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In reply to the discussion: That was pretty goddamned incoherent, frankly. [View all]Maedhros
(10,007 posts)Back in the late 90's I attended a concert at the Washington Park Rose Garden in Portland OR - Joan Baez, Dar Williams and Bruce Cockburn. I went to see Bruce, but Joan put on a nice show as well. The concert goers were your typical Portland-area upscale Liberals (with a capital L), conspicuously festooned in various tie-dyed garments as they re-lived the glorious days of their hippie youth before they became investment bankers, attorneys and art dealers.
At the time, Bruce Cockburn was very involved in the International Land Mine Ban effort (see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa_Treaty) and had brought along a team of volunteers who were tabling behind the venue, urging people to sign a petition asking that the United States become a signatory on the treaty. Being a grass roots activist at the time, I was very supportive of the effort and signed the petition. I was impressed that Cockburn took on the expense of bringing the activists along on his tour.
However, there was much grumbling among the tie-dyed Capital L Liberals who were apparently offended that they were subjected to politics at a music event. The feathers of quite a few were ruffled because the literature being distributed was calling out President Clinton for failing to push for U.S. approval of the treaty. One person (and only one) dropped a disparaging remark about Cockburn's Canadian citizenship and how he had no business "preaching" to "us."
I learned something that day about certain Democrats and "Liberals."