![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Just...insane.
Mar. 5th, 2003 10:20 amhttp://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=519&e=1&u=/ap/20030305/ap_on_re_us/mall_activists
And the comment about the mall being private property? Oh come now. At the most, places like that which allow heavy public access can only consider themselves semi-private, and really can only restrict clothing to the extent of obscenity and the classic 'no shirt-no shoes-no service' adage. And think about it--when demanding the man and his son take off those shirts or leave, wasn't that the same as saying 'leave or leave', since people truly *aren't* allowed to go walking through a mall without a shirt?
Makes me wonder, were those guards going after people with cursing or swearing on their shirts? How about the shirts that show cartoon objects screwing in different positions? Or those that go on about 'Big Johnsons'? What do you suppose of someone had a shirt on that said "Fuck Saddam", they wouldn't have minded--but if it had "Fuck Bush", they would have had them arrested just like this man? (And what if they were wearing the shirt that says "I Still Hate Bush" sold on the website tshirthell.com ?)
Seriously. Is the phrase "Give peace a chance" that offensive? Doesn't matter if you're for or against the war with Iraq, or war with *anyone*, it's just a phrase, just on a shirt. And that's not offensive to the point of demanding someone leave, and arresting them for tresspassing if they don't.
And *christ*, the man and his son *bought* their shirts at that mall. Are the guards going and telling the store to stop selling them? What, they don't have a right to? Geeeeee, maybe that says something there.
I'm of a rather mixed position on the Iraq situation, and on warring in general--but I think I may buy one of those shirts. Or I'm thinking of having a shirt made that says "I Didn't Vote For Him" on the front and "Don't Ignore the Majority" on the back.
And it makes a person wonder...with us now fighting amongnst ourselves and polarizing to the point of hating each other, with us giving away freedoms or letting them slip away little bit by little bit, with us living more and more in fear and terror (Terror Level: Plaid)...doesn't this mean the terrorists are winning? Or making our country just like the ones they live in?
One other thought is that some say "Oh, the journalists here aren't telling the whole story". Oh come now (again)--in this country where reporters like to tell and show everything, especially if the ones they're writing about were somehow making a scene or fools of themselves, the journalist here would *definitely* have said if the man were causing a disturbance or commotion. As it stands, it's basically as the article states: he was harassed by guards for the shirt he was wearing, then was arrested for tresspassing because he wouldn't take the shirt off or leave.
Insane. Freaking insane.
And the comment about the mall being private property? Oh come now. At the most, places like that which allow heavy public access can only consider themselves semi-private, and really can only restrict clothing to the extent of obscenity and the classic 'no shirt-no shoes-no service' adage. And think about it--when demanding the man and his son take off those shirts or leave, wasn't that the same as saying 'leave or leave', since people truly *aren't* allowed to go walking through a mall without a shirt?
Makes me wonder, were those guards going after people with cursing or swearing on their shirts? How about the shirts that show cartoon objects screwing in different positions? Or those that go on about 'Big Johnsons'? What do you suppose of someone had a shirt on that said "Fuck Saddam", they wouldn't have minded--but if it had "Fuck Bush", they would have had them arrested just like this man? (And what if they were wearing the shirt that says "I Still Hate Bush" sold on the website tshirthell.com ?)
Seriously. Is the phrase "Give peace a chance" that offensive? Doesn't matter if you're for or against the war with Iraq, or war with *anyone*, it's just a phrase, just on a shirt. And that's not offensive to the point of demanding someone leave, and arresting them for tresspassing if they don't.
And *christ*, the man and his son *bought* their shirts at that mall. Are the guards going and telling the store to stop selling them? What, they don't have a right to? Geeeeee, maybe that says something there.
I'm of a rather mixed position on the Iraq situation, and on warring in general--but I think I may buy one of those shirts. Or I'm thinking of having a shirt made that says "I Didn't Vote For Him" on the front and "Don't Ignore the Majority" on the back.
And it makes a person wonder...with us now fighting amongnst ourselves and polarizing to the point of hating each other, with us giving away freedoms or letting them slip away little bit by little bit, with us living more and more in fear and terror (Terror Level: Plaid)...doesn't this mean the terrorists are winning? Or making our country just like the ones they live in?
One other thought is that some say "Oh, the journalists here aren't telling the whole story". Oh come now (again)--in this country where reporters like to tell and show everything, especially if the ones they're writing about were somehow making a scene or fools of themselves, the journalist here would *definitely* have said if the man were causing a disturbance or commotion. As it stands, it's basically as the article states: he was harassed by guards for the shirt he was wearing, then was arrested for tresspassing because he wouldn't take the shirt off or leave.
Insane. Freaking insane.