I’m on my way to an anti-war rally in Sacramento today, the second in three Saturday demonstrations against the war on Iraq, to co-incide with the 3rd anniversary of the illegal invasion.
So, I told my family, and they said they would be there.
So I went to the thrift store and bought five t-shirts for $1.00 apiece. Then I stopped at the drug store and bought t-shirt transfers for $10.00. Then I went home and made t-shirts for me and my family with Harper’s Magazine “IMPEACH HIM” cover for the front design. Then I gave the t-shirts to my family, and went about my day.
A strange thing started to happen.
I wore my shirt to the gas station shop, and the Indian fella behind the counter said “Impeach him, huh?” And I said, “Yeah, he’s bad. Get rid of him.” “He’s so bad I want to break my TV,” said the man. “For what he’s done to this planet, he and Saddam… they are the worst.” Said the guy. “Yeah, get rid of him,” I said and left the shop.
Hmmm… I thought to myself, this shirt seems to be having an effect. I remember the Town Hall Forum where Liz Holtzmann and Congressman Conyers and others said that until we take it to the streets impeachment is not going to happen. But who knew it could be this simple?
I proceeded walking home from the shop, and one guy SALUTED THE SHIRT !! Wherever I went someone had something to say… basically “My sentiments exactly.”
So, my sister is on her way to collect me, and if I’m able, I’ll post a photo of my whole family in their “IMPEACH HIM” t-shirts.
(As it turned out nobody brought the camera, but two of us went on local TV. Our statement:
“Editor Lewis Lapham of Harper’s Magazine, Congressman John Conyers who is pushing through House Resolution 635, and former Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtmann a member of the Nixon impeachment Committee, all say that if you want impeachment, you’ve got to take it to the streets. This is one way to do that.” (Flash shirts))
Take Impeachment To The Streets.
Print A Shirt, and proceed with your day.
Have a good one.
Have a great Saturday.
Hey, suskind, great idea.
I sense we’ve passed a tipping point. Did you see Stu Piddy’s diary on 300,000 marching in Chicago? Something is happening here folks! Let’s take it to’m!!
I’m not familiar with the process you used to get the image on the T-shirt. Have you got a “for-dummies” version… I’d really like to know how to do that.
Best to doctor your colors in Microsoft Office Picture Manager and print a sample first. You can do it in black and white if you like, crop images, and resize them pretty easily.
Set your printer on transfer… it will reverse the image and you’ll see it on the print preview.
Then you place the transfer sheet in your printer white side facing you…. this too you could test by drawing a line on a blank piece of paper to be sure which side your printer is going to print on.
Put your tshirt down on a flat hard surface table like formica, put a pillowcase down on that. Line up your transfer centered on the tag on the neck… you don’t need to measure… the image should line up to about 3 or 4 inches from the neck if it’s a large one like mine (8 1/2 by 11 inches)
Put your iron on hottest setting and iron the heck out of it, pressing down as hard as you can, and keep the iron moving. Do this for about three minutes. Make sure you iron the edges well.
Then take outside and cool it.
Peel off the transfer and voila.
(These are cheap transfers on thrift store shirts…. I don’t intend to wash mine as it doesn’t look like it would bear up.)
Do you need a laser jet?
I think it’s just as cheap to bring in a good color photocopy to Kinko’s and have them run the transfers.
You inspired me! Go here, sign the petition, and then click “more information” to get to the action behind the petition!
Looks like great minds think alike:
http://www.impeachthemotherfuckeralready.com/
Looks like they have merch too.
Thanks for an inspiring story, Suskind. I have been working on spreading the idea with stickers in places where personal confrontation may be too risky or impossible.
And please all – sign the Impeach Bush Now petition at http://www.impeachbush.org/!
Great idea, Suskind! Take it to the streets!
Pictures???!!!
Next Saturday, the third Saturday, I hope to get all seven of us in a photo. It was really beautiful. There were flags from all over the world, and rainbow flags and earth flags…..
I took the UN flag and stood on the busy intersection looking up into the sky…. many peaceful moments.
My sister took the Palestinian flag. “Stay away from me with that!” My brother-in-law took the Hamas flag… “Get out of town !”
There were a few Highway Blogger signs… to great effect….. “Worst President Ever” was one….
There were really lovely people there…. children, middle aged and grannies and grandads…. BUT THERE WERE NO TEENAGERS OR YOUNG PEOPLE IN THEIR TWENTIES !!!
This was really strange to me. I haven’t been in the country for the last 14 years. This ain’t Europe, and this ain’t the 70’s either. I talked to a Socialist guy in his 60’s and he had some theories as to why young people do not take part.
What were his theories as to why teens aren’t concerned?
The parents relaxed their efforts after Watergate, wanting to live a normal life, and the kids grew up too protected, insulated themselves from the harsher realities… getting involved with entertainment, not the news…..
It would be interesting to see how many young people showed up for that rally in Chicago. I haven’t seen any stats on that.
Last year I was looking at register to vote sites for young people…. it was very good…. will go hunting for it anon….
I have mentioned this before but it may bear repeating. I carry bumper sticker size flyers that only say IMPEACH on them in my purse and drop them on the shelves at stores. Don’t know if it has any impact but I feel better doing it.
Great idea Suskind. Glad you shared it here.
Always the creative one, you are! Heck, my early morning blurry eyes mistakenly read your subject line as $3,000 per person, and I still remained quite interested in the idea you were about to present.
Another alternative, which I’ve employed in the past, is to print numerous copies and leave them in various locations where others will find them. (In the copy room at work, on a table at the diner. . .)
Thanks for “taking it to the streets”, suskind, and for encouraging the rest of us to do the same.
Good day!
Careful about what neighborhoods you frequent while wearing this shirt, folks. You could still get a REAL good ass-whuppin’ in about,…what’s his approval rating now? About 38%? In well over 1/3rd of the neighborhoods in America. Most of which being neighborhoods where a good ass-whuppin’ is just considered part of an honest day’s work for God and Country, Amen.
AND BY ALL MEANS DO NOT WEAR IT TO THE AIRPORT!!!
Later…
AG
Did you see your man Howard Dean take on Hawk Richard Perle on C-Span the other night? It was terrific.
I would be more afraid of copyright infringement than I would of getting beaten up. Am working on the former and avoiding the latter.
But also, the ITMFA campaign which I think is good, depends on the savvy of the community…. (acronym for Impeach The MF Already)
The Highway Blogger is great, and very effective. Very skillful hit and run activism….. Another one is the STOP sign campaign. Wherever there is an intersection and it says in huge letters on the street “STOP” in the other lane you stencil “WAR” or “BUSH”
Is it worth getting arrested for this? Not in my opinion. I’m not into property damage. One can do more to greater effect by remaining free and within the law….. I mean it was great that two members of my family got to show their message and put their statement out on local TV…. All it can do is suggest where people can get more information and demonstrate what can be done so easily…. the right of the people to peaceably assemble is lovely…. when exercised these rights are quite powerful.
No, Arthur, I’m not afraid of being beaten by the 38% who support the President. Not afraid of being shot by Cheney, either. That was a pretty rough neighborhood….
How could I/
I’m on NEWSTRIKE!!!
And besides…i don’tg really NEED anymore Punch and Judy shows. I mean…hell, number one I’m convinced already and number 2…I mean, c’mon, suskind. The BushCo forces have been THROROUGHLY drubbed by every opponent under the sun in direcft combat. It’s like watching fixed porizefights. The better fighter pout a HURTING on the other guy for 12 rounds…and then he l;oses.
Over and over and and over and over again.
When is too much enough?
These people cannot be TALKED into surrender.
What’s my sig again?
Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never has and it never will.-Frederick Douglass
A DEMAND. Not a reasoned argumnent. I would tune into C Span to see Howard Dean take that rancid tub of evil Richard Perle and physically kick his ass until he begged for mercy and confessed his many sins against humankind.
Now THAT would be a debate!!!
The rest…just mutual jerking off while the real stuff coverts aroungd the edges.
The next time I seriously watch a media news event? The day the impeach word hits the airwaves with some chance of actually happening.
Until then…booooring.
I don’t watch the WWF or the Harlem Globetrotters or American Idol or The Apprentice either. The fix is SO in. Why bother?
AG
P.S. Sorry about the typos.
Jetlag.
AG
where are you off to/in from?
sorry your NEWSTRIKE means that you have to miss the New York Knicks et al, but I do understand.
Got an email this morning that says its your man Howard that is blockading the impeachment of GWB in the Democratic Party. Take care of this one, will you AG?
And Al Gore is starting a TV station.
It’s a shame that you’re not the billionaire that just bought Knight Ridder…. and strange that the NYT reports today that people think electronic interactive newspapers are the future…. don’t think we’ll all enjoy the luxury of being wired that long….
Your man Howard did say something I thought was rather good… he said “You can’t have freedom if you don’t have a job!”
The Knicks ain’t knews, suskind.
Just more sad corporate bullshit.
AG
What’s eating you, AG?
Why aren’t you a front-pager here yet?
And where did you get your jetlag?
cheer up !!
WHERE DID I GET MY JETLAG?
ON A JET!!! (DUH.)
A redeye from NYC to Holland.
Leave at 7 PM, arrive at 8 the next morning Holland time. Fitful sleep. Continental Airlines SUCKS!!! And so do their seats. 3 hour train ride, hit the ground running.
Why aren’t I a frontpager here?
Get real.
Too far outside the mainstream left.
WAY too far.
Why…I might even be a loose cannon!!!
Duh.
The left certainly needs a loose SOMETHING.
Later…
AG
I am developing a whole new idea about “Citizen Journalism.” Real people writing about real stuff in the real world makes more sense to me… and Gonzo Journalism makes more sense to me.
http://www.harpers.org/
Some people running for Congress are running in part on the impeachment message. And yet I have yet to see an outpouring of support for them. They are underfunded and largely unnoticed by the very community that is calling for Impeachment. If people who are taking that risk and ruunning on impeachment as part of their platform don’t get our support, then we are sending the message that impeachment is a losing issue.
I care about this because a friend of mine, Chris Owens, is banking on the grassroots and netroots to get him elected in a hard-fought primary where he is by far the most progressive candidate in a district where whoever wins the primary wins the election. This is the IDEAL race for the progressive grassroots and netroots to be involved in. And yet so far, though he is the darling of the local grassroots, the national netroots has ignored the race. And so a corrupt machine candidate and a Chuck Schumer style triangulator are winning when we COULD have a man who has come out publically in favor of impeachment, marriage equality and a fast track withdrawal from Iraq. He has been endorsed by ImpeachPAC, Dennis Kucinich, Bernie Sanders, Maxine Waters and a slew of other national progressive figures.
We always complain about the candidates “the Democrats” run. Well, “the Democrats” are us and it is up to us to help candidates like Chris to win. If we don’t, the message we send to the Democrats is that they have no reason to go progressive because progressives lose.
I ask you to consider two actions to REALLY support impeachment. First, you can check out Chris’ positions on various issues and PLEASE donate to his campaign because without us, his progressive message will be silenced by the local machine or by big money interests. Second, if you want impeachment, DONATE TO IMPEACH PAC. They are pushing your message and yet they are having trouble raising the funds needed to finance many candidates.
If we want impeachment to get anywhere, we have to MAKE IT a winning issue. Help Impeach PAC and help Chris Owens to bring your calls for impeachmet right to the floor of the House. Because right now, outside of the pages of Booman and My Left Wing, impeachment is seen as political anathema by most politicians. Care to prove them wrong?