Article Courtesy of St. Petersburg Times

By STEPHANIE HAYES
Published April 28, 2006

WESTCHASE — The Daily Show with Jon Stewart’s crack reporting shed light on a frightening new class of rebels, the ruthless and reckless owners of — gasp — lawn kitsch.
  

Leading the “Westchase insurgency”? Army wife Stacey  Kelley , who got in trouble with her neighborhood association for having a “Support Our Troops” sign in her yard.
  

“I could barely see her semidetached house beneath this in-your-face, 24- by-8-inch troop-supporting monstrosity,” pseudo-reporter Jason Jones said.
   

“That’s disgusting,” he sneered, walking past the ribbon-shaped sign.
  

The segment, which was filmed two weeks ago in the northwest Hillsborough planned community, aired on Comedy Central’s fake news show Thursday  night.
   

“That was hilarious,” Kelley’s mother Gloria Nelson said of the show. Kelley and her husband, David, who is home on leave from Iraq, were on vacation Friday . “Stacey called me. She was laughing. She said, 'Mom, that was so funny.’ ”
  

Hard hitting news? Hardly. But Westchase, known for strict deed restrictions, took some punches to the gut.

    
A portion of a map of Westchase was likened to male anatomy. There were comparisons to Levittown, N.Y., Celebration, Fla., and Jonestown, Guyana, site of a infamous cult mass suicide.
    

Oh, yes. They went there. With a huge Kool-Aid pitcher and everything.
   

“(The sign) is obviously a serious issue for Westchase,” said Bob Flowers of Westchase’s Glenfield village, who gave association president Daryl Manning high marks for granting an on-camera interview. “ But sometimes looking at the lighter side of things helps put things into perspective.”
  

Manning, who  had not seen the show as of Friday  afternoon, played it straight even when Jones explained a rule from his own hometown of New York — you can’t keep a dead hooker in your apartment for more than three days.Awkward silence.“Ants,” Jones said.
   

“Yeah, I actually came from New York City as well,” Manning said. “I used to live there and I know about the ant problem.”
   

The Daily Show’s live audience roared.
   

Manning then drove Jones through the streets of Westchase for a little police work. Jones had a megaphone and was not afraid to use it.
  

“You, with the crystal meth lab,” he blared. “You are committing a serious crime. Your grass is an inch too long.

   
 “You, sir, beating your wife. You parked on the wrong side of the street. Please park on the other side. Thank you.”
   

When Jones spotted a pink Easter egg sign with a yellow chick popping out, he blasted his siren, saying, “Oh Christ, let’s move on this.” He dive-bombed the sign and wrestled it to the ground.