Wavelength's web statistics...

...help illustrate how interest in anti-Bush shirts tends to ebb and flow. Take the page that offers our "Impeach Bush & Cheney" shirt. Just under 30,000 people have visited that page since we created it in February 2006. This is an average of about 2000 visitors a month - but as the chart below shows, the actual number of visitors in a given month has varied widely.


What factors make months like April and May such standouts? Some of it is due to the timing of promotions by our partner websites like AfterDowningStreet.org, who will sometimes include a link to our page in emails to their registrants. But I think the biggest push is breaking news and the W-related anxiety it stirs up. Recently, events like the inquiry into Alberto Gonzalez's attorney tampering and the showdown over Iraq war funding seem to have driven people to sites like ADS.org. And the more frustrated these folks are, the more likely they are to click-through on ads to our t-shirts.

On the lighter side...

...over the years, I have gotten gobs of spam via Wavelength Clothing's various email addresses and submission forms. Usually these messages are unremarkable pitches for bootleg software or penny stocks. But occasionally the subject lines, and even the senders' names, get creative to the point of making me laugh out loud. I never open the emails to view their contents - the name and subject alone are enough to get the comedy going.

Here are the best spam headers to grace the Wavelength inbox.

from: Benjamin Dominguez
subject: One chin is enough, get rid of the rest!

from: Elmer Gary
subject: in-line skate Buddhism

from: Morales Bobby
subject: feverish guesstimate

from: H. Stiles - News Service
subject: Must be fit, have nice face to get Chinese baby

from: painful
subject: sex all day long? you can do this!

from: Holley G. Leopold
subject: if you do not have any pressing career goals, fine.

from: rarrus@****.com
subject: because the documents were copied at a Kinko's in Texas

from: Martiza Garret
subject: The Superficial Emptiness

from: L. Raymond - News Service
subject: Man in hot pants struts in boots, cheers city

National Impeachment Day

So my reports of Wavelength's "winding down" were greatly exaggerated, or at least one month premature. Thanks to publicity from sites like AfterDowningStreet.org and Democrats.com in the weeks leading up to April 28's National Impeachment Day, thousands of people visited our pages, and a significant portion of them ordered shirts. It required a couple extra printing runs and a copious amount of envelope-stuffing, but we shipped hundreds of shirts in April, making it the busiest month in Wavelength's two years of operations.

Some folks even ordered multiple shirts and indicated that they planned on wearing them often in the days ahead. Thanks to everyone who purchased shirts - and to all who participated in yesterday's impeachment festivities. Let's keep the heat on Dick and Dubya!

Winding down Wavelength Clothing

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.

A funny but stinging critique of Guantanamo...

...from David Hicks, an Aussie whose sharp wit apparently is matched by his political consciousness:

Fascinating poll data from Iraq...

...courtesy of a clutch Reuters article:

The poll of more than 2,000 people, commissioned by the BBC, ABC News, ARD and USA Today, indicated Iraqis have become less optimistic about the future compared to a similar survey in 2005 when respondents were generally hopeful, the BBC said.

Asked whether their lives were overall better or worse than before the invasion, 43 percent said better, 36 percent worse and the rest about the same. Expectations for how things will be in a year were much lower than in 2005, with only 35 percent expecting improvement compared to 64 percent in a 2005 survey.

The survey showed sharp geographical variations, with confidence in U.S.-led forces highest in the north, at 46 percent, and non-existent in Baghdad, where 100 percent said they had not very much or no confidence in U.S.-led forces. Overall, 18 percent of Iraqis expressed confidence in U.S. forces and 69 percent said their presence made security worse.

U.S. and Iraqi forces launched a major crackdown in Baghdad in mid-February that commanders say has already halved civilian deaths, largely through a reduction in the number of victims of death squad killings blamed on militias.

In Baghdad, the poll showed 100 percent said U.S. and other foreign forces had done a bad job in Iraq, opposed the presence of U.S.-led forces and said the presence of U.S. forces was making security in the country worse.

Despite that, only 35 percent of all Iraqis and 36 percent in Baghdad said U.S. forces should leave now.

Ah, the tide has turned...

...and while the Iraq situation remains agonizing, it's reassuring to know that - finally - most people seem to be hungry for peace. From today's San Diego Union-Tribune:

Hundreds gather to mark four years since war began
by Elizabeth Fitzsimons, Union-Tribune Staff Writer

DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO – Four years ago, when the United States invaded Iraq, they gathered for candlelight vigils and stood on street corners, and people drove by and called them un-American.

It's different now, the seasoned peace demonstrators say. Now, most of the passing cars honk their horns in support, and they hold up two fingers, instead of one, in the peace sign. This makes them think they are making progress.

LAURA EMBRY / Union-Tribune

“It's getting better and so we come and we make a difference,” said Tony Orth, 43, one of hundreds of people who attended a peace rally and march downtown yesterday. San Diego's demonstration, and one in Oceanside, coincided with 400 planned across the country yesterday to mark the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

The crowd assembled in Horton Plaza and lined both sides of Broadway before beginning a march to nearby Pantoja Park. Organizers estimated that there were 800 to 1,000 people; police put the number at 500 to 700.

Nice work, Vermont...

Vermont towns seek to impeach Bush
By Jason Szep

BOSTON (Reuters) - More than 30 Vermont towns passed resolutions on Tuesday seeking to impeach President Bush, while at least 16 towns in the tiny New England state called on Washington to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq.

Known for picturesque autumn foliage, colonial inns, maple sugar and old-fashion dairy farms, Vermont is in the vanguard of a grass-roots protest movement to impeach Bush over his handling of the unpopular Iraq war...

After casting votes on budgets and other routine items, citizens of 32 towns in Vermont backed a measure calling on the U.S. Congress to file articles of impeachment against Bush for misleading the nation on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and for engaging in illegal wiretapping, among other charges. (full article here)

A new measure of the pulse of the people...

...reveals deep emotion among Americans over the situation in Iraq. From a fascinating AP poll of sentiments regarding the war:

Given a range of possible words to describe their feelings about the overall situation in Iraq, people were most likely to identify with “worried,” selected by 81 percent of those surveyed. Other descriptive words selected by respondents:

Compassionate: 74 percent.
Angry: 62 percent.
Tired: 61 percent.
Hopeful: 51 percent.
Proud: 38 percent.
Numb: 27 percent.

The Onion comes through again...

Radical Islamic Extremists Snowboard Into U.S. Embassy

February 14, 2007 | Issue 43•07

BAGHDAD—Extremist board-trick crew Al-J'Aqasse, the Middle East's most prominent Islamic radical snowboard posse, is taking full props for destroying the American embassy when a member nailed a goofyfoot 720 nosehook from a security-barrier railgrind into its offices while carrying 25 kilos of C4 plastic explosives, Thrashzeera magazine reported Tuesday. more

Here's a novel policy idea...

...that labor advocate Jonathan Tasini suggests the Democrats adopt. I think he's on to something:

Spend $5 billion to set up a free wireless Internet network across the country for every American. My friend, sociologist Joel Rogers, calculates that wireless for a typical city of 150 square miles costs about $20 million to set up and, if you figure 200 such cities cover about 30,000 square miles, you cover 80 percent of the population at a total cost of $4 billion. Throw in another billion for the less populous areas and, presto, you've just lowered peoples' cost of living by hundreds of dollars a year (a whole lot more than the majority of people got from the Bush tax cuts). Now, do you think that might endear a whole lot of young people to the Democratic Party for a very long time ("Like Your Free Wireless? Thank The Democrats!")?

Check Tasini's full article as well as his blog, Working Life.

More gems from Banksy...

...including three of the verbal variety. From his book, Wall and Piece:

"Anyone who believes in capital punishment should be shot."

"People who get up early in the morning cause war, death, and famine."

"You don't have to an illegal immigrant to work here - but it helps."

And finally, a piece he painted on a barrier in the West Bank (more):

Paul Krugman dropped a great column today...

...tying partisan bickering to economic polarization. Here's an extended excerpt:

You see, the nastiness of modern American politics isn’t the result of a random outbreak of bad manners. It’s a symptom of deeper factors — mainly the growing polarization of our economy. And history says that we’ll see a return to bipartisanship only if and when that economic polarization is reversed.

After all, American politics has been nasty in the past. Before the New Deal, America was a nation with a vast gap between the rich and everyone else, and this gap was reflected in a sharp political divide. The Republican Party, in effect, represented the interests of the economic elite, and the Democratic Party, in an often confused way, represented the populist alternative. ...

[T]he G.O.P.’s advantage in money, and the superior organization that money bought, usually allowed it to dominate national politics. ... Then came the New Deal. I urge ... everyone ... who thinks that good will alone is enough to change the tone of our politics — to read the speeches of Franklin Delano Roosevelt...

F.D.R. faced fierce opposition as he created ... Social Security, unemployment insurance, more progressive taxation and beyond ... that helped alleviate inequality. And he didn’t shy away from confrontation.

“We had to struggle,” he declared in 1936, “with the old enemies of peace — business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering. ... Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me — and I welcome their hatred.”

It was only after F.D.R. had created a more equal society, and the old class warriors of the G.O.P. were replaced by “modern Republicans” who accepted the New Deal, that bipartisanship began to prevail.

The history of the last few decades has basically been the story of the New Deal in reverse. Income inequality has returned to levels not seen since the pre-New Deal era, and so have political divisions in Congress as the Republicans have moved right, once again becoming the party of the economic elite. The signature domestic policy initiatives of the Bush administration have been attempts to undo F.D.R.’s legacy... And a bitter partisan gap has opened up between the G.O.P. and Democrats, who have tried to defend that legacy.

What about the smear campaigns, like Karl Rove’s...? Well, they’re reminiscent of the vicious anti-Catholic propaganda used to defeat Al Smith in 1928: smear tactics are what a well-organized, well-financed party with a fundamentally unpopular domestic agenda uses to change the subject.

So am I calling for partisanship for its own sake? Certainly not. By all means pass legislation, if you can, with plenty of votes from the other party: the Social Security Act of 1935 received 77 Republican votes in the House, about the same as the number of Republicans who recently voted for a minimum wage increase.

But politicians who try to push forward the elements of a new New Deal, especially universal health care, are sure to face the hatred of a large bloc on the right — and they should welcome that hatred, not fear it.

A fine This Modern World...

...from a couple weeks ago. The inanity of the troop surge seems almost like conventional wisdom now, and Tom Tomorrow sums it up with a zing. (click to enlarge)

On the economics tip...

...I saw this morsel and had to pounce on it. It's from a New York Times article profiling Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's warnings to Congress about the long-term funding status of Social Security and Medicare. Bernanke drops a tidbit on an unrelated story: the relationship between tax cuts and tax revenues.

Asked by Republicans to echo their view that tax cuts lead to increased revenues, Mr. Bernanke said that tax cuts spur economic growth but that they “usually do not pay for themselves” by generating more tax revenue than they drain from the Treasury.

See, in recent months, conservatives have been talking up the fact that the U.S. budget deficit came in much lower than expected for 2006, as big gains in corporate profits and personal income meant that tax receipts swelled, even with lower tax rates. To many, this short-term phenomenon is proof that tax cuts pay for themselves by stimulating economic growth. Bernanke's comments help remind us that this axiom packs about as much intellectual credibility as, say, intelligent design.

Here's a scoop from The Onion...

...it seems old Rummy, not content with retirement, is back on the job hunt.

Rumsfeld Leaves Most Recent Job Off Resume

"I felt that, in today's job market, the administrative work I did in the 1950s for several congressmen would be especially resonant. Employers these days are looking for practical, versatile skills, not flashy titles."

"'Defense Secretary? Great. Can he type 85 words per minute?' That's what they're thinking," Rumsfeld added.

"What's most important about the last six years is that I discovered what I definitely don't want to be doing," Rumsfeld continued.

Bush, you bumble-headed boob...

...your troop surge bullshit flies right in the face of the will of the American people, who have wised up to the chicanery and shortsightedness of your administration and your political party. So when will we rise up? When will we tar you, feather you, and toss you out on your priveleged, pretentious ass?

WASHINGTON - Americans overwhelmingly oppose sending more U.S. forces to Iraq, according to a new AP-Ipsos poll that serves as a strong repudiation of President Bush's plan to send another 21,500 troops.

The opposition to boosting troop levels in Iraq reflects growing skepticism that the United States made the right decision in going to war in the first place and that a stable, democratic government can be established there. Just 35 percent think it was right for the United States to go to war, a new low in AP polling and a reversal from two years ago, when two-thirds of Americans thought it was the correct move.

Sixty percent, meanwhile, think it is unlikely that a stable, democratic Iraqi government will be established.

Fully 70 percent of Americans oppose sending more troops, and a like number don't think such an increase would help stabilize the situation there. The telephone survey of 1,002 adults was conducted Monday through Wednesday night, when the president made his speech calling for an increase in troops. News had already surfaced before the polling period that Bush wanted to boost U.S. forces in Iraq. (more from AP here)

A great montage from Jimmy Kimmel...

...featuring some clips of our fearless leader speechifying like only he can. He's the decider, he's read three Shakespeares, and he wants to give you some thoughts about what he's thinking about...click here.


Post-script: Laughing at him helps ease the pain for a few moments, but when the giggles are finished, the painful reality remains: we're still stuck with this joke of an elder statesman, at least for now.

Kudos to AfterDowningStreet.org...

...and David Swanson, the site's tireless manager, for being recognized as Progressive MVPs of 2006 by John Nichols, a columnist for The Nation. The ADS.org entry is below; for the full article - which includes some Republicans, believe it or not - click here.

* MVP – ACCOUNTABILITY BRANCH

When Russ Feingold moved to censure Bush, the activists of the AfterDowningStreet.org coalition – who had been pushing for the better part of a year for a congressional inquiry into the administration's warping of intelligence to fit its Iraq War goals – adjusted their focus to promote an even broader and more aggressive critique of the Bush presidency.

Nancy Pelosi may have tried to take impeachment off the table, but the AfterDowningStreet.org crew, led by the indomitable David Swanson, kept forcing it back on. Their coalition's website remains the "go-to" place for the latest on investigations, inquiries, subpoenas, legal actions and every other move to hold this president and vice president to account. And their passion for empowering citizens to promote "impeachment from below" and other accountability initiatives has forged a loose-knit but very real national movement.

Watch for this movement to get a lot more attention in March, when a drive organized by Newfane, Vermont, town selectman and impeachment impresario Dan DeWalt and others will see dozens of town meetings endorse articles of impeachment.

Good news on capital punishment...

...which strikes me as perhaps the most unpleasant aspect of our country's domestic policy, from an article today by AP's Robert Tanner:

With more scrutiny over capital punishment, death sentences fall to lowest level in 30 years

The number of death sentences handed out in the United States dropped in 2006 to the lowest level since capital punishment was reinstated 30 years ago, reflecting what some experts say is a growing fear that the criminal justice system will make a tragic and irreversible mistake.

Executions fell, too, to the fewest in a decade.

“The death penalty is on the defensive,” said Richard Dieter, director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a Washington organization that looks at problems with the capital punishment system.

Death sentences fell in 2006 to 114 or fewer, according to an estimate from the group. That is down from 128 in 2005, and even lower than the 137 sentences the year after the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. It is also down sharply from the high of 317 in 1996.

A total of 53 executions were carried out in 2006, down from 60 in 2005. Executions over the past three decades peaked at 98 in 1999.