Posted by The Sticker on April 29th, 2008
The Print On Demand (POD) bumper sticker makers at Zazzle make a useful tool available to shopkeepers: statistics in rank order displaying the most-often bumper stickers viewed within a time period. The frequency of recent bumpersticker views on our Zazzle webshop (which sticks solely to bumper stickers with liberal messages on them) is an indicator of liberal sentiment about social and political causes of the day. What are these causes, and how do liberals orient themselves toward them?
The following are the ten most viewed liberal bumper stickers (not including our presidential election bumper stickers, which for purposes of clarity we rank separately) on our Zazzle webshop for the week of April 22-29, 2008:
1. Bitter: Ask Me Why
2. Customizable Bumper Sticker Against Right-Wing Congressional Kooks
3. Custom Candidate for Congress Bumper Sticker (Blue and Red background)
4. Customizable Congressional Campaign Bumper Sticker (Blue Background with Red Stars)
5. Support the Peace, Say No to War
6. Mark Twain Quote: “Loyalty to the country always. Loyalty to the government when it deserves it.”
7. Ben Franklin Quote: “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
8. Is the Earth Getting Hot, Or Is It Just Me?
9. Fight Global Warming: Get On Your Bike!
10. Veterans Against the War
These messages are what liberals are looking for now. These searches capture the frequency of the liberal wavelength that’s resonating outside the presidential campaigns right now. Ask yourself: do they reflect what’s happening inside the presidential campaign?
Posted by The Sticker on April 28th, 2008
Exposure is one of those words that has a lot of different meanings. Exposure, in photography, is a term that refers to the reaction of certain chemicals to light from the sun or from a flash bulb. Exposure, for explorers might be a way to die when inadequately dressed for winter weather. Exposure can be a good thing, though, for a new product or brand being marketed by big corporations on TV shows.
Then there’s the sense of exposure as the people at the right wing extremist publication Human Events seem to mean it in the title of their report, Barack Obama Exposed!. An over-marketed, out-of-date, superficial, dishonest examination of a skewed selection of Barack Obama’s record and associations, Barack Obama Exposed! manages to embarrass the people who cite it as a resource, and then unexpectedly are unable to sustain their rationale for hating Obama when exposed themselves to the information available in the world outside of the bizarre Human Events cult-like insularity.
Barack Obama Exposed!, it is promised, will be “the only way you’ll get all the ammunition you need to end Obama’s White House dreams once and for all.” Of course, the report has been out since early 2007, and has fallen into the hands of many gullible readers, but Barack Obama’s White House dreams have actually not been ended at all. What a mystery that is.
Let me suggest another kind of exposure for Barack Obama - exposure to fresh air and the interested gaze of all who pass you by on the road of life. Put a Barack Obama bumper sticker on your car, and you’ll give Barack Obama lots of exposure. You can even imitate the silly people at Human Events, saying to your friends, as you approach your car together, “Look! Barack Obama exposed!”
Posted by The Sticker on April 22nd, 2008
One of the interesting things about the Barack Obama campaign is that it is bringing people together around more than just their support for Barack Obama, but around their personal interests too. For example, one of the groups at the official Barack Obama web site is Gardeners for Peace and Obama. This group is focused on environmental issues, and does more than just talk.
Consider the blog entry created by PonyGirl, a member of the group. She talks about a recent Obama campaign activity which did more than just hold a rally for Obama. In Minneapolis, Obama supporters came together to clean up the riverfront part. “You would be hard pressed to find narry a cigarette butt,” she writes.
That tells you a lot about gardeners, and about supporters for Barack Obama. These aren’t the kind of people who sit and think about how things might be. They get up out of their chairs and work to match what is to what things could be. They plan ahead. They care about the world around them.
It’s a good sign for the Barack Obama presidential campaign that it has grabbed the support of gardeners.
To try to see the other side, I searched Google for any groups of gardeners who might support McCain. I only got the following message in response, “No results found for “gardeners for mccain”.
That tells me what I need to know about the John McCain for President campaign. I’ll join Gardeners for Obama.
Posted by The Sticker on April 20th, 2008
Print-On-Demand (POD) bumper sticker producer Zazzle offers an interesting feature to shopkeepers: the ability to view bumper stickers in rank order from most-often viewed within a time period to least-often viewed. The frequency of bumper sticker views has something to say, giving us a lens with which to view the shape of progressive sentiment about social and political causes of the day. What are these causes, and how do progressives orient themselves toward them?
The following are the ten most viewed progressive bumper stickers (not including our election bumper stickers, which we’ll rank separately) on our Zazzle webshop for the week of April 13-19, 2008:
1. Bitter: Ask Me Why
2. Ben Franklin Quote: “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
3. Is the Earth Getting Hot, Or Is It Just Me?
4. Veterans Against the War
5. Support the Peace, Say No to War
6. Customizable Congressional Campaign Bumper Sticker
7. Customizable Bumper Sticker Against Right-Wing Congressional Kooks
8. War Is Not Moderate
9. Fight Global Warming: Get On Your Bike!
10. Mark Twain Quote: “Loyalty to the country always. Loyalty to the government when it deserves it.”
These messages are what progressives are looking for now. These searches capture what’s on the progressive mind now.
Posted by The Sticker on April 15th, 2008
Bloggers are a special kind of citizen. Not all bloggers are alike. Some blogs are more substantial than others. However, bloggers are all distinguished from other Americans by simple thing: They don’t just passively consume a view of the world. They create a view of the world for others to see.
In order to create that view, bloggers need to look themselves. Bloggers are some of the most dedicated seekers of information there are. Bloggers look for a new angle, for a subject other people haven’t written about. Bloggers question. They challenge.
As they gain experience doing so, bloggers get a special kind of training in detecting weak arguments and bogus claims of truth. Bloggers are some of the best people at finding deception. They pierce the veil of lies that covers the federal government in Washington D.C. Whether anyone else cares to look through the veil with them, they show the way to see.
That’s why I’m proud to be a blogger. In a time when many Americans have surrendered to apathy, bloggers are vigilant. Watching defeat after defeat, they get back up every day and give it another try.
Bloggers oppose politicians who act like bullies and try to squelch small voices. Bloggers oppose politicians who try to keep government secrets shut away from public view. Bloggers oppose politicians who consistently deceive American voters, but claim to be on some kind of “straight talk express”.
Bloggers can see through the hype. Bloggers are against the campaign of John McCain for President.
Posted by The Sticker on April 14th, 2008
Political activism does not need to take on a strident, aggressive tone all the time. Sometimes, an effective message takes a laid back form that gently suggests instead of urgently pleading. This more relaxed kind of activism is demonstrated by a bumper sticker that is against the presidential campaign of John McCain.
The bumper sticker is for Miami Against McCain, and it just wouldn’t seem right for the bumper sticker, designed for McCain as it is, wouldn’t seem right if it were in plain old patriotic red white and blue, or in alarming black and yellow.
This cool, serene Miami combination of pink and green seems just right for Miami. It’s an important lesson for people who design activist gear: Politics is global in its impact, but local in its expression.
Of course, it’s also not like Miami to be merely against things. So, here’s a link to a local activist group for those who support the best alternative to John McCain: Generation Obama Miami: “an unconventional merging of young donors and young activists”.
Posted by The Sticker on April 6th, 2008
The Republican presidential campaign of John McCain is getting itself worked up into a fury about the statement by radio show host Ed Schultz. Schultz said on Friday that John McCain is a warmonger.
Irregular Times points out quite simply that the the definition of the word monger is “a person who seeks to bring about or promote war” (source: Oxford Modern English Dictionary).
By that standard, and the standard of four other well-respected dictionaries Irregular Times cites, John McCain is clearly a warmonger. John McCain worked hard to help George W. Bush bring about the war in Iraq, and has spent a great deal of time since promoting the continuation of that war. Also, John McCain has promoted the idea of going to war against Iran (Remember McCain singing, “Bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb Iran,” last year?
Of course John McCain is a warmonger. He’s a powerful politician who has spent the last seven years promoting war. This isn’t a point that can be intelligently argued about. It’s just a fact. John McCain has consistently sought to bring about war. By definition, that makes him a warmonger.
If the campaign of John McCain for President is so upset about John McCain being called a warmonger, perhaps they ought to examine McCain’s pro-war policies, rather than blaming the messenger for the blunt message of truth. If John McCain doesn’t want to be called a warmonger, he ought to stop being a warmonger.
Posted by The Sticker on April 1st, 2008
There have been reports today of independent truckers holding protests against high diesel prices. Of course, smart truckers who have been tracking the cost of diesel know that it is nottaxes at the state, local or federal level that have caused the enormous price increases of the last few years. The real problem has been that our federal government has followed a policy that has created the oil markets to skyrocket out of control.
First, there’s the problem of the war in Iraq, which has gone on longer than World War II, but still with no victory in sight. Just last week, one of only two pipelines going out of the south of Iraq was blown up, causing the price of a barrel of crude oil to surge. At the same time, the Republicans have opposed fuel efficiency and alternative fuels in cars, vans, and SUVs, leading to increased demand in general for petroleum products.
Taxes are not to blame for the fact that oil prices are more than 300 percent higher than they were when George W. Bush took office. George W. Bush and the Republicans who have controlled the government are to blame.
Truckers know that the only way to reduce diesel prices is to get the Republicans out of government. They also know that the place to start is at the top, with the President of the United States. That’s why truckers support Barack Obama for President. They know that Obama will put an end to the insane Republican federal government policies that have led to out of control fuel costs. Another Republican like John McCain just can’t be trusted to do the job.
