the poster, making sure to completely cover it. The guy who has been holding the poster against the surface now reverses it, image side up and you both smooth it with your hands. The wiper then gives another coat of Pet Milk to the front, again making sure the entire surface is covered.

With practice it can be done in seconds.

You are now done, and you both walk away casually. Using boy-girl teams for this is not a bad idea, as they appear to be interested in each other rather than the appearance of a couple of manly men who, at first glance of a cop, are probably up to something.

Do not be furtive or act nervous or guilty. Casual. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.

When this miraculous stuff dries, that poster will have to sandblasted off. Forget scraping. It will never come off to mere gentle persuasion and elbow grease, no matter how abrasive.

Pet Milk. Very dangerous stuff. Use it wisely.

Mike
III