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Sex Scandal Tees Are All the Rage

Posted Apr 27, 08 7:40 PM CDT in Politics,  Business,  Arts & Living 

(Newser) – Americans love their ironic T-shirts, especially when they make coy references to politicians' sex scandals. The Internet is awash with "Client #9" and "Zippergate '98" gear, but the phenomenon isn't restricted to the digital age. It's version 2.0 of the traditional smear campaign—"as American as apple pie," one political analyst told Radar.

Wearing these tees is a way to collectively point the finger at culprits whose only sin was getting caught. But it can also be a political statement: One T-shirt reads "I am not gay. I just have a wide stance"—a reference to Sen. Larry Craig's bathroom shenanigans. "He was such a hypocrite and those people need to be called out," said the manufacturer.

Source Radar

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T-shirts proclaiming 'Zippergate '98' in reference to White House intern Monica Lewinsky's tryst with President Bill Clinton have been hot sellers.   (Associated Press)
New York State Gov. Eliot Spitzer makes a statement to reporters during a news conference, in this March 10, 2008 file photo.   (Associated Press)
"It's a scandal that doesn't lend itself to too much jollity, I think," says the purveyor of shirts mocking Sen. Larry Craig's bathroom solicitation bust, "because it's just kind of pathetic."   (Associated Press)
"Getting caught is really the biggest sin the United States," says a man now selling "Client 9" t-shirts mocking Eliot Spitzer's prostitution bust.   (AP Photo/Stephen Chernin)
An "I'm Not Sarcastic at All" T-shirt is seen in this undated file photo.   ((c) ianloic)
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Hillary Clinton  • Bill Clinton  • Eliot Spitzer  • sex scandal  • clothing  • clothes  • Monica Lewinsky  • Kwame Kilpatrick


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