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TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2003

"A smart-ass shtick for journalists these days is interviewing inarticulate placard-carrying protesters at big demonstrations. P. J. O'Rourke started the trend in the Atlantic Monthly with a piece about last April's anti-globalization Mobilization for Justice march in Washington, D.C. Writers have been pulling "O'Rourkes" at peace demonstrations ever since--with the media casting entire lefty causes as woefully ignorant, based on the testimony of a few doofuses. I could've pulled the same media trick at the February 15 Seattle Center antiwar rally by cornering a couple of imbeciles among the 20,000 protesters. There were plenty to choose from.

So here's what I decided to do on Saturday: Rather than pluck out a few morons, I'd listen to the rally's keynote speaker, writer Sherman Alexie--the person organizers themselves put forward as the march's headliner.

Sadly for antiwar folks like me, Alexie's speech was moronic. Voicing the kind of cute dissent--based on clichéd antiwar sound bites--that makes the antiwar movement look ridiculous, Alexie turned out to be the biggest boob there."

Get the Story:
Josh Feit: Sherman's March (The [Seattle] Stranger Feb 20 - Feb 26)

Relevant Links:
Sherman Alexie - http://www.fallsapart.com