Obama-bashing hit a new low this week with the appearance in New York City of a T-shirt proclaiming "OBAMA IS MY SLAVE".
One of the first takers was a college student who, on her test-drive of the brilliant new design, was heckled, pursued through the streets and assaulted. She's now suing the designer, Israeli-born Doron Braunshtein, who prefers to be known as "Apollo Braun", for putting her in this predicament by designing and selling the shirt, as reported in today's Metro newspaper:
http://ny.metro.us/...
Braunshtein has a history of this kind of thing, and some interesting ideas about Barack Obama:
This isn’t Braun’s first sartorial criticism of the Democratic presidential presumptive nominee. He has also sold shirts with slogans such as "Jews Against Obama," "Obama = Hitler" and "Who Killed Obama?" — which he claims was so popular, he moved 1,200 pieces.
"I can’t stand Obama," Braun says, adding that it’s not because the Illinois senator is black. "That’s the only thing I like about him. He opens the door for other minorities."
"He reminds me of Adolf Hitler," Braun explained, adding he does not like Obama because "he is a Muslim" — a thoroughly debunked myth.
His online store can be found here:
http://www.apollobraun.com/...
...and his "real" store is at the corner of Orchard and Houston at the edge of Soho. In his bio he gives a "moving" account of his rags-to-riches story, arriving in NYC with $13 and nowhere to sleep, until he struck gold when Brittany Spears began wearing his "fuckyou.com" t-shirt everywhere she went. Other celebrity patrons he lists include "Nicole Kidman, Natalie Portman, Britney Spears, Bjork, the hip-hop violinist, Miri Ben-Ari, singer Fantasia Barrino, and much more (sic)."
I'm interested to hear how folks feel we should respond to things like this. I live in NYC, and I could be at this joker's store in half an hour. It's also interesting in light of the MSM's handling of the New Yorker cover, painting Obama as a candidate who can't handle a joke. Any comments, advice, raving lunacy or sober strategizing are welcome.
Update:
If you aren't sufficiently nauseated yet and would like some more, here are a few pieces from The Gothamist on Braunshtein's earlier designs:
"Jews Against Obama":
http://gothamist.com/...
"Who Killed Obama?"
http://gothamist.com/...
My favorite quote from the latter:
"I'm very punk rock," Braunshtein explains...