On Sun, 30 Nov 2003 20:12:02 -0600, Karen wrote:

On Mon, 01 Dec 2003 01:03:23 GMT, devil wrote:

On Sun, 30 Nov 2003 17:50:20 +0000, Javaman wrote:

The full range of "I am not American" merchandise is available on
the internet at http://www.iamnotamerican.com .

I find these shirts offensive, even though I understand the reason behind
them.
As someone who does not, has not, or ever will support George W. Bush,
I am still an American who has done nothing to deserve derision from this
guy.

It's like wearing a shirt that says "Canadians are assholes."
While many are, most Canadians are very nice, friendly people.

Really? Do the teeshirt make similar claims about American?

It's not that I necessarily find these teeshirts to be a god idea. But as
far as all they say is "I am not American," why would that be offensive?

If you claim the right of being proud to be American, don't I have the
right of being proud *not to be* American? Just equally silly. Not more,
not less, isn't it?

If the seller truly wanted only to identify himself, why not use a
more positive message such as "I am a Canadian"? I think it's
disingenuous to say that he means no offense when he sells t-shirts
that have an American flag with the international circle/slash symbol
for "no" across it.

A tad itchy? Who cares about what people may or may not have in mind. Is
the statement offensive when taken at its face value, or not?

Let me repeat: if one insists in being proud of being a Martian, then I
think it's fairly reasonable to grant me the right of being proud of *not*
being a Martian. Now, I submit both are somewhat silly. But as they say,
that's another story.

In the context of the way the current US government behaves in Iraq, it's
truly *not being American* that matters, if you think of it. Not that I
come from this or that minor tribe.