No Monkeying Around on the Campaign Trail

Back when we were in high school, the most controversial t-shirt that featured H.A. Rey’s cartoon monkey Curious George was the one where the little guy passes out after sniffing ether.

But, a bar owner in Georgia has lowered the discourse even further by placing the monkey’s image on a shirt that reads “Obama in ’08.” Now the Boston-based publisher that owns the rights to the series of books is considering suing the redneck businessman.

It’s less about borrowing the image as it is the blatantly racist message it projects, according to the company.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which owns the book rights to Curious George, isn’t amused with Norman’s sense of humor.

In a statement, Houghton said the firm views the T-shirts as “offensive and utterly out of keeping with the values Curious George represents.”

But the daughter of the man who dreamed up the shirt tells the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he’s just a misunderstood genius.

“I don’t like people picking on my daddy, cause he’s my daddy,” [Brandi Nabors] said. “He might come across as a dumb redneck to a lot of people, but the man is brilliant.”

His former work is quite breathtaking.

[Mike] Norman has sparked protests before with the intemperate slogans he displays on signs in front of Mulligan’s. “No habla Espanol — and never will,” was one. “I wish Hillary had married O.J.” was another.

We don’t think we’re gonna make it to November.