Clown lives matter

Image from The Warriors

First they came for the clowns...

I admit I have been blown away visually by the artistry and creativity I see in the images from yesterday's Insane Clown Posse march in Washington. Also love that it dwarfed the stupid nearby Trumpfest, if not in attendance than at least in media exposure.

The face paint, the signage, the message of inclusion and the rap duo's appeal to the alienated, they all strike a chord with me.

Think Marcel Marceau meets John Candy and throw in a little psycho Heath Ledger and you get a juggalo. Where all are welcome, irrespective of one's color, religion, orientation or body type.

When looking at the fans, I also can't help thinking about one of my favorite cult movies, the 1979 film The Warriors, filmed by the late Hungarian cinematographer Walter Laszlo, specifically the chilling gang of face painted, bat swinging, baseball players the Warriors run into on their way back to Coney Island.

The ICP fans have been designated a criminal gang organization by the federal government on the basis of the flimsiest and most numerically insignificant of incidents.

Just your basic garden variety government harassment. But they have taken people's kids away on the basis of a tattoo or other supposed icp affiliation.

I was a serious fan of the Grateful Dead in my youth. We looked weird, acted weird and were also specifically targeted by the federal government.

The wearing of tie dye and dead shirts was probable cause for search in airports and dead concerts were quite often attended by undercover federal agents trying to bust people for LSD or other psychedelics, which is really quite ironic because there probably never would have been a psychedelic revolution without the CIA, MKUltra or Colonel Al Hubbard. The beast that got away.

I had friends that spent a significant time in jail for their attempts at personal inner exploration.

I also know what it feels like to be different and not to fit in. Maybe that is one of the reasons I feel solidarity with the juggalos.

I hope that the Insane Clown folks win this struggle and keep up the incredible imagery. Probably gained a lot of new converts this week.

Whoop, whoop.