Regular readers of my column might know that I'm a fan of the beard. A beard booster, some might say. To me, a beard carries with it a certain degree of dignity, or a noble grace and confidence. Grow you a beard, and you are telling the world that you don't care about social graces; scruffy is how you are, and scruffy is how you will stay.

A man's beard can mean any number of things about him.

1. His face easily gets cold, and this bothers him.

2. His razor is broken and in the shop.

3. He's secretly the Cookie Monster.

4. His home looks more like a cave.

5. He's a Hollywood writer, on strike.

Yes, the Hollywood writers strike is in its third month, and the situation looks grayer and more desolate every day. Most television shows are using up their last episodes taped before the strike shut down production. The motion picture industry is spewing out horror movies about scary voice mails (the horror!), which could not possibly have been written, at least not by anyone or thing that passes as a quadruped.

Recent news reports say that the strike will force the layoffs of hundreds of workers in the television and movie business. It's all very depressing.

Good news comes in the way of the emergence of the beard as a signal of solidarity on the part of striking writers. Two late-night TV show hosts, David Letterman and Conan O'Brien, returned to the air this month, bearded and visibly sympathetic to the writers' cause. Letterman blinked first, though, shaving his beard off on his show, but O'Brien is still rocking the red menace upon his face. I never thought it possible that I could like O'Brien any more than I already did, but now that he resembles a pirate, somehow Ido.

Among the striking writers, beards seem to have taken on the image of a symbol for what these men and women want to accomplish in standing up to their corporate overlords. Maybe they want to appear rough and tumble, willing to risk their livelihoods for what they believe is fair. It's possible that they want to look devoted enough to their cause that they don't have that extra 10 minutes in the morning it takes to shave those whiskers off their faces. Or perhaps they just want to cover up a bad case of acne.

No matter what the reason, the beard has proven, historically, to be a winner. Abraham Lincoln was a great president, leading us past a time in our national history when we were literally divided into parts, and making us whole again.

ZZ Top songs are always good for a singalong. Kenny Rogers delivered unto us "The Gambler." Let's not also forget the difference Chuck Norris made in Mike Huckabee's victory in the Iowa caucus, just last week.

And all of these men's accomplishments have to be, in some small part, thanks to the "devil may care"attitude these men exhibited about their appearance, not at all concerned that the lower half of their face was covered in forestry.

To the striking writers, Isay let your strike beards fly in the breeze, free and beautiful, above the fray. May they serve as a symbol of your resolve, and may they lead you onto victory in your fight, in the same fashion as Norris' beard has led him to all his life's many triumphs.

(Reach columnist Kelly Hagen at 250-8259 or kelly.hagen@bismarcktribune.com.)