[media id=10867] h/t Heather for video. It should come as a surprise to no one that some wingnuts think it's cool to use the Bible to promote veiled
November 21, 2009

h/t Heather for video.

It should come as a surprise to no one that some wingnuts think it's cool to use the Bible to promote veiled threats against the President. Disgusting.

But using online personalized item sites to spread the word? Apparently this Maddow segment from Thursday had an impact in ending that. Cafepress is now following Zazzle.com and pulling the "Pray for Obama" merchandise that clearly expressed a wish for his demise. The CafePress website announced yesterday:

This morning we made the decision to remove all Psalms 109:8 designs from CafePress.

General consensus has proven that the design does point to a broader interpretation of the Psalm and thus has been deemed inappropriate for sale at CafePress.

We try to create an atmosphere of self-expression. Many of the things we encounter are not black and white, but grey. When the dialogue is civil, we want to let the larger community work things out rather than making an uninformed ruling. The dialogue has played out and common sentiment has reached agreement – this merchandise is not appropriate.

Thank you all for your input.

Transcript of Rachel Maddow's segment below the cut:

And today, in “invoking God to make your own creepy political point” news, earlier this week, we reported on how Psalm 109:8 has been merchandised recently by particularly virulent haters of the president.

Psalm 109:8 reads, quote, “Let his days be few and let another take his office.” The psalm then continues, “Let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. Let his children continually be vagabonds and beg. Let them seek their bread also from their desolate places. Let the creditor seize all that he has and let strangers plunder his labor. Let there be none to extend mercy to him nor let there be any favor to his fatherless children.”

We reported two days ago that the opening verse of that sentiment is being promoted as a prayer for Obama on bumper stickers, mouse pads, teddy bears, aprons, frame tiles, keepsake boxes and t-shirts.

Those items from “CafePress.com” as of today are no longer available for sale there. But some other mugs and shirts and cards with the same message still are. After initially pulling down some of these items, Cafe Press issued a statement saying they would allow them in the interest of free speech. We posted the full statement about the merchandise from Cafe Press at “Rachel.MSNBC.com” if you‘d like to read it.

Another company that, like Cafe Press, allows you to buy and sell personalized clothing and gear reached the opposite conclusion when they looked into the Psalm 109 controversy. “Zazzle.com” told us today, quote, “We have determined that these products may be interpreted in such a way as to suggest physical harm to the president of the United States.”

So “Zazzle.com” pulled this merchandise. Whether or not these things violate individual user agreements is up to the companies, of course, to decide. Whether or not they violate one‘s basic sense of decency - well, that decision is up to you.

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