Obama ‘slave’ shirt sparks lawsuit threat

ny.metro.us ^ | 07/17/08 | s. spencer scott

[TornadoAlley3]

Designer claims unhappy customer got assaulted, now wants to sue

When a 25-year-old Manhattan graduate student who was assaulted Tuesday night got dressed that morning, she probably didn’t anticipate that her T-shirt would provoke four teens into shoving her, pulling out her earphones and spitting in her face.

Then again, with a shirt sporting the slogan, “Obama is my slave,” it may have been wise to consider the possibility.

Now she’s suing the $69 shirt’s designer, Apollo Braun, for “all he’s got,” the designer claims.

But the Israeli-born Braun — born Doron Braunshtein — says what allegedly happened to his now-disgruntled customer isn’t his fault — and that his outrageous design reflects not his views but those of “ordinary WASPs.”

“For a lot of people, when they see Obama, they see a slave. People think America is not ready for a black president,” Braun told Metro from his five-year-old Orchard Street boutique.

Braun claims that after the customer — who did not return repeated calls from Metro — threatened to sue, he contacted his own lawyer, who assured him he was shielded by the

First Amendment from any legal action.

The ugly incident over the ugly shirt took place at 8:30 p.m. in Union Square, Braun told Metro, when four African-American female teenagers accosted the student, cursed at her for her shirt and pushed her. According to the designer, the student walked away, but the girls followed her, one pulling the earphones out of her ears, another spitting in her face.

This isn’t Braun’s first sartorial criticism of the Democratic presidential presumptive nominee. He has also sold shirts with slogans such as “Jews Against Obama,” “Obama = Hitler” and “Who Killed Obama?” — which he claims was so popular, he moved 1,200 pieces.

“I can’t stand Obama,” Braun says, adding that it’s not because the Illinois senator is black. “That’s the only thing I like about him. He opens the door for other minorities.”

“He reminds me of Adolf Hitler,” Braun explained, adding he does not like Obama because “he is a Muslim” — a thoroughly debunked myth.

[Jabba the Nutt]

You picked up on the same thing I picked up on:

" But the Israeli-born Braun — born Doron Braunshtein — says what allegedly happened to his now-disgruntled customer isn’t his fault — and that his outrageous design reflects not his views but those of “ordinary WASPs.”"

It seems like everyday now, some idiotic liberal gets into trouble with his fellow liberals for expressing not his own views, but what he imagines conservatives, ordinary Americans believe. This is the New Yorker cover writ small.

What makes this so funny to me, is that their fellow liberals are so humorless, so angry and so perpetually enraged that they don't get the joke. (Not that the jokes were very funny.)

So, an attempt to attack "ordinary WASP's" backfires, by getting a liberal assaulted and what's more, the liberal does, what liberals do, they SUE!

Can anything be more perfect than this?

[ladyjane]

Somebody clips Obama...

We're going to see riots no matter what happens. Win, lose, whatever. I'm already feeling the tension and the anger, in the grocery store, on talk radio, etc. There are a lot of minorities who are expressing themselves - more strongly than Michelle or the pastor.