A couple years back, I designed some anti-Bush t-shirts, had a bunch of them printed at a local shop, and began selling them via the Internet under the brand name Wavelength (as in "we're on the same wavelength") Clothing. Back then, most Americans somehow approved of George W. Bush and believed his Iraq fiasco was going somewhere. I was exasperated, I wanted to do something, and vending anti-Bush t-shirts was what I came up with.
Since then, I've put about 1000 shirts out on the streets, mostly via Internet sales, though I've sold dozens at farmer's markets, street fairs, and the like. Along the way, many former Bush believers have woken up to his incompetence, his arrogance, his malice, or all three. I don't think the 1000 shirts had much to do with that wake-up call, but they couldn't have hurt. And I know the shirts helped hundreds of people express their disdain for the policies of our cheerleader-cowboy-in-chief.
As Bush's popularity has faded, demand for anti-Bush shirts has waned, at least judging by search engine queries, visits to the Wavelength Clothing website, and shirt sales themselves. This makes sense, I think. It now appears that Bush and his ilk are losing their grip on our nation, and that history will look back on the Bush presidency with a painful, embarassed grimace. This shift has probably taken the urgency out of wearing an anti-Bush shirt for many people. Now that most of our fellow countrymen get the message, why continue to shout it all over town?
This doesn't mean our job is done, of course. The U.S. is still in Iraq. Fiscal policy continues to redistribute wealth towards the wealthy. One in five American children currently live in poverty. And more than 40 million people in the United States lack health insurance today.
No, our job ain't done, not by a long shot. The anti-Bush t-shirt business, however, does appear to be tailing off. With that in mind, I expect to close down the Wavelength website pretty soon, leaving this no-cost blog behind as a bit of a memoir of the experience.
And what an experience it has been. I've met great people, learned about running a small business, and gotten more familiar with San Diego's progressive community. Barbara Cummings, a local activist who supplied Wavelength's hot-selling "Impeach Bush & Cheney" shirts, and who has dedicated the last few years to working to end Bush's war, has opened my eyes to just how active an activist can be. Her tireless spirit and her wide range of tactics - from visiting congressional reps to freeway blogging to civil disobedience that would make Thoreau proud - are true inspirations.
Thanks to Barbara, thanks to everyone who purchased a Wavelength Clothing t-shirt, and thanks to the dozens of other folks who helped me out in one way or another along the way. To quote Ernest Hemingway, "The world is a fine place, and worth fighting for." I think each of you would agree. And that's what this whole thing is really all about.
