"Peace: A 'Divisive' Concept"

Political activism and expression seems to be experiencing significant scrutiny in recent months. In this age of great political controversy, "architectural control committees" and home owners associations are beginning to impede on these first amendment rights of expression. An article I recently came across from the Houston Chronicle discusses the outlandish expectations of these ridiculous associations. I have never lived in a community with a Home Owners Association or any similar governing body other than the township itself, so such laws are extremely surreal to me. In the case cited in the article entitled "Peace: A 'Divisive' Concept," a Colorado woman placed a christmas wreath on her door that was in the shape of a peace sign. Various neighbors complained that the wreath was against the war with Iraq, and the Home Owners Association ordered that it be removed from her window.
While a sign of peace does not seem deivisive to me, the mere fact that an association can order the removal of any sign from a home owner's yard confuses me. Even if she did mean for the wreath to represent an anti-war message, that too is an opinion that should be respected under the US Constitution. Additionally, I can't help but see such organizations as the "Architectural Control Committee" as Orwellian euphemisms for outlandish control over personal actions.
Even more interestingly, this image of an ideal suburban neighbor full of labradors and white fences is just the American image our society loves to portray. Just as LaFeber explains in Michael Jordan, the capitalist motivation has begun to break down cultural characteristics. The generic, controlled environment that results seems disinteresting to most. As our suburban communities begin to be controlled entirely by such associations, the nondescript lifestyle that results is that same way of life we are selling to other countries.
Overall, I thought this article was a good representation of changes in America that will undoubtedly be processed by globalization and reach into the cultures of foreign nations.
Here's the full article if you're so inclined...