An anti-war shirt has been declared illegal in Louisiana and Oklahoma. In both states it is illegal to sell the T-shirt, which features the words ‘Bush Lied‘ on the front, and lists the names of all fallen troops (2,803 at the last count) on the back.
Table of contents for Lest We Forget
- Lipstick
- Google - the evil empire?
- Presque vu XXXXI
- Himmler - Speaking To His Own
- Evil? I Don’t Think So.
- Can the President Pardon Himself?
- Bush Acting Strangely? - I Don’t Believe It
- Paul Wolfowitz and Accountability
- Presque vu XXXX
- Presque vu XII
- Subversive Vanity Fair
- Bush Lied
- Science and Reason
- The Dixie Chicks
- Egyptian blogger sentenced to four years
- Women at Work
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Mar 2nd, 2007 at 12:32 pm
The irony is of course that T-shirts with the words ‘Fuck Bush’ are probably legal, but truth hurts more than slander.
If they start by outlawing t-shirts you wonder what will be next to go…
jb says: I think we can guess, Andrew.
Mar 2nd, 2007 at 4:14 pm
Thanks for that link. Since I live in a more progressive state — NY feels like a different planet compared to LA or OK — I might just have to increase my tee shirt selection. I do have a bumper sticker: Safe Politics: No Bush No Dick
jb says: You can’t have too many t-shirts, Ann.
Mar 3rd, 2007 at 8:52 pm
How wonderfully fascist it’s all becoming. Or has become, I should say. Who’d have thought we’d end up with torture, for example, back in Western democracies, as seemingly acceptable. How much hard-won civilisation dumped with so little fuss.
jb says: One can only agree with a sad shake of the head. Incredible what one learns in a lifetime. And that these things are ushered back in in exactly the same way that they were introduced the last time round.
Mar 10th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
The concept that people might buy a shirt because it is illegal in two states led me to look into what specific legislation has been passed. The illegality of these shirts are a result of legislation in OK (HB2643) and LA (HB1304) that establishes “penalties [a fine of up to $1,000 or up to one year in prison] for the commercial use of a soldier’s name or likeness without consent from the soldier or the soldier’s family.” These were signed into law by Democratic governors (Brad Henry and Kathleen Blanco, respectively). Similar federal legislation is pending, but these state bills were written following complaints brought by the families of dead soldiers who are depicted on the shirts.
Since this legislation would also prevent some “Git ‘er Done” hawk from selling a t-shirt that depicts Casey Sheehan, I feel that while I would like to add “Bush Lied They Died” to my “86 / 43″ and “Chimpeachment Now” t-shirt collection, my personal desire to express my opinion is outweighed by my respect for all victims of this war and their families.
“People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.” - V
jb says: Thanks, Randall. So if we leave it up to guys like you the body count in Bush’s war will just keep on rising . . .
Jul 12th, 2007 at 9:19 am
As a Marine, who has been to Iraq, and who has known personally a handful of the names on that shirt, I say BRAVO! Not only will I be buying one to wear (on leave of course, could NEVER get away with that here on base), I will be buying a second one to keep in mint condition to show my children someday.
We have to learn from our past mistakes. The Vietnam Memorial makes this painfully clear. Will there ever be an Iraq War Memorial? Perhaps, but I’m not going to leave that to chance. I’ll be saving this shirt as an heirloom. ESPECIALLY now because people are trying to silence those of us who beg to differ.
Speaking of Vietnam… Those who would take offense at the names of the fallen being sold on a product: POW bracelets wern’t free either. Grow up. This is how change happens.
jb says: Thanks, Dale. Thanks a lot. It’s good to know you’re there.