SPARTANBURG, SC (Talon News) — In the aftermath of the presidential election in November that resulted in the reelection of President George W. Bush to a second term, several anti-Bush bracelets have popped up on the Internet for sale to “remind Bush that 58 million of us do not support his policies.”
The “I Did Not Vote 4Bush” black protest bracelets are available for sale on eBay by a woman named Brenda McKnight from Moscow, Idaho. She claims she has sold more than 4,000 of the bracelets reminiscent of the What Would Jesus Do, or W.W.J.D., Christian bracelets that were popular a few years ago.
McKnight calls her business “Nation Divided” and has pledged to donate the proceeds from the sale of the bracelets to each of seven liberal political organizations including MoveOn.org, the Sierra Club, Afghan Women’s Fund, People for the American Way, Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Americans United for the Separation of Church & State.
According to her web site at www.ididnotvote4bush.com, McKnight says she is selling these bracelets to “help [liberals] remain visible protesters to the policies of George Bush, to raise money for progressive causes that will fight Bush’s most destructive policies, and to show the world that not all Americans are to blame.”
“We felt we had to do something after the election,” McKnight commented on her web site. “The policies of the Bush administration are incredibly destructive, and the damage that will be done over the next four years will change the shape of our lives, our children’s lives, and the world for generations to come.”
She added, “The Bush administration is ignoring the fact that this was an incredibly close and divisive election. George Bush says he has a ‘mandate’ and ‘political capital’ which he intends to use.”
Hoping the bracelets will “be a reminder that very close to half of the people who voted on Election Day are opposed to the policies of the Bush administration,” McKnight said the more than 50 million voters who did not choose Bush “should not be ignored.”
Meanwhile, another bracelet was created by Laura Adams from Mission, Kansas called the “Blue Hope” bracelet.
According to the web site located at www.hopebracelet.com, the purpose of the bracelets is to “reverse the current climate of fear and negativity in America, and to challenge the divisive ideology of George Bush and the extremist neoconservative wing of the Republican Party.”
The homepage of this web site asks, “Feeling Blue Over The Outcome Of The 2004 Election? Spread Hope. Maintain Momentum and Celebrate Unity.”
Adams, who was inspired by the “hope is on the way” mantra spoken at the Democratic National Convention by Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry, said her bracelets will show that people “stand for a future where there is one America united with peace, equality, and justice for all.”
“On Election Day, 55,949,407 of us stood together for a better America,” Adams declared on her web site. “Don’t let the momentum die. Order your bracelets now, spread them far and wide. Keep hope alive!”
Over 3,300 of the “Blue Hope” bracelets have been sold according to Adams and she has promised to give a portion of the proceeds to Save the Children, Habitat for Humanity and to an unnamed fund for supporting the tsunami victims in Southeast Asia.
Several links are included on the “Blue Hope” bracelet web site to liberal groups such as The Center For American Progress, the Democratic National Committee, MoveOn.org, Sorry Everybody, True Majority, and the William J. Clinton Library.
There is also a promotion for a movement called “Turn Your Back On Bush” designed for the Inaugural on Thursday, where thousands of malcontent Democrats are expected to turn their back on President Bush as he is sworn into office for a second term in protest of his reelection.
Finally, a father and daughter with opposite political beliefs are competing with each other with bracelets of their own.
Berns Rothchild from New York told the Associated Press that she “sort of felt ashamed, and didn’t really want to be associated with being an American” after Bush defeated Kerry.
Rothchild has sold about 500 “Count Me Blue” bracelets in packages of ten in the past week to show “dissent from the misguided policies of the Bush Administration.”
“Join with others in refusing to give in or give up,” Rothchild proclaimed on her web site at www.countmeblue.com. “Each bracelet is a visible reminder that more than 55 million Americans did not vote for George W. Bush. We need to keep working together for a saner government.”
She has pledged to donate the proceeds from the sale of her bracelets to the world relief group UNICEF.
But Rothchild has some competition from an unexpected source — her father.
John Rothchild, a Bush supporter who lives in Miami, Florida, found out about his daughter’s idea and decided to counter it by investing in 5,000 “Count Me Red” bracelets.
At his web site www.countmered.com, which was created by his daughter’s boyfriend who also designed the “Count Me Blue” web site, the elder Rothchild said his bracelets are for those who “support President Bush and elected him twice.”
“Wear ‘Count Me Red’ [bracelets] as a reminder of what’s good about this Administration and its efforts to promote prosperity and to counter terror at home and abroad,” he stated on his web site. “Wear it as a silent rebuttal to those who see a dim future for America under the Bush leadership. Wear it with pride and show others where you stand.”
Mr. Rothchild has also said he would donate the proceeds from the sale of his bracelets to UNICEF.
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