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By Richard Hamilton, March 27, 2007 10:44 pm

The practice of fasting in protest, holding a “hunger strike,” is not new. It is thought by some that the practice has roots in ancient hospitality customs. The accuser would take up residence at the door of the offender’s home and refuse to eat and drink until the wrong was set right. The high value of hospitality in these cultures would force the offender to either besmirch their good name by admitting wrongdoing or, through the ultimate act un-hospitality, letting someone die of starvation at their home. This precarious position would often force the offender’s hand.

Political prisoners have successfully used starvation to create awareness of their cause and turn the tide of popular opinion. During his frequent incarcerations, Mohandas Gandhi used hunger strikes to tarnish the image of Britain. The British could not let Gandhi die in their custody; this afforded him much political leverage. Gandhi’s cause: the end of British occupation in India. Akbar Ganji, an Iranian journalist, was imprisoned in Evin prison for his participation in a conference in Berlin held by Heinrich Boell Foundation under the title “Iran after the elections” which was labled “Anti-Islamic.” Ganji was on a hunger strike for mid-May until mid-August 2005 (with the exception of the 15 days he was granted leave). Ganji’s cause: freedom of speech, justice, human rights, and democracy. Ganji wrote of himself, during his hunger strike, “I am now the symbol of justice.”

What cause will motivate Americans? What will be their fight? Civil liberties? Economic freedom? Ecology? Ending AIDS or poverty?

One American activist, who goes by the moniker “J,” has found a cause worthy of her energy. She is currently 11 days into her hunger strike. J’s cause: the integrity of American Idol. She writes, “This to us is a form of passive resistance to support a cause! It’s more about preserving the goals of American Idol.” According to the “freedom fighter,” “the talent-less American Idol contestant Sanjaya needs to be voted off the show so other talented contestants who deserve a chance to win are being eliminated because there are other people that think it would be funny to try to sabotage American Idol by voting for a lesser contestant.” She has launched myspace.com/starvationforsanjaya to track the progress of her hunger strike.

Is there a vast tone-deaf conspiracy keeping talent-less hacks like Sanjaya in the running to be the next American Idol? Yes. Votefortheworst.com was established for exactly that purpose. “American Idol is not about singing at all, it’s about making good reality TV and enjoying the cheesy, guilty pleasure of watching bad singing.”

Is this a fight worth fighting? In response to her detractors, J writes, “Many people have also brought to our attention that there are many causes more important in the world to be concerned about other than American Idol. Yes, we know this. It’s not that we don’t care about or don’t support these other causes (I in fact, am a big supporter of Bono’s RED campaign), however this cause is something we are also passionate about and can see that many people also feel the same way.”

Starvation for Sanjaya has 1927 friends.

I guess Americans don’t have anything better to do with their time.