quote:

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NEW YORK - After spending 10 days in London with friends who were outspoken about their disdain for President Bush’s policies, Berns Rothchild came home wishing she had a way to show the world she didn’t vote for him.

“I sort of felt ashamed, and didn’t really want to be associated with being an American,” said Rothchild, who lives in New York City and voted for John Kerry.

Her mother had a suggestion: bracelets, inspired by the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s popular “LIVESTRONG” bands, that would signal opposition to Bush.

Thousands of miles away, two women in Idaho had the same idea. So did a woman in Kansas. The result? At least three separate bracelet ventures targeting left-leaning citizens who want to wear their political affiliation on their wrists — and at least one competitor bearing the opposite message.

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So, currently, there's a choice of "red" or "blue" bracelets.

I think they're missing something. I know a heck of a lot of people who voted for Kerry, even though they weren't really happy with him. I know Bush voters who voted for him even though they had misgivings about his record so far.

Me, I could probably find ways - easily - to alienate a roomful of Republicans. Then they could clear the room, fill it with Democrats, and I'd do the same thing with them.

I want a purple bracelet, dang it. I don't feel particularly at home with either the "blues" or the "reds."

Wonder how long it will be until someone thinks of that?
 

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Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
Someone just did!
 

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Posted by Trisha the Severe Hottie (Member # 6000) on :
 
Ugh. Never did ribbons, bumper stickers, won't be doing bracelets. But I have to point out that they have screwed up Armstrong's message with pulling out the red/blue dichotomy.

Didn't some of the Olympic athletes have a bracelet from Sydney? I can't remember what color it was. Seems like there was a pole vaulter wearing one.

I have a republican hairdo.
 

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Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
 
Yes, that's good, let's be inspired by a non profit cancer organization and use their symbolism for our political agenda.

Hobbes
 

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Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
 
I want a purple bracelet too.
 

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Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
 

quote:

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Yes, that's good, let's be inspired by a non profit cancer organization and use their symbolism for our political agenda.

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And our own personal profit, Hobbes. Don't forget that.

That's about as American as it gets.
 

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Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
 

quote:

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I have a Republican hairdo.

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Okay, I'm afraid to actually ask, but what on God's green Earth is a "Republican hairdo?"

<resists temptation to make jokes>

sndrake -- I am never going to put on one of these "message bracelet" things. But I do prefer that if there IS a message, it be a positive one.

People saying things like "I'm ashamed to be thought of as an American" really cheese me off. I'm not being rah-rah patriotic here. I just think that we have a very good country, better than most. And the shame that comes from thinking ones leaders are doing illegal or immoral things should not necessarily translate into shame over being from that place.

IMHO.

I don't know why we in America don't have more of a concept of "the loyal opposition." That's how I view myself currently -- someone who does not agree in general with our present Administration and ruling party, but still is loyal to America and will work within the system to affect change.

I find most of the political dichotomies meaningless.

(anyway, none of that was really directed at sndrake who, as he said, really COULD tick off members of any political party.)
 

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Posted by Trisha the Severe Hottie (Member # 6000) on :
 
My lustrous flowing raven locks symbolize my willingness to be a sex object. Duh. I have democrat hips, though. That seems to be genetic.
 

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Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
 
How about a red-white-and-blue bracelet that tells everyone I'm sick of people talking about politics and severing the unity of the country. I'd buy that in a second.
 

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Posted by jebus202 (Member # 2524) on :
 
::wipes tear from eye::

That was beautiful, Boris.
 

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Posted by Trisha the Severe Hottie (Member # 6000) on :
 
Jebus, you talk too much. Get in the kitchen and make me a sandwich.

[ January 15, 2005, 03:34 PM: Message edited by: Trisha the Severe Hottie ]
 

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Posted by Alucard... (Member # 4924) on :
 
I would be most comfortable wearing a clear one.
 

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Posted by jebus202 (Member # 2524) on :
 
Only if you give me a smile and a quick slap on the ass, Trisha.
 

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Posted by Lisha-princess (Member # 6966) on :
 
I like the idea of the red-white-and-blue one. But where would the money from the sales go?
 

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Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
 
Bob says, with a grin:

quote:

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anyway, none of that was really directed at sndrake who, as he said, really COULD tick off members of any political party.

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quote:

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BAGHDAD, Iraq - A U.S. military judge convicted an Army sergeant of murder Friday for the alleged mercy-killing of a severely injured Iraqi teenager, and sentenced him to a year's imprisonment.

Staff Sgt. Cardenas J. Alban of Inglewood, Calif., is the second soldier convicted of shooting the wounded 16-year-old as U.S. forces battled an uprising in Baghdad's Shiite Muslim stronghold of Sadr City in August.

Witnesses say U.S. soldiers found the teenager in a burning truck apparently set alight by fighting.

The Americans decided severe burns and abdominal wounds put the teenager beyond help and that "the best course of action was to put (the victim) out of his misery," a criminal investigator has said.

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quote:

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It’s Murder, Not Mercy, On or Off Battlefield

A national anti-euthanasia group is concerned that “mercy killing”
is becoming as popular and successful a defense against murder
charges in military courts as it is in civilian courts.

Capt. Rogelio Maynulet, of Chicago, is now the second U.S. soldier
charged in connection with the murder of an Iraqi in which claims
of a “mercy killing” have been made. Maynulet is facing charges
that fall far short of murder – he is charged with dereliction of duty
and assault with intent to kill for allegedly shooting a wounded Iraqi
in the back of the head, killing him.

Just last week, Staff Sgt. Johnny M. Horne, Jr. entered into a plea
bargain and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty
International have condemned these murders as war crimes.

Neither Human Rights Watch nor Amnesty International have ever
spoken out about the light sentencing given to confessed killers of
people with disabilities in the U.S. and other countries – killers who
have appealed to the press and the public that their acts were
motivated by “mercy.” If such killers receive prison sentences at
all, they often resemble the sentence meted out to Staff Sgt. Horne -
two or three years.

“Mercy killing defenses generally break down under close examination,”
says Stephen Drake, research analyst for Not Dead Yet. “In the case
of Maynulet, the most likely interpretation is not good. There was
a medic on the scene. Conceivably, the injured Iraqi could have
been given high doses of pain killers or sedatives. It’s possible they
didn’t want to ‘waste a resource’ on an insurgent. If that’s what
happened, that’s not mercy – that’s expediency, with a possible
dash of contempt.”

Not Dead Yet, a national disability rights group, agrees with human
rights groups that have called these killings “violations of international
humanitarian rights.”

They just wish that groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty
International would voice the same outrage over the killings of old, ill
and disabled people in the U.S. and other countries. When the killings
are done by caregivers, prosecution is weak and sentences are light
or nonexistent. According to Not Dead Yet, the systemic treatment
of alleged “mercy killings” off the battlefield represents a very large
pattern of human rights violations.

###

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[ January 15, 2005, 03:23 PM: Message edited by: sndrake ]
 

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Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
 
Nothing there for me to hate. You'll have to try harder.
 

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Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
 
Personally, I don't want to wear a bracelet at all, and not a red, white and blue one - people are too likely to assume I'm a "red."

Besides, I already have a powder-blue bracelet I don't want to wear, but have to since it's the only way I will be "excluded from participation" in a substitute blood study if I'm in a serious accident, am unconscious and need blood.
 

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Posted by Trisha the Severe Hottie (Member # 6000) on :
 
Are these bracelets all made of basically the same stuff? like 3/32nds of an inch thick rubbery plastic stuff?
 

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Posted by Chris Kidd (Member # 2646) on :
 
What about a ender Braclet. saying "the enemys gate is down"
or
"Im a Jatgaro" ((Did i spell it right))

 

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Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
 
Umm...Jatraquero???

Oh, and in answer to where the money would go for the Red, white and blue bracelets, I'm going to go ahead and say sell em at cost, so basically, all proceed go to the company that made the stinkin' bracelets.

[ January 15, 2005, 04:46 PM: Message edited by: Boris ]
 

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Posted by dread pirate romany (Member # 6869) on :
 
Actually, I think you can get purple bracelets from MoveOn . Myself, I am planning to get a pink breast cancer one.

Uh, Trisha, what pray tell, are Democrat hips?
 

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Posted by A Rat Named Dog (Member # 699) on :
 
So how do these political bracelets mesh with the "how far will you go" sex bracelets that were all the scare in high schools last year? If you're a Republican, do you also neck on the first date or something?

And how many people actually have to wear these bracelets before the news picks it up and tries to make it sound like a fad? Is it more than five? I doubt it.
 

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Posted by Space Opera (Member # 6504) on :
 
I was at the gas station yesterday afternoon with the kids, and they had a container with yellow bracelets in it. They supposedly were to be worn to show your support of our troops. My son wanted one, and I said no. I told him we already support the troops (and have a family member in Iraq to boot) and that I didn't think it was a good idea because it just looked like someone was trying to make money. If the profits went to the troops, or a non-profit I probably would have bought him one, but the lack of a sign saying so made me a bit suspicious.

space opera
 

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Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
 

quote:

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Nothing there for me to hate. You'll have to try harder.

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Well, Dag, you're kind of a maverick pro-life conservative.

(and not the only one of those around here, either. But you do get the award for the most prolific.)

The majority of our press releases and alerts get picked up by various pro-life email lists, websites and blogs. Not a single one picked this particular press release up.

I guess I can understand it in the case of the groups with close ties to neocon ideologies, but I was disappointed to see the Catholic groups follow suit in their silence on this.

[ January 15, 2005, 09:15 PM: Message edited by: sndrake ]
 

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Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
 
Someday we're going to have to have a talk about your experiences with Catholic pro-life groups on these issues. I'd like to hear your take on it, and maybe find a way to bring what I am beginning to see as a huge blind spot to their attention.

Dagonee
 

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Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
 
dpr democrat hips don't wear girdles.
 

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Posted by Joldo (Member # 6991) on :
 
I suppose they sell satirical bracelets, don't they? For those who just think the whole thing is funny and get their kicks out of mocking politics?

I'd make them green.
 

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Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
 
That's not a nice thing to do to the bracelets. It's not easy being green, you know.
 

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