To the editor:

The political silly season is upon us once more. The signs are sprouting up like mushrooms after the first heavy fall rain. And like mushrooms, you’d best know what the candidates are before consuming them. Some of them are delicious, some will give you an upset stomach and some are highly poisonous. But that’s not the point of this letter. The point is where and why to post signs.

The purpose of political signs is to demonstrate that the particular candidate is supported by someone in particular. For example, many of us remember well the candidate who had overwhelming support from clearcuts. Every clearcut and vacant lot on Whidbey Island supported that candidate. But even that candidate couldn’t match the support provided to his opponent by that land baron, “For Sale.”

But now, even “For Sale’s” hand picked candidate has been topped in the sign department. It appears that the US Postal Service Freeland facility is backing Tea Party candidate Jeff Lauderdale. Yes, there is a Lauderdale campaign sign on the corner of the Freeland Post Office.

Now, I knew that the Tea Party had taken over the U.S. House of Representatives. But the U.S. Postal Service? Perhaps County Commissioner Kelly Emerson, Lauderdale’s Tea Party mentor, used her superlative inside-the-beltway connections to stage this coup!

Now that the War of 1812 has again been successfully fought and won, the Island County Tea Party has moved into new territory in their struggle for personal liberty — the right to litter public property with political signs.

Steve Erickson

Langley