The crowd at American punker-turned-activist, Jello Biafra’s spoken word show at the Barrymore Theatre on Madison’s eastside was VERY liberal, and I don’t mean in the Democrat sense of the word. This was a pure common-sense vibe that sparked good humor. A number of Gore-type Democrats, too, comprised the audience and some of them, including my friend Kurt, were in denial of some of the things Jello had to say. But I sat him down later and asked him exactly how a homogeneous Republicrat Congress is going to serve our nation with debate, fairness, and oposition.
I think it was good for EVERYONE to hear what Jello had to say, especially when he advised us never to be turned off by folks who are holier than us, more liberal than us, more spirited than us, more vegan than us, more politically-oriented than us, or more outraged than us. He warned of the ‘mousetrap effect’ when you go so radically far beyond what you can handle and then you can’t take it anymore, and the mousetrap swings 180 degrees and you are at the other end of the spectrum, where you didn’t want to be in the first place. (Take the example of the 60s when it was COOL to be out there, far out, and against the man. Some folks did it because it was fashionable, went with the tide, and then 20 years later, ended up as conservative minivan-driving suburban housewives.) So, he told us to do what was in our capacity and that will be a great start. Great advice for aspiring activists who intend to make it a lifelong passion and not a college habit.
The mention of Paul Wellstone’s death and life achievements silenced the entire crowd, while Jello lauded him as the last clean guy in Congress. He said it was a big loss for women’s rights, but then turned around and negated his earlier words by warning us that even Wellstone wasn’t the squeakiest clean because there was quite a bit of dirt out there on him, too. Detail wasn’t gone into about Wellstone’s dirty laundry, but his death was mourned all the same. Something about, “Here’s to Wellstone!”
A long time was spent going over the ludicrous goings-on inside The Loop these days, like the emergence out of the cupboard and dusting off of creatures long considered dead (or imprisoned) such as Donald Rumsfeld, John Poindexter, Paul Wolfovitz, and the new old lineup currently behind Bush Jr. For some reason, Jello was really pissed off during several angry mentions of Coi-Telpro outrages, but that could just be a particular sore point. Also on the black list were the RIAA and the ‘Parental Advisory – Explicit Lyrics’ stunt that Tipper Gore pulled with the parental Music Resource Center, under the guise of being a liberal individual. (Being friends with Mrs. James Baker to advance the same hideous cause is not cool!)
Not to squander his moment in the spotlight, entertainer that he is, Jello spent a fair amount of time bitching about the band minus Jello that now tours as the Dead Kennedys, replete with a new lead singer and all. Also the cause of much of Jello’s chagrin was the fact that ‘Holiday In Cambodia’ had been performed recently by the new DKs after being dedicated to our fearless troops in Afghanistan. Were the new Deeks being tongue-in-cheek or catering to the New American Order? Jello thinks it is the latter.
I purchased his latest spoken word album aptly titled, “Machine Gun In The Clown’s Hand” (Osama and Shrub in Ronald McDonald and Mickey Mouse outfits, with machine guns in their hands – Jello, you kill me!) and his speeches were extracts from a lot of his previous spoken word albums as well as this one. Some of the stuff Jello said are perfect facsimiles of what is already on his website. He did say some things about the Peace Rally on October 26th (which Madison did have one of, by the way) and how Madison is a great town for being out there and supporting anti-war efforts. According to Jello, the greatest thing we have to offer as Americans is to congregate and protest against atrocity, and that that is a characteristic we should never lose. Specific to our state was a bit of Tommy Thompson trashing and ragging on our gubernatorial race a little bit, but that’s not something we didn’t already know about. I think the best thing that came out of that was that it sealed my decision of whom I am going to vote for, and it is not Doyle the Democratic candidate. Nor is it Scott McCallum, our current Mickey Mouse governor, the dreg of Tommy’s term, who is so bad even his corporate sponsors are backing out.
The subtext of this whole above paragraph being that if you want to listen to the majority of what he said, go to the Alternative Tentacles site, and buy his latest album that I mention above. It’s ripping good stuff, and the artwork is superb! I guarantee that you will roll laughing!
Having Jello in Madison was a wonderful infusion of spirit and the do-good (not just be-good) mentality. Who cannot be amused by his annoyingly nasal, grating voice saying a lot of things you wish you had come up with? The Rush Limbaugh of the liberal world he is not (thank god, for that would render us all Jelloheads, and in more ways than one!), but it is great to have him on the side that I prefer in this fight between progress and the insanity that threatens to consume it. Onwards, Jello!
