Strip club owner invokes a sign from above to criticize president
By ERNEST HOOPER
Published May 18, 2004
It was just before lunch Friday when the banner, roughly 18 feet wide and 7 feet high, went up on the side of Joe Redner's abandoned warehouse near the Tampa Convention Center.
A woman spotted it and screeched her car to a halt, nearly triggering a rear-end collision with another car, Redner says. The woman shared harsh words with the workers erecting the sign. What message could generate so much anger?
"IS BUSH THE ANTI-CHRIST?"
And you thought only the dancers from Redner's Mons Venus night club could stop traffic.
Redner has a long history of fighting to protect his adult entertainment establishments and First Amendment rights. He is no stranger to controversy, but this latest move may draw more ire than any of his nude dance crusades.
Asked if he realized the sign would strike a nerve with people, Redner said, "You just gave me more incentive. That's exactly what I want to do."
The banner is intended to be a stinging indictment of the president. Redner faults Bush for everything from his environmental policy to the Patriot Act to his humanitarian record. Redner clearly is no fan of the Iraqi conflict, and you know, I think he really believes Bush is the Antichrist.
But Redner also wants to motivate the religious right. He put up a second sign in Ybor City that says, "BUSH: GOD TOLD ME TO INVADE IRAQ."
"I want to push some good Christians to their limit," Redner said. "They are antagonists and I compare Iraq to a modern-day crusade.
"I think they should go read Revelations and see if he meets the criteria. If they believe that type of stuff, they can't immediately dismiss that he is not. The Antichrist, by definition, is a master deceiver."
When people learn the sign belongs to Redner, the backlash is likely to be swift. WFLA radio host Todd Schnitt, who doubles as morning host MJ Kelli of WFLZ-FM 93.3, put a picture of the banner on his Web site and called Redner a nasty name.
Schnitt, who supports Redner's right to operate strip clubs, had a heated exchange with Redner on the Tuesday afternoon show.
"So are you saying if we run our fingers through the president's hair we'll find the number 666 on his scalp?" Schnitt jested.
But Redner said it's the dominance of conservative radio and hosts such as Schnitt and Rush Limbaugh that prompted him to post such an eye-catching message.
"You can't get on radio and say anything bad about Bush, or they'll eat you up," Redner said. "Bush has his propaganda ministry out there and this is just my way of communicating."
Interestingly, Redner said he was inspired by a 2002 article written by conservative Pensacola Baptist minister and radio talk show host Chuck Baldwin.
What's that they say about politics and bedfellows?
Baldwin, the vice presidential nominee for the Constitution Party, could not be reached Monday. In his article, he concluded that Bush, while not the Antichrist, possessed more deceptive qualities than former President Bill Clinton.
It all sounds a little crazy, but amid the rhetoric I spot some issues more important than Antichrist claims and references to The Omen.
At its core, Redner's banner is about dissent, and dissent always has been a cornerstone of American policy. We can't let the horrors of terrorism change that, and really, we need to be more vigilant in fighting the overriding emotion of fear.
The problem with Redner's banner is few people will take it seriously. The sensational sign may stop traffic, but it won't press malleable moderates into truly examining Bush's leadership. And the religious right will get so angry that reason will become even more dominated by blind faith.
I'm glad Redner got our attention, but these days we need clear thinking and calculated questions, not eye-popping banners.
The president's policy decisions should not be beyond serious scrutiny, and that scrutiny should come from both sides of the political spectrum.
