In today's fishrag, E.J. Montini relates the sad story of a lone man up against the big guys, standing tall with nothing but the United States Constitution, quaint old snippet of parchment that it is, to defend him in his efforts to express his personal dissatisfaction with the Bush war against Iraq.
E.J.Montini. The "J" stands for "jenius."
This is a remarkable piece of writing, it is. Truth unvarnished by principle. The whole story uncolored by petty concerns about our little First Amendment thingie-thing. Solid reporting perfectly unhinged from any regard for values.
It's just so perfect.
Dan Frazier is an entrepreneur who Montini refers to as a "hyena." Frazier's main claim to fame is that he prints the names of soldiers killed in the Iraq war under the words "Bush Lied." On T-shirts. There are too many names for bumper stickers anymore.
Montini plays the story straight, just like a good little boy should. No patriotic appeals to free speech from this guy. Nope. He works for a newspaper. The biggest in the state. Forget about silly defenses of First Amendment rights from E.J.
That's not what he does. Just the facts, ma'am.
As absurd as this may sound to normal human beings such as you and me, E.J.'s article expresses no concern at all for the implications of this story. The Arizona Legislature passed a bill outlawing Frazier's T-shirts and Montini tells this tale without passion, without depth, without larger context, and most of all without offense to anyone who might in the least way support the ridiculous and malignant status quo that gets our soldiers killed every day in Iraq.
Good job, E.J. If there were an award for malignant mediocrity you'd be getting it.
Now there's an idea.
