Obama Mao Banned T Shirt

The banned Obama Mao t-shirt, which has been officially inducted into the Obama Kitsch Guide, caused a CNN reporter to be detained for hours by market security and Chinese police.  Emily Chang, a Beijing-based reporter, blogged about the incident after she hunted down the shirt that was reportedly banned amidst fears it would offend Obama:

Chang said she held the shirt up to the camera while filming a story in a Shanghai market.

"Two security guards happened to pass by at the moment I announced to the camera: 'This is the T-shirt everybody is talking about,'" she said.

"And that was it. They scrambled towards us and tried to pry the shirt out of my hands," Chang said. "I didn't give in.

They wanted the shirt and who can blame them?  It is obviously now greatly increased in value since its' inclusion in the "Official Obama Kitsch Guide."  Hey, it's a very classy publication.  So desperate were the Chinese officials to confiscate the banned shirt they called for reinforcements:

"We ended up being detained for two hours in the cold, maze of a market," she said. "A crowd gathered round. More security and then police showed up."They wanted our press cards, our passports, but most of all, they wanted the shirt," she said. "Finally, they let us go. Phew!"

Phew indeed.  The best news is Chang was able to keep the valuable shirt:

Chang refused to surrender the offending shirt and joked that a number of jealous White House and CNN colleagues had tried to "bribe" her for it.

I guess we know what fashionable White House staffers will be wearing this holiday season.  Or not...