A thread at another forum I frequent spun off on a tangent that got me thinking: What do you folks think about bumper stickers, shirts etc with political or social messages on them? At the other site I'm talking about a person claimed that a fellow commuter harangued him over a political bumper sticker on his car and that the ensuing argument almost came to blows.

Now I'm all for freedom of speech and expression, but at some point doesn't this create some situations where you're cutting off your nose to spite your face? It may be fun to have a "Bad cop, no donut!" bumper sticker, for instance, but will that be an advantage to you if you're pulled over? The probably goes for stickers proclaiming your membership in AA (ie "Easy does it."). You'd like to think a professional not be swayed by this but LEO's are human, too. If you roll a red light or make abrupt lane changes and the cop knows you're a recovering alcoholic, with that be the tipping event to get you stopped?

And how about just social stuff. LEO's by and large tend to be conservative- your pro-PHRASECENSOREDPOSTERSHOULDKNOWBETTER. and pro-choice stickers aren't going to necessarily get you brownie points. By the same token, if you're driving thru an inner city in a predominently black area you won't help yourself by having racist slogans on your bumper. The list goes on and on.

Lastly it's fun to hang our opinions out there but really, what good does it do? Will me seeing your anti-PHRASECENSOREDPOSTERSHOULDKNOWBETTER. sticker be the event that finally galvanizes me to vote for Perry? Will my "Country Sucks!" T-shirt convince you to burn your Merle Haggard LPs?

Just curious where you folks weigh in on the issue.