LA Weekly

Fried Fish

(Illustration by Mr. Fish)
(Click to enlarge)

Our cover story “Dennis Kucinich Has Five Minutes for You: Mr. Fish meets America’s peace candidate” (Nov. 30–Dec. 6) by Dwayne Booth stirred up a heated debate on our Web site. To read the full exchange, check here; a sample of the comments follows:

What a bloated excuse for gonzo journalism. The author could have done a better story with half the words . . . eliminating all the chaff about — himself. He’s not interesting . . . The “how can you support the troops” question was really lame . . . Couldn’t he come up with any more substantial example of Kucinich’s essential lightweightness as a potential leader of the up-to-now most powerful nation on Earth? Please . . .

Your ramblings are stupid and disgusting and sophomoric. Kucinich is a person with honesty and integrity and says what the American people really want from their president, and idiots like you . . . are just disgusting. And by the way WRONG AND STUPID. You are part of the problem and you do not know what you are talking about. Go write about Britney for Gawd’s sake.

I was stunned to see the level of contempt this article evoked! . . . It seems to me these critics just don’t get it . . . Far from being “pretentious,” Booth’s style here is self-deprecating and humorous . . . Much of the criticism of this article stems from its rise above the usual stultifyingly simplistic reportage we’ve come to expect in our dumbed-down culture. Apparently, writing above the sixth-grade level is not only offensive to some people but also threatening.

This is the most pathetic, self-indulgent, benighted smear piece I have ever seen. The standards of the Federalist Society have seriously eroded not just in matters of truth and perspective, but in avoidance of turgid prose expressing breathtaking lack of propriety, as if it were real. This is indeed the style of the literary and moral homunculi who haunt the blogosphere in the name of Republicanism, another free-market jackal.

Best article I’ve read in years about politicians. I’m disturbed at the contempt that many posters have exhibited. Has smart, creative and humorous writing become verboten? I am voting for Kucinich. This article doesn’t change that. It does, however, change my opinion about the “alternative” press. I now believe there is hope for critical thinkers to present ideas beyond the norm. “Hooray” for the Weekly!

Did everyone want [Booth] to ask, “What is your position on renewable energy sources?” just so we could read that part of Kucinich’s stump speech again? . . . Did Mr. Booth try too hard? Maybe. But I saw it as a compliment to Kucinich and a sign of the author hoping against hope for the thoughtful guy in the Democratic field to be thoughtful . . . I will admit that some of the swipes Booth took at Kucinich smack of kicking a man when he’s dull if all of the other readers of the article will admit that the description of Dennis looking like he combed his hair with a buttered roll is just a great line.

The author pretends to be an intellectual with a clever sense of humor but actually seems more like an angry, cynical, sexually frustrated adolescent who is completely blind to the nuanced interconnectedness between contemporary society and historical social evolution and who is taking out his frustrations on the weakest of the herd — the equivalent of a journalistic hyena.

All week long my phone rings and I hear the question, “Are you upset or angry or hurt over the article in the L.A. Weekly?” I reply, “I laughed until my shoulder pads flew off!” By the way, they were plucked from a Joan Collins estate sale. The ’80s are back with a vengeance, doll! When you share the same first name as the late great Duane/Dwayne Allman, and write your frenetic prose like a resurrection of Lester Bangs morphed with Chandra Wilson — with brilliant illustrations that would make R. Crumb wish he had never left America — how can I not appreciate the gifts of Dwayne Booth? The tuna-casserole perfume was compliments of Tom Ford . . .  Yes, and about Dennis Kucinich, your “Coppertone Man” cover illustration will hopefully bring your readers to your last-paragraph “endorsement” of the best candidate in the race for the presidency. Peace and Cheers for the Laughs!

I was at the Dennis Kucinich event in Sierra Madre and my version of events is extremely different from the reporter’s. The part that got to me the most is how he trashed this boy who sang a beautiful song that he wrote about peace. This boy put his heart into this song only to have it snidely trashed by this jaded, egotistical reporter... The L.A. Weekly is quickly becoming an irrelevant tabloid supported by “vaginal rejuvenation” ads.

Are you with the Third Reich? Someday what you’ve written here is going to come back to haunt you, mentally as well as karmically, because you are crucifying a man who is good, honest and ethical . . . If you want to go after someone, go after the criminals running our country, who have been holding the White House and the American people hostage for the past seven years . . . Shame, shame on all of you.

The article is so far left that the lefties think it right. Mr. Booth is not a politician. He is a writer. Leave the repetition of mundane talking points to zombie journalists. Kucinich comes off as an honest man caught up in a corrupted occupation. We need Mr. Booth to interview ALL the candidates!

Last night I was coming home from some club at 3 a.m. and had to wait for the bus. I picked up the L.A. Weekly because I thought “This paper is cool. I’ll read it.” I started reading the Kucinich article . . . (1) Are all your writers a piece of shit? (2) Every other sentence was an insult in some way. (3) I’m serious. Are all your writers a piece of shit???

FOOD FIGHT!!! These comments feel like a lopsided barroom brawl. Am I missing something??? This article posited some of the most profound questions one could ever ask a candidate . . . Even Kucinich himself expressed amazement at being asked REAL questions . . . Come on, people, lighten up. Sounds like a bit of rogue rage to me . . . Our context these days is so completely wacked we no longer have any bearing. Just because it’s Kucinich and he says all the right things doesn’t make the political context we’ve grown accustomed to swallowing any less tragic . . . Thanks for the trip!