Chad Michael Morrisette thought it would be fun to throw a little politics into his Halloween decorating this year since the holiday comes only four days before the presidential election.
For weeks the life-size mannequin of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin that hung from a noose around its neck in front of Morrisette's West Hollywood home caused little controversy.
But then a news report on the display this week sparked a national uproar, drawing the attention of the Secret Service, upsetting politicians, including one local official who called for a hate crime investigation.
It also prompted MSNBC television host Keith Olbermann on Monday to dub Morrisette "today's worst person in the world."
"This is not the spirit of Halloween, sir," Olbermann said. "It is the spirit of violence."
Offensive as it may be, the Palin doll -- outfitted with beehive wig, glasses and a vintage Neiman Marcus red coat dress -- appears to violate no law, said officials of the Secret Service, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and Los Angeles city Code Enforcement Division.
"The sheriff made this clear: This is a country that has freedom of speech, and we protect that right even when we think it's idiotic and stupid and in bad taste," said Steve Whitmore, spokesman for the Sheriff's Department.
"If it is nonviolent and doesn't cause any problems, then they have the right to do it."
Morrisette, a professional window display designer, and his partner, Mito Aviles, both 28, said they set up the Palin display at their house on North Orange Grove Avenue about three weeks ago.
It also includes a mock-up of presidential candidate John McCain sitting in a chimney surrounded by paper flames.
"If it's a political statement, it's that their politics is scary to us," Morrisette said of the McCain-Palin campaign. "This is our palette and this is our venue of expression."
At first, most of their neighbors either chuckled or applauded the display, Morrisette and Aviles said.
But since it has attracted more media attention, some residents have become concerned that the effigy has cast their community in a bad light, they said.
"We don't want to make enemies with anyone," Aviles said. "This isn't what it was supposed to be about."
Some neighbors expressed mixed feelings Tuesday about the Palin effigy.
