The Accidental Activist

I’m not one of those born activists – you know, the type who organize their 6th grade class to protest tuna casserole day in the cafeteria. Then later they try to unionize the cheerleading squad, before heading somewhere to build huts for impoverished people. The world needs these types; I applaud these types; I’m just not one of them. I admit I was my 9th grade class president but that’s because I was the only one who knew which end of the pencil to write with. Wait, that’s not fair to my classmates, but I’m ticked off right now because I just drove all the way to cable access to mix a tape down, and there was nothing on it. Somehow we sat here and talked into a camera for 28 minutes and the tape mysteriously didn’t work.
At a time like this you tend to wonder why the hell you’re doing a cable access show in Portland, Oregon anyway. (The Born to Slack Show, Friday, 11pm, Channel 11.) And it goes back to the activist thing. Somewhere along the line with this administration I began to believe I had to do everything I could think of – within reason - to counter what’s going on. I really believe these “leaders” are that bad - so bad that we’ll be judged by future generations as to how we reacted: “Why didn’t you do anything about the torture, and the preemptive strikes, and the chemical weapons in Fallujah?”
And on and on and on.
So I’m fighting back. Sometimes it’s through comedy. I do write for over 140 radio stations. Or music. A couple of summers ago my band made a DVD called “Let’s Leave Iraq.” But mainly I’m just not going quietly into that dark NSA night.
I didn’t want to get involved but these bastards have drawn me out.
I’m the accidental activist.