"Offensive" vanity tag yanked by Washington officials
JULY 21--This is the story of GOTMILF. In May 2002, Michael Syravong filed the below "personalized license plate application" with Washington's Department of Licensing. GOTMILF was Syravong's first choice among the three possible personalized tags he listed on the state form (he would have settled for SUPL8EZ or RCKSTAR). Asked for the meaning of GOTMILF, Syravong wrote, "Manual Inline Lift Fluctuator," which he would later claim was some kind of automotive gizmo. The 25-year-old software engineer's license plate choice was, amazingly, approved by bureaucrats who obviously never saw the film "American Pie" and were clueless about the acronym's real meaning. In February, 21 months after Syravong got the personalized plate for his Toyota (pictured above), an aggrieved Washingtonian e-mailed a complaint to state officials. A second beef was received in April from a disgusted Snohomish parent who did not want "my children seeing this and inquiring as to what it means."

No 1st Ammendment rights for vanity car tags...