Penal Politics
T-shirts are a great vehicle by which to let people know just where you stand (on, say, a divisive hot-button issue). To this end, check out the fine examples pictured below, both created by a cadre of prison guards from rural Illinois in response to the proposed closure of their economic livelihood, the historic Pontiac Correctional Center. Apparently, the Big City Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, is locked in a very public squabble with the Small Town Mayor of Pontiac, Scott McCoy, the messy contours of which are delineated here in this informative NYT piece. As the community’s second largest employer, the prison assumes an outsized significance in local affairs and any attempt to change that has and will be met, naturally enough, with resistance and, in a strange, ironic twist, reverse N.I.M.B.Y.-ism.
Spotted at the big rally:
A second version for good measure:
Granted, they’re not much from a design perspective, but their creation seems distinctly American (not that there’s any problem with that, natch) and the message is, if nothing else, completely and utterly original. For what it’s worth, I prefer the fatter, thicker font on the second tee. It’s just a bit bolder, which is important when you want to convey the gravity of the situation. Anyways, I’m not much for prisons — or the questionable economics (or politics, for that matter) of incarceration — but I’ll give credit where credit is due; these guys have hit on a time-tested, winning strategy.
No word yet on whether Blagojevich (love that name, btw) has authored a t-shirted response of his own.
