Most likely. I would love to have a Trump 2020 or a MAGA sign in the window of my townhouse to scandalize all my uber-liberal neighbors, but fear of vandalism is exactly why I don’t.
(raises hand)
If you just want to piss off liberals, why not try the confederate flag?
My educated guess is that the department ordered their employees to not show any overt signs right now.
During Occupy Wall Street, I worked for a financial firm and we were told not to wear any company polos or badges outside of the office.
Guy probably values his job more than his politics.
What a morally profound and admirable motivation.
If I were a betting man (which I’m not) I’d think in order of likelihood the reasons are:
> His wife has said / heard something about rioters targeting such residences and asked him to take it down
> the dept has issued some sort of directive against overt political displays
> damage to the flag
> a change of mind
Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.
I, too, suspect the employer made a point of discouraging outward political displays for now. If the OP was hoping the neighbor may have heard or seen something that they disagreed with, or that something was the final straw, etc., I sincerely doubt that. A person that spends money on a Trump 2020 flag and raises it on a flagpole (…that has a flagpole in their yard in the first place…) is probably NOT going to have an “oh, shit!” moment where they realize their error.
Actually, that’s exactly what I had hoped. Thanks for ruining my afternoon with your sober pragmatism. 
When the police car is there I would assume the officer is there. When it’s not the armed officer isn’t but the family probably still is.
And I know it’s ridiculous to think anyone would be targeting cops. Ffs is right. Just ridiculous.
That article doesn’t mention it but the person they arrested is also suspected in killing the Federal Protective Services Officer in Oakland.
LOL sorry about that! If anyone can produce an example of a real, live human being, someone with a belly button, a Trump supporter, who has become disillusioned with Trump and plans to switch sides and vote D all the way down the ballot, I would be greatly interested in seeing that.
Me, too.
I do wonder how the most devoted are processing the “BunkerBoy” and “Baby-Gate” memes going around. Not all of them could have completely avoided the widespread contempt for Trump’s efforts to build physical walls around the White House. Even those who watch nothing but FoxNews may be aware of the miles of fencing—and may be given pause by it.
After all, is a Truly Strong Hero, who already is protected by Secret Service and Marines, really justified in being so terrified?
Does the news give the Trumpites any reservations about their idol? A few of them? Just a little bit?
By the way, for anyone who hasn’t seen this: the latest Randy Rainbow creation, “Bunker Boy,” is amazing:
Was talking that over with a guy who used to work in corrections so knows a lot of cops. It is probably a strongly suggested idea from above to stay as apolitical as possible during the heightened time of tension. The first amendment may not allow the department to forbid a private political display, but they can make your work life hell and all of a sudden you find yourself working the weekend overnight shift handling DUIs and messy domestic disputes rather than a more desirable assignment.
It is easy to fill in your own reasons for what the neighbor did as long as you don’t bother asking him, isn’t it?
Is it normal where you live to knock on the doors of complete strangers and ask them why they’ve taken a particular action? Because that would be considered pretty odd here, even though people are usually pretty friendly.
My first thought was that a person he cares about caught a bad case of COVID-19. The one person I know who used to be a big Trump supporter, and now isn’t going to vote for him (isn’t sure she’s going to vote for Biden-- may just abstain) flipped when her mother became very ill from COVID-19, was in the hospital for weeks, and is now in a convalescent center, spending “my inheritance” (she says this kind of wryly-- I don’t think she begrudges her mother living, but I thinks she definitely wants to blame someone for the money being gone).
Thing is, she was something of a COVID doubter for a while, and parroted everything Trump said, from hydrochloroquin to “who needs a mask?” and calling it the “Chinese virus” right up until her mother got sick. That woke her up.
One other possibility is that the homeowner has a SO who has become less tolerant of Individual-ONE and firmly requested (e.g., “until you do, you’re not getting any”) that it be taken down.
I am absolutely not saying Trump is finished or that he can’t rebound, but this was one of those rare stretches in which I’ve felt Trump Land was vulnerable, on its heels. This was reminiscent of Charlottesville, and the damage he sustained is probably even worse given how he was perceived in response to the coronavirus.
The country is facing real challenges right now, and circumstances are testing Americans’ usual self-congratulatory views of self. Trump isn’t helping himself right now.
But it does make them less obviously an * asshole* cop.
It is, however, normal in many places to have a preexisting relationship (usually acquaintance level) with your neighbors, and thus be able to bring it up in your usual idle chit-chat.
Granted, since this one has political implications, it might be a bit harder to pull off. I might have been able to do ask why they dropped a Bush/Cheney sign, but it’s much harder with a Trump sign.