[Mb-civic] Paul Krassner

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_http://www.latimes.com/news/columnists/la-me-lopez31dec31,1,6671055.column?co
ll=la-news-columns_ 
(http://www.latimes.com/news/columnists/la-me-lopez31dec31,1,6671055.column?coll=la-news-columns)  
STEVE LOPEZ / POINTS WEST
A Merry Prankster Keeps On  Chuckling
Steve Lopez

December 31,  2004

As a paid professional cage rattler, I owe a debt to Voltaire,  William and 
Mary of England, the Founding Fathers of the United States, H.L.  Mencken and 
Lenny Bruce, among others.

Without their contributions to the  evolution of free speech, I might not be 
able to share the opinion that  second-rate minds got us into the disastrous 
war in Iraq, that hell's hottest  corner should be reserved for religious 
hypocrites and fans of Andrew Lloyd  Webber, and that Michael Crichton is a menace 
and crackpot for suggesting that  global warming is a figment of our 
imagination.

All of this brings me to  the subject of a fellow muckraker who is 72 years 
old, lives in Desert Hot  Springs, never learned how to drive, was labeled a 
"raving, unconfined nut" by  the FBI and just got nominated for a Grammy.

Paul Krassner,  72?

Hard to believe. He's the merry prankster, the unindicted  co-conspirator who 
hung out with the Chicago 7, coined the term "Yippie" for the  Youth 
International Party, published the counterculture Realist magazine and  demanded a 
paternity test when People magazine called him "the father of the  underground 
press."

The writer and stand-up satirist has appeared on  college campuses, "Late 
Night With Conan O'Brien" and at Desert Hot Springs  Chamber of Commerce 
functions.

Krassner headed inland four years ago  because the desert was cheaper than 
Venice, and followed a friend to a chamber  breakfast or two.

"When the Iraq invasion began, everybody was saying the  protesters were 
unpatriotic. I stood up and introduced myself as a local writer  and comedian and 
antiwar patriot. I heard one person in the back of the room  clapping."

Seventy-two, and still poking people in the eye with a  stick.

But you're wondering about the Grammy, right?

Krassner had  a pal whose name was in the first paragraph of this column, and 
I'm not talking  about Voltaire or William and Mary. A package of Lenny 
Bruce's best work was  released on compact disc, and Krassner was nominated for 
writing the liner  notes.

Krassner and I have a mutual friend, former merry prankster Lee  Quarnstrom, 
who chuckled over Krassner's nomination. The Grammys, of course, are  a 
marketing tool of the entertainment industry."And here's this guy the FBI said  was 
a raving lunatic, or whatever they called him," said Quarnstrom. "I just  
found it delightful that they nominated him for a Grammy."

Krassner was  just as surprised.

"I didn't even know they had a category in album liner  notes," he says.

Krassner wrote a 5,000-word tribute to Bruce — a  trailblazing rebel to some 
and a drug-addled vulgarian to others — who trampled  the conventions of 
polite and safe comedy, held forth on subjects such as  nuclear buildups and 
abortion, and diabolically skewered political posers and  religious frauds.

This often landed Bruce in jail for violating obscenity  laws and made him 
the subject of a longtime campaign by comedians and activists  who wanted Bruce 
posthumously pardoned. Krassner's essay begins by tweaking New  York Gov. 
George Pataki for the language Pataki used last year in granting the  pardon.

"Freedom of speech is one of the great American liberties,"  Pataki said, 
"and I hope this pardon serves as a reminder of the precious  freedoms we are 
fighting to preserve as we continue to wage the war on  terrorism."

In his liner notes, Krassner wrote:

"Lenny would have  been simultaneously outraged by the hypocrisy and amused 
by the irony that the  governor had pardoned him in the context of justifying 
the invasion of  Iraq."

In summing up Bruce's legacy, Krassner included the following from  comedian 
George Carlin:

"Lenny Bruce opened the doors for all the guys  like me; he prefigured the 
Free Speech Movement and helped push the culture  forward into the light of open 
and honest expression." Bruce went after "the  powerful people, to puncture 
the pretentiousness and pomposity of the  privileged."

In short, he challenged authority, a calling forgotten by  all the slobbering 
pundits and commentators who acted more like lapdogs than  watchdogs when the 
White House sold mainstream America on the glories of  war.

But what do you expect in an age in which Jack Kerouac is selling  khakis for 
the Gap, Bob Dylan is selling lingerie for Victoria's Secret and  Robert 
DeNiro is selling New York City for American Express?

Krassner  says he wonders what Bruce would be saying if he were alive today. 
Probably the  same kind of things Krassner is saying.

He told me, for instance, that he  can't believe Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger 
hasn't legalized steroids yet. He  shared his awards of distinction for the 
year of our Lord that ends tonight at  midnight:

Best Perspective-Restoring Headline: Czech Supermodel  Injured in Tidal Wave.

The Chutzpah Above and Beyond the Call of Duty  Award: Mark Geragos, attorney 
for Scott Peterson, for seeking donations to  continue the investigation into 
the murders of Peterson's pregnant wife "to help  free the man we know is 
innocent."

The Best Reason for Resigning  Award: A tie: to Colin Powell, who wanted to 
spend more time with his  conscience, and to Bernard Kerik, who wanted to spend 
more time with his  nanny.

The Most Presidential Statement Award: To George W. Bush,  who said, "Today, 
we had a rocket attack that took a lot of lives. Any time of  the year is a 
time of sorrow and sadness when we lose a loss of  life."

With thanks to Lenny Bruce and a shout-out to Voltaire, who once  said, "I 
disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right  to say 
it," happy new year.

And don't trust anyone over  72.
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