DEL.ICIO.USBut Marietta mayor says bar owner Mike Norman gives Marietta a 'black eye' by selling controversial Obama T-shirts
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/15/08
Mike Norman looks like a Harley-riding curmudgeon and juggles telephones like a seasoned political consultant. But even Norman couldn't keep up with the interview requests this week.
A truck from WGCL was in his tavern's driveway; WXIA and Fox News were on the phone; radio host Clark Howard wanted to speak later.
 Frank Niemeir/Staff |
| Mike Norman is being criticized for selling T-shirts depicting a monkey and a Barack Obama slogan. |
"It's CBS in Los Angeles," one of his employees whispered, holding a hand over the mouthpiece.
Norman, 63, handed out the soundbites, but in his estimation tornadoes deserve news reports, not T-shirts: "This is a lot of hullabaloo about nothing."
Norman grabbed the spotlight Tuesday after selling T-shirts at his establishment, Mulligan's Bar and Grill, depicting the cartoon monkey Curious George and the slogan "Obama in '08." Critics called the shirt racist and an embarassment.
Norman's daughter Brandi Nabors stopped in to check on him, worried that his opinions might spark more than criticism. In her demure green plaid dress, she looked out of place among the tank tops, T-shirts and tattoos.
"I don't like people picking on my daddy, cause he's my daddy," she said. "He might come across as a dumb redneck to a lot of people, but the man is brilliant."
"This is a black eye," Marietta Mayor Bill Dunaway said Wednesday. "I abhor the sale of these T-shirts. I am proud of this city, I am proud of the race relations that the city has had."
Notorious in Marietta as a provocateur, 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.
The statements reflect Norman's political leanings and serve to annoy people that he takes delight in annoying. He called the T-shirt "cute."
On Tuesday, chanting protesters gathered in front of his Roswell Street tavern, charging that the image was a throwback to the days when African-Americans were referred to as monkeys.
Norman acknowledged the charged history of the "monkey" association, but said, "this is 2008. This is not 1941 in Alabama, so get over it."
His reception was warmer inside the bar. "I love you, Mike," said bartender Bonnie Reilly, throwing an arm around his shoulders.
Mulligan's has an interior design that is one part obnoxious bumper stickers, one part farm implements, and two parts weaponry. (Among the firearms on the walls is a vintage Thompson submachine gun.)
Norman fits the role of owner. His white beard is trimmed square just below his chin; a pair of wraparound shades sit atop his John Deere cap, a silver wristwatch adorns his massive sunburned forearm.
His clientele are the same type of folks that Norman grew up with in Clinton, Tenn. Norman came to Marietta in 1963 "to keep from going in a coal mine."
Norman sold tires and batteries at the Sears in Marietta, then bought Mulligan's in 1992 because "I'd always wanted to."
The publishing company that owns the rights to the Curious George image is not amused. It says it is considering legal action to stop the sale of the T-shirts.
"We find it offensive and obviously utterly out of keeping with the values Curious George represents," said Rick Blake, a spokesman for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
But Norman said the caricature on the shirts, which were a gift from a customer he won't name, has been altered to avoid license infringement.
Also, he's sold out. Will he order more? "I don't know if I want to mess with it," he said. "I'm not in the T-shirt business."
Staff writers Christian Boone and Jamie Gumbrecht contributed to this article.
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