Sponsored message
Logged in as
Audience-funded nonprofit news
radio tower icon laist logo
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Subscribe
  • Listen Now Playing Listen

This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.

This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.

Arts & Entertainment

Someone Expertly Repurposed An Old Obama Campaign Sign Into A Cry For Help

barackobama_help.jpg
(Photo courtesy of Steve Byrnes)

One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.

Desperate times call for desperate lawn ornaments. Residents of one Pacific Palisades home have gone full S.O.S., sending out a not-so-subtle message to passerby about their feelings on the current state of the nation. And they had just the prop needed to make their point: a lawn sign from former President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign, repurposed as a plaintive plea for help.

On Monday, Santa Monica writer Steve Byrnes was on a brisk walk with his friend Lauren when he encountered the sign, which replaces "2012" with the word "HELP!" written in what appears to be purple marker. "I sort of laugh-cheered," he said. "It was simple, yet profound. Expressing what so many of us are feeling."

"It was like a Craigslist ad on a stick," Byrnes mused. "We have the bad father running our country, the angry, drunken father... And a mere two months ago, we had the good father. The reasonable, kind father. And then I took the picture."

If this is your sign, please contact us at tips@laist.com because we would like to know your story, and honestly also just be friends.

One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.

You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.

If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief

Make your tax-deductible donation today