Students for rich white guys, unite

For the Minnesota Star Tribune
January 22, 2010 at 11:00PM
Conan O'Brien
Conan O'Brien (Getty/afp - Getty Images/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

STUDENTS FOR RICH GUYS, UNITE

On Friday, liberal college dissidents and malcontents rolled up their sleeves and took to the streets, agitating for ... civil rights? Nice try. Health care? What's that? Multi-millionaire Conan O'Brien?

YES! Now, let's go smash a window!

Supporters of Coco, as he is known, apparently are cuckoo for him. Enough that the self-described "Coconuts" planned a rally at the University of Minnesota to celebrate his career.

It was part of a string of nationwide protests all week in support of the "Tonight Show" host, whose last show was Friday. NBC incurred the wrath of fans after moving Jay Leno back to the 10:30 spot occupied by O'Brien. Young people rallied in major cities, waving homemade signs expressing support for the flame-haired funnyman:

"Who's Conan? We love Jay. Signed, My Great-Grandparents."

"NBC: Nothing But Conan."

"Jay LeNO."

Universities face unprecedented budget issues, the economy is still in shambles and the world gets sweatier every day. Apparently, students just haven't noticed yet. Still, it's great to see motivated young people rallying around at least one "important" cause.

As one Facebook commenter wrote:

"I'm not sure if this is just a mockery of 'protesting' ... or if you people are just unemployed, have to[o] much time on [your] hands and/or are indeed that pathetic."

At least they were raising money for earthquake victims in Haiti in the process. But did we need a super-wealthy man walking away from a TV gig to do that?

James Nord is a University of Minnesota student on assignment for the Star Tribune.

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JAMES NORD