The Fed's War On T-Shirts continues (Updated)

You may recall Cindy Sheehan's run in with the Capitol Police over her anti-war T-shirt which declared the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq.  Beverly Young, the wife of a GOP rep was also booted from the SOTU that same night for wearing a T-shirt that said Support our Troops. Charges against Sheehan were dropped, and Mrs. Young was absolved of all wrong-doing as well, the next day, and one might have thought the government's war on nefarious T-shirts had ended there. But the problem of anti-government T-shirts has become ubiquitous, and the Feds seem determined to stamp out the problem where ever it rears its ugly head.

The same day charges against Sheehan were dropped, federal agents were busy continuing their crackdown on offensive T-shirts in a new venue :  New Orleans.  Feb 1, 2006, George Barish, president of the United Commercial Fisherman's Association was caught giving an anti-FEMA T-shirt to a fellow Katrina victim.  What follows is this wicked man's sordid tale.

George Barisich, president of the United Commercial Fisherman's Association, has been selling anti-FEMA T-shirts since last fall, a reflection of his frustration with the federal government's response to the storm that left him homeless and unemployed.

But on Feb. 1, when he handed a shirt to a fellow Katrina victim as he was picking up canned goods at a charity's relief tent, Barisich found himself in trouble with the government.

He was cited by a group of
Homeland Security officials for selling a T-shirt on federal property - in this case, near a FEMA center in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart in Chalmette, La.

Barisich, 49, says he didn't sell the shirt, which said: "Flooded by Katrina! Forgotten by FEMA! What's Next, Mr. Bush?" He says he gave it away.

Now, one might think the government would back down.  After all, it might look like bullying to be picking on people who've lost everything, just for giving away T-shirts.  

Word of Barisich's plight is circulating around battered St. Bernard Parish, where 22,000 of the 26,000 homes were destroyed by flooding. Larry Ingargiola, the local emergency operations chief, calls it "totally ridiculous."

"I've tried to work with them," he says of the federal government. "But some of the rules they've got down here are unbelievable. For God's sake, everybody knows George. They're pushing the buttons a little bit too far."

Barisich says he was ticketed after six DHS officers gathered at his truck. Boyd says he can't confirm the number. Barisich says he was told he would be arrested if he did not take the ticket. "I said, 'Do you really want to arrest me? Am I the only one here who thinks this is asinine? You're harassing a person who just lost everything.' "

Barisich's extended family lost 14 of its 17 houses in St. Bernard. Three of his fishing boats vanished. Two other boats survived but can't get to sea because they're in a canal filled with debris and silt. And he doesn't have enough cash to rebuild his oyster beds.

Fortunately, the Feds are not intimidated.
Apparently, in a post-9/11 world, one cannot be too careful about T-shirt messages.

The government is sticking to its guns. "If we ignored this violation, you could have potentially 20 to 30 people standing out in front of the (FEMA) center, obstructing things," says Dean Boyd, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesman. "We've got a duty and a job under the law."

Barisich says he intends to fight the $75 ticket in court. UPDADTE: From the comments RumsfeldResign points out that we can help George Barisich out by buying his T-shirt and artwork. His URL is www.seafood.com/Portals/0/tshirt_UCFA.pdf