"Boy shocked after man powers up campaign sign"

[GreenPartyVoter]

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Shawn Turschak of Chapel Hill was tired of someone stealing McCain-Palin campaign signs from his yard. Turschak, with a degree in electrical engineering, hooked up a third sign to a power source for an electric pet fence Monday and also put up a surveillance camera.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reported that a 9-year-old boy with an Obama-Biden sign grabbed the McCain-Palin sign and got a jolt on Tuesday.

The boy's father, Andrew Noble, upset that his son had been shocked, showed up at Turschak's door. Soon an Orange County sheriff's deputy also showed up at the Turschak's home.

Noble said his son just wanted to see how the sign was put together. Turschak said the boy intended to swap out the signs.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081030/ap_on_fe_st/odd_shocking_sign

[Athens30603]

1. Damn

This would be funny if it happened to an adult but, damn, it had to b a 9 year old boy, didn't it? Now I feel bad for laughing. :(

[seabeyond]

4. hubby put the wire around his veggies to keep dog out. all three, hubby and two sons have

been shocked by it. from what i hear, (cause i am not so stupid to touch it) isnt the end of the world. or else i would be concerned for kid. i was with mine until they got shocked and no biggie. not fun, but neither is a sticker in foot or paper cut.

[seabeyond]

2. didnt hurt the kids. dont care that it was a mccain sign. good lesson for the kid. IF i was parent

i would get truth from kid. if he had been stealing the signs previously and was going for it again, he would own it to the kid he stole mccain sign and i would apologize to the kid and adults.... wrong is wrong, either side

this isnt a tough one

i dont know why we want it one way for our side, the other for the other side.

theft

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

5. Agreed. Just because the pukes do more of this then us, doesn't make it ok when we do it.

Do onto others...

[seabeyond]

9. THIS is the differrence from the two parties. the STRONG majority says wrong. the few immature

will justify and validate and want to do it.

but mostly du'ers frown at this behavior and state clearly it is wrong. freepervilles, few object. most think it is part of the game and fair campaigning

[DeschutesRiver]

13. Ditto on all points. I haven't lit up a yard sign, but have lit up my horse pasture

and am perfectly okay with a kid getting the snit shocked out of him if he is trying to crawl in there. And as a kid on a small rural parcel, I got bit by electric wire more times that I care to admit. Okay, also as an adult a few days ago, just because I wasn't paying attention.

Obviously, my theory with the horses is that the electric wire is gonna hurt a lot less than my 1100 pound animal, if some kid startles them or just gets in and farts around with them. So I don't give a wing-wang if it upsets their delicate parents.

Same for the kid and the sign - I can assure you that the parent's reaction there is nothing like what my parents' would have been if I'd been caught doing such a thing. It isn't a lark to be a parent, it is a responsibility. Any parent, either side of the aisle, who just wants to be their kid's friend and confidant, isn't really "parenting" if they are blaming the victim of their child's crime.

The sting of the electric wire would have been the least of my concerns. Yep, it is theft, and I would have been back there under parental control, apologizing for what I did, and asking what they'd like me to be doing to make it right.

[thunder rising]

3. make sure it's the boy's fingerprints on the sign (actually I think it's a good idea)

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

6. I Don't Blame The Guy. It'll Give A Kid A Good Jolt, But No Risk Of Harm.

There's no way the kid was just 'seeing how the sign was put together'.

Though it's someone from the opposite side of the fence, I applaud his idea. Gives a vandal a lesson with no risk of fatality or real harm.

[Bucky]

7. I hope the boy wasn't harmed, but swiping peoples' yard signs is wrong & stupid

The punishment certainly doesn't fit the crime (had it been an Obama sign, none of us would buy this "wanted to see how the sign was put together" business), but it's horribly reckless to rig up an electric shocker in your front yard--any of a number of things could go wrong and seriously hurt somebody. The guy deserves a ticket and that kid deserved a strong dressing down.

[anonymous171]

8. lol Pretty good idea

[Forkboy]

10. He should have just shot him.

[Hardrada]

11. And don't piss on an electric farm fence either!

Valuable lessons learned in life.

[Barackattack]

12. Mccain got served

I think the kids dad put him up to it. We are doing fine without stealing signs. Bad press for a stupid sign is unnessary. God this election is freaking stressful! I'm tired of all the talking heads! Let's just get it over with! (I already voted)

On a lighter note, Obama-Mccain dance off: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzyT9-9lUyE