Bernie Sanders Is Threatened By a T-Shirt

[RandySF]

Bernie Sanders cares about the little guy. Except when the little guy disagrees with him.

That’s the message the Democratic presidential candidate sent when his campaign threatened legal action against a small t-shirt vendor who had dared to make fun of him.

Late last week, a Seattle lawyer representing Sanders’ campaign demanded that LibertyManiacs, a three-employee online merchandising shop, immediately take down t-shirts that humorously portrayed the Vermont senator alongside a pantheon of Communist figures, with the caption: ‘Bernie is my comrade’. (A red star replaced the dot over the ‘i’ in Bernie for emphasis).

Using high-priced lawyers to bully a small business that is making fun your campaign is an odd move for a politician who has built a grassroots movement on protecting average Americans from the whims of the rich and powerful.

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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/20/bernie-sanders-is-threatened-by-a-t-shirt.html

[Maru Kitteh]

1. From the Tshirt it is apparent that

Mr. Sanders needs more facial hair. I see a severe stache deficiency there.

[NanceGreggs]

2. Well, ya gotta hand it to Bernie.

He's been campaigning and creating jobs at the same time.

And I'll bet there are countless lawyers who are happy for the work.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

3. The company is clearly a bunch of right wing assholes

You should see their anti-Hilary shirts and get back to me if you care one shit about them after that.

[AgingAmerican]

4. Actually Hillary is, and they are from the same company

[baldguy]

8. There are a lot of supposed "progressives" who are RW dupes who whould agree with that statement

And Hillary isn't suing them.

[mythology]

9. The difference is that the anti-Clinton shirt

isn't using her likeness. In many states, likeness is regarded as analogous to trademarks which have to be defended in order to not be considered abandoned.

[Warren DeMontague]

5. If this is true, I doubt it goes anywhere and I suspect Sanders' campaign will tell the "lawyer" to

stand down.

To be clear, it's not so much "Bernie is threatened by the t-shirt", it's that they're arguing that the logo, lettering etc. rips off the actual one too much, or is too close.

That said, that argument is a non-starter. There's a long history of politically protected satire and campaign speech. Fuck, look at all the riffing on the Bush-Cheney logo people used to do, and rightly so.

The 1st Amendment is strong, clear, basic and inviolable, despite the efforts of censors over the years who would do everything from tell Americans what they can say, read or watch, to legislators who would put flag burners in prison for year, etc.

[notadmblnd]

6. Why should Sanders be threatened?

I can pretty much state with confidence that it won't be young white males purchasing and donning them. Nah, HRC supporters in their haste to emulate the entitled one and to act on their greedy impulses to make a quick buck- will buy them by the cases, sell a few to old farts with too much money who will never wear them, then after the election donate the rest for the tax write off.

And many years from now- we'll see dirty, toothless, illiterate old men with beer guts buying them at the Dollar Tree stores cause they're cheap and free of grease stains. What they don't get rid of at the dollar store- will be sent to 3rd world countries who have suffered tragedy as another idiots idea of aiding the victims.

[PBass]

7. I remember how DU absolutely loved the "Bernie - Che" t-shirts,

with many members using it in their forum signatures. Why isn't this also applauded?

(Image I'm referring to):



What's wrong with the OP's image, when compared to this one?