St. Olaf College ousts a professor who blogged about tearing down a McCain sign.

The college did not appreciate his on-line confession of a crime.

Here's Phil Busse's Huffington post item, called "Confessions of a Lawn Sign Stealer":

[T]he oversized 4 x 8 foot mini-billboard in front of the ranch-style farm house... barely fit in the back of my Subaru. But I carted it away with seven other lawn signs that, like a ninja under the cover of cloudy Minnesota night, I "removed."...

[Y]anking out the signs and running like a scared rabbit back to my idling car was one of the single-most exhilarating and empowering political acts that I have ever done.

Today, national politics amounts to slick TV ads and choreographed stump speeches. A vote often feels like a raindrop in an ocean. But this illicit act of civil disobedience was something visceral. It was unscripted and raw expression. It was a chance to stop talking about theories and projections and get my hands dirty. Of course, I realized there was the very real chance my antics in rural Minnesota would be met with a shotgun, or at least a hockey dad tackling me.

Or losing your job and getting convicted of a crime. Civil disobedience, by the way, includes taking the punishment. You don't get away with crimes because you view yourself as heroic.

But unlike stealing a lawn gnome or a plastic pink flamingo, I admit, stealing a lawn sign is a more heinous crime. There is moral and ethical guilt. I believe in free speech, and also believe and encourage political expression. I guess I could argue that I was flexing my free expression to say "shut up."...

I reached the sign and, for the first time, recognized its sublime size. It stood as tall as me. I grabbed one of the steel rods holding the signs; but unlike the smaller signs, it did not yield. I wrapped my hands tighter around the stake as if I were a Little Leaguer stepping to bat for the first time, and I squatted, thrusting my legs.

Please don't mix sexual imagery -- grabbed... steel rods... did not yield... wrapped my hands tighter... squatted, thrusting ... legs -- with the image of a Little Leaguer.

Anyway, what terrible judgment, including the notion that confessing to your crimes on line transforms them into protected -- and even admirable -- free speech.

ADDED: He was a temporary visiting professor, so perhaps his loss of the position -- along with a conviction for the crime -- is worth it to him. He has acquired a small scoopful of fame. More here:

For his actions, Busse could face up to 90 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine...

... Busse expressed remorse for stealing the signs, saying that the thefts were “immature and impetuous.”

“Writing the essay was an opportunity to explore and talk about political speech and the desire that most of us have to express our politics — both in mature and immature ways, and sometimes a mix of the two,” Busse said.... “I’m disappointed that most readers seem to have focused on the thefts, and not on the larger thoughts.”

Here's a thought: Maybe your thoughts are not large.