...there was a bunch of clowns smoking dope. This year's march in Portland was less than half the size of last year's and the political content was again focused on immigration reform. Detracting from the focus were the traditional Black Bloc folks looking for a fight, international socialists, and the clowns.

This video is essentially the entire march. If there were 5,000 people at any time, I did not see them.

Some people do not know the significance of the clowns, and probably never will.

In Egypt people are getting arrested for blogging facts. In Russia, Chess Master Gary Kasparov went to jail for organizing a protest against the government. In Portland the Black Bloc wears poofy skirts and writes their lawyer's phone number on their arm.

Last year I almost got into an altercation with a member of the Black Bloc who was taunting the police while another one was flipping me the bird. Two trips to Iraq later, I am less easily offended.