Posted 5:32 PM by Floyd

Maybe there could be a left-wing protester category on Jackass. From today's Mercury News:

Thirteen activists began a five-day hunger strike Sunday night on the windy, rain-drenched sidewalks of downtown San Jose, showing their opposition to President Bush's call for a pre-emptive strike on Iraq.

The protesters, most of them Santa Clara University students, held candles and prayed in front of the Federal Building, just blocks away from holiday shoppers and moviegoers.

``I'm a little nervous. I'm hungry right now, thinking about it,'' said Blair Thedinger, 21, an environmental science major at the university. ``But I'm really opposed and frustrated by U.S. military policy and our approach to world domination, rather than working through diplomacy.''

Thedinger and fellow activists will sleep in two large tents on Second Street, comforted by sleeping bags and nourished only by bottled water. A visiting nurse will provide medical support and surveillance.

What's impressive about a hunger strike conducted by grownups is that the striker risks suffering and dying for his or her beliefs. No one will give a shit when Blair's tummy gets growly.

Next, a San Francisco protester will pour a drop of alcohol on the back of his hand and light it.

This reminds me of my favorite newspaper caption. It was in my college newspaper, the Purdue Exponent. It was 1986 and we had anti-apartheid protesters, campus leftists being a few years behind the times. Purdue is not a place where people get weepy when watching idiot commie antics. Someone delivered pizzas to the protesters. Even better, a guy lit a barbeque upwind and started grilling chicken.

The Exponent showed a picture of the barbequer, with the following caption:

I'll have a right wing, please.