The Liberal Agenda: Democracy Manifest and the 20th Anniversary of Green Day’s American Idiot

‘Democracy manifest’ viral video star Jack Karlson dies of prostate cancer

The man who went viral for his 1991 arrest in Brisbane has died of cancer.

Jack Karlson, the man who was famously caught on camera flamboyantly resisting arrest after eating a “succulent Chinese meal”, has died of prostate cancer.

The Australian meme sensation was 82 at the time of his death. It was recently revealed that Carlson had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was needing support for his medical bills.

Karlson was dining at a restaurant in Brisbane in 1991 when police entered the premises and dragged him from his seat and into a police car.

Karlson was filmed delivering a range of Shakespearean-like lines protesting police officers’ actions during the famous arrest, which resurfaced and went viral in 2009.

In his diatribe to the pigs as he was being arrested, Jack Karlson channeled the pure rageful anarchistic joy of telling the State’s Thugs to go fuck themselves.

The idea that you could mock the pigs to their face with such raw gleeful power blew my mind when I saw the clip on TV in Australia, I remember being spell bound by the appearance of this Australian Bloke resisting Police arrest with such Shakespearean diction.

Gentlemen, this is democracy manifest!”,

“What is the charge?

Eating a meal?

A succulent Chinese meal?”,

“Get your hand off my penis!”, (and after an aborted attempt by a police officer to headlock him),

“I see that you know your judo well.”

He was fearless when the pigs came for him. Let us all pray one day to show half his mettle  when the State eventually comes for us all.

His ‘tata’ at the end is beautiful.

It seems fitting that such a wonderful voice against power dies on the same anniversary of Green Day’s spectacular ‘American Idiot’.

Green Day had already cemented their place into the Pantheon of Punk with a slew of singles that reverberated throughout all Nu Metal Radio stations, but with American Idiot, Green Day went from cool alt Punk band to global rock phenomena.

The intense hatred towards Bush for his invasion of Iraq had built into a global movement and with it, this intense anthem of resistance from inside America by one of the great Punk Bands seemed Jonny Rotten level cultural moment without the rot.

The album went on to sell 16 million and won best Rock Grammy 2005.

Holiday/Boulevard of Broken Dreams summed up the wasted anger of American Suburbia while the mournful Wake me when September Ends is a bittersweet love song to the Wounded post 9/11 America, but it is the lead song and its barb toward right wing America that allowed a populist eruption at Bush’s agenda.