Big-time Bush-bashing benefits Boo Radley’s
Hipster haters of George W. Bush have been voting with their pocketbooks this summer by scooping up dump-Dubya merchandise from funky downtown gift shop Boo Radley’s.
When it comes to anti-Bush knickknacks, “Sales have been steady for the last four months,” says Jen Menzer, a clerk at the store, which sits across from Riverfront Park at 232 N. Howard St. “We have to reorder pretty close to every week.”
The hottest seller for those who love to wallow in their animosity toward the president: “The Bush Dyslexicon,” a collection of frequent Dubya tongue-slips popularly known as “Bush-isms.” You know, stuff such as his recent pronouncement that “Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”
Other Bush-bashing books on display include Calvin Trillin’s whimsical “Obliviously on He Sails: The Bush Administration in Rhyme,” the hardnosed guidebook “50 Ways You Can Show George the Door in 2004” and the just plain vitriolic “I Hate George W. Bush Reader.”
The gag gifts attacking the president similarly run the gamut from silly to flat-out vicious. For instance, the Dumb Gum package features a caricature of a drooling Bush above the slogan “8 Idiot-Proof Pieces.” Dumb Gum and the similar National Embarrass Mints might be good for a dumb chuckle. But the bumper sticker touting Bush as “Daddy’s Little War Criminal” likely would get one’s car keyed in Eastern Washington, where polls show the president still enjoys the support of 56 percent of voters.
One item might even draw Secret Service attention: Political Pet Toys are Bush-shaped dog chews with the slogan “You can’t get even, but your pet can.” Down, Fido. Try the “I’m the master of low expectations” Bush quote magnet instead – or the Bush Cards, advertised as “a carefully stacked deck.”
But some customers don’t see the humor in so many anti-Bush products. “People get angry about there not being any ‘bash-Kerry’ stuff,” Menzer says. But she’s quick to note that’s only because the store’s suppliers don’t make much anti-Kerry merchandise. “Just a few buttons,” she says, pointing out one dubbing the Democratic presidential candidate “Scary Kerry quite contrary.”
Menzer has some advice for folks who’d like to see more creative items attacking Kerry. “Design your own T-shirt,” she says. “There’s a market for it.”
And if anyone out there knows of a local store stocking anti-Kerry stuff, let me know and I’ll mention it in an upcoming column.
Meanwhile, to check out Boo Radley’s Bush-bashing collectibles, simply walk to the back of the store and, well, turn left.
Washington Post vs. Washington polls
In a recent item detailing John Kerry’s post-convention bounce in several key states, the Washington Post stated, “Kerry has cut into Bush’s lead in Washington state …” What a dream that would be for the president. But the truth is, Kerry would have no problem winning Washington if the election were held today.
All recent statewide polls – even those conducted by Republican pollsters – show Kerry leading Bush, sometimes by more than 8 percentage points. Even though some surveys place Kerry’s lead within the margin of error, it would be a crazy stretch to say they show Bush ahead. Any way you slice it, the Washington Post slipped up on this one.