Our country is being run by sh*theads...

[leeroysphitz]

My wife had a T-shirt made for my birthday last month that said "Our country is being run by shit heads" in big white letters on the front.
I haven't worn it out because of the profanity but today I was wearing it around the house doing yard work when I decided to run out and do some errands.

I went to five stores, a Gamestop with my son, a Staples to get some dvd-r's, Farmer jack (a regional grocery chain)to score some dinner (forgot to thaw anything out), 7-11 to get beer and smokes and the gas station (ugh...). I had wholly and completely forgotten about what shirt I was wearing.

I live in Michigan not exactly a RED state but all of my stops were in Taylor, a very dark red enclave of a suburb (any one else see all the wing nut protesters at Heritage Park when John Kerry was there during the campaign?). OK long story short I was, no kidding, 0 for 4. Zero negative comments the whole day (unlike the time I wore my JE$U$ t-shirt to the Toledo zoo) and one person per store offering positive or sympathetic comments, if I got so much as a dirty look I didn't notice it. The young clerk at the 7-11 actually asked me if the shirt was referring to Bush or the oligarchy that really ran things (this amazed and delighted me).

I realize that this may not seem like much of a "victory" or break through and of course it's anecdotal but jeez I can remember taking loads of guff from complete strangers for much smaller signs of dissent and non-conformity only six months ago. I must admit to being somewhat encouraged.

I know that the unwashed masses are fickle; peace sex and drugs one decade, church and hand guns the next but after years of being called a traitor because I know that this war is wrong, and a socialist because I want health care for poor kids and a decent education for all kids, I'll take what I can get.

[TaleWgnDg]

1. Indeed . . . hear, hear !!

.


.

[Hissyspit]

18. Don't forget you can get the slogan on coffee mugs, aprons, tote bags...

sweatshirts, green T-shirts, with DU logo and without, etc. at the DU store. Get yours now in time for Christmas and the Washtington D.C. Sept. 24 protest!

[Dynasty_At_Passes]

2. Nobody cares anymore, they're waking up from their collective dream.....

The emporer is full of shit and its time to throw them all out, the people know whats up.....

[Wapsie B]

3. delete

delete

[Wapsie B]

4. That's a great story.

I have to think that those who have any grey matter left are starting to question things and becoming very uncomfortable with the answers they're getting.


Belated welcome to DU!

[dweller]

5. oh, all over town the locals are talking

'Did you see Leeroy in his Truth shirt today, lawdy' ...

:thumbsup:

dp

[leeroysphitz]

7. Wow

Sarcasm! That's so great!

[Beam Me Up]

6. That's all well and good. Just don't fall for the deception that they are

INCOMPETANT shit heads. They are not so don't let them off the hook. They are TRAITOROUS shit heads. In other words, everything that is happening that seems to us like "incompetence" is actually something THEY, collectively, are INTENDING. Yes, there IS an oligarchy. Yes, they DO want to bring this country to its KNEES. They want to break our economy and our military--and, yes, they want to leave us vulnerable to terrorist attack. That IS what they are doing because this is what they want. It has already paid them very very hansomly. That is precisely what makes them traitors. They ARE the enemy. They overthrew the old worn vestiges of our Republic with the selection of George W Bush in 2000 and began putting into place the legal infrastructure for a totalitarian police state. All they need now is a 'spark' to justify the next level of implementation. They have corrupted our electoral system and they have severely compromised just about every legal safeguard our system of governance has against abject tyranny. This is not extreme. This is not funny. It is the reality we are all going to sooner or later have to face. These 'shit heads' are playing for keeps.

[leeroysphitz]

8. True that...

Incompetent they defiantly are not and I personally let no one off the hook. However the number of those in power I have "on" the hook is debatable. I have no means to compete with the wal-marts and Glaxos of the world. I truly wonder if WE THE PEOPLE, were we to collectivley fund our own lobbyists, would be able to compete. Sure we have the money in a shear numbers kind of way but we AS A people have SO many disparate agendas. Corporate america has multiple agendas as well but they do all have on thing in common which they can all agree on: THE BOTTOM LINE. Profits.
The story wasn't about giving a pass to those who have bought and sold our democracy through the system of legalized bribery we laughingly refer to as Campaign finance but about an observation of just how many fewer rabidly pro-war, pro-Bush conservatives were willing to stand up today versus just a few months ago. It was simply an observation and I, at the risk of having read to much into it, was somewhat encouraged by the apparent lack of support for what just a few months ago seemed to a bullet proof administration.

[Beam Me Up]

11. Yes, I agree with the observation and am heartened by it.

I like your story and am happy to hear it. Its just that what we need is JUSTICE and past experience has shown that that is seldom forthcoming. (Iran Contra, for example.) This administration USES the "incompetence theory" in the form of "we had no idea. . ." all the time AND the press and subsequently the people let them get away with it. I say, no more!

[leeroysphitz]

12. Agreed

Sadly the incompetence card isn't played only by the administration. I am sick of hearing from democrats who extra-constitutionally ceded congress' supreme authority over going to war and now claim to be against the war. (I think it's all lip service and am still waiting for some concrete action or at the very least rhetoric from the Democratic leadership)
"the administration lied to us!" they say. I find that unconvincing to say the least.

[Beam Me Up]

13. Double agreed.

I felt that way when Dems voted to give * leeway to go into Iraq. I was NEVER convinced by his administration's WMD arguments and I know I don't have any more or better 'intelligence' than Dem critters do. They, too, are liars, hypocrites and murderers. Being 'lied' to, when they KNEW they were being lied to, is no excuse. Even fearing political retribution is no excuse--not when we're talking about matters of life and death. I'm happy to say that my congresswoman, Barbara Lee, does indeed speak for me most of the time. I would be happy if she became even more outspoken.

[Hissyspit]

17. I understand and agree with your point, Beam Me Up, but...

to me people who are deliberate in the service of evil ARE shitheads.

I wasn't being funny when I submitted the slogan. It was a true, immediate expression of my fear and frustration. If it's funny, too, that's just bonus.

[Beam Me Up]

19. Does "shit head" strike you as both an accurate and sufficiently

severe adjective for these traitors? Believe me, I've known a LOT of "shit heads" in my life; many of them close relatives. To me the term "shit head" applies to a pernicious form of social ignorance that is usually harmless within the bigger picture. Freepers are shit heads. The vicious fucks masquerading as Conservative Christian Republicans and DLC Democrats that have hijacked our nation, are robbing our treasury (and our posterity), have subverted its laws and mislead its people into an immoral war and are plunging headlong toward a global conflagration the outcome of which could leave millions dead here and abroad.

Indeed, they are "shit heads" but, to me, as derogatory as that term is, it fails to convey the depravity of the situation.

We needn't quibble further. We understand one another well enough. Its just that all too often I see something like this which, indeed, does have an element of humor to it. Personally I feel I can no longer afford that humor because it mediates the impact of the truth: Our very lives are now in danger.

[liberaliraqvet26]

9. are there alot of wingnut jesus freaks in michigan?

[joanski0]

10. I bought a "Our country is run by shitheads"

sweatshirt from our very own DU Store. Really nice one, with that soft, warm lining. Can't wait to wear it.

[Hissyspit]

16. That's really nice to hear, joanski0. I was wondering...

how well they were selling. I got the T-shirt with the DU logo on the back free from Skinner and EarlG, et. al. for submitting the slogan. I plan on buying more for Christmas presents.

[Hissyspit]

14. That's my award-winning DU T-shirt! Everyone should own one!

Did your wife really come up with it on her own before I entered it into the last DU T-shirt slogan contest? I think she got it at the DU store. It just popped into my head when I saw the contest thread. I never thought they would actually use it!

It's wonderful to hear your responses to it. You wife sounds like my kind of person, obviously.

I plan on wearing mine in Washington D.C. Sep. 24. Hope to see you there!

[leeroysphitz]

21. Honestly I don't know....

I'll ask. She isn't a DU member but I suppose she could have come seen it at some point. ( The shirt was a birthday present (we are VERY broke right now)). I wasn't aware of the slogan myself (but I sure do agree with it), until now, so I'll ask Teresa and if she copied it I'll send you some type of royalty. In fact I'll cut you a check with the Sawtooth national bank. I'll just make it out to cash, you wont need any ID they KNOW me there.

[Hissyspit]

15. From my point of view, I would say it refers to BOTH Bush & the oligarchy

that runs things. They are all shitheads, would you not say?

[leeroysphitz]

22. Bush is STUPID,

a stuffed shirt. I felt strongly that this was the case even before the 2000 election. (Before the primaries really) so he, IMO, can be labeled a shit head. The greed headed corprotocracy that buy and sell elected officials, actually write policy for legislation that affects their all important bottom line and who disregard Little things that get in the way of profits (you know things like democracy, human rights, the constitution...) they are not stupid. They know exactly what they are doing. They HAVE A PLAN. I don't believe in using ambiguous metaphysical language like EVIL but I agree with above posts, Shithead doesn't quite seem strong enough.

[catmandu57]

20. Well, that's good to hear

I wear my Revolution will not be televised shirt out when I'm feeling feisty, especially to mal-wart, I almost got it out to wear yesterday, but, I wasn't feeling mean enough.