"It was intensity in ten cities!"

I wrote an entry a few weeks ago about "showing up" after a conversation with a friend. This is me showing up, check it out. Usually, I get into bed, take my allergy pill, drink a bunch of water, and put on lip balm, and then I write an entry on my laptop. So, I tried to do that a few hours ago, but my wireless connection wasn't working. "Ok, off the hook for the night," I thought to my sleepy self. I snuggled under the covers and dozed off to an episode of The West Wing. (It was the episode where Leo is on trial about Bartlet covering up his MS during the campaign, and Cliff Calley's colleague on majority counsel is about to reveal a humiliating event in Leo's personal life. Oh, Leo. "He has a map of the world on his face." I just wish that John Spencer was still alive-- he was a fantastic actor.) Anyway, I woke up once the credits rolled, and reached to put the computer to sleep. And instead, I checked the connection again, and here I am. SHOWING UP. For all 5 of you that read this.

Last night, I received a disturbing e-mail from an old friend, Derek.

[Sidebar: the story of how I met Derek is just classic. The summer after I graduated from high school, I went up-north with my girls for a vacation. We saw a flier for a local county 4-H fair, specifically for submissions to its talent show. Anthea, one of my girls, did a follow-up and declared that we needed to come up with something to perform. Molly had spent the summer at camp, and had learned the choreography to Britney Spears' "Oops! I Did It Again", and taught it to us. We needed a guy to lip-synch the male spoken part of the song-- so that night, we solicited the services of one of the guys who performed in the dinner-cabaret act at the nearby ski/golf resort. (They were called the Schussycats, and they were perfect entertainment for people who'd gotten too much sun on Lake Michigan or people who had consumed too many vodka-and-Ben-and-Jerry's-berry-sorbet cocktails...ahem.) The guy we got was Derek, and he did a great job at the Antrim County Fair. I kept in decent touch with Derek, and when I moved to Chicago, he had started playing with a band called Down the Line. I was their semi-intern for a while. They are still together, and they can really play. downthelineband.com And Derek and I are still in touch...this coming summer will be 10 years since we first met!]

So, this e-mail. Derek is very active politically. He keeps his finger on the pulse of what's happening, he participates, he has a sense of agency. He often posts Facebook updates about politics or social issues, and often accompanies them with links to news stories. I applaud this practice, and often respond to whatever he's posted. Well, the management of his band brought to his attention the idea that Derek's penchant for using a public forum to bring attention to important things could upset current fans or alienate future fans. Given that Derek cares deeply about his music and has an obligation to his bandmates to behave in the band's best interest, he decided to step down from the proverbial soap-box. He wrote the e-mail to some of his friends and family letting them know the decision he'd made.

I don't blame Derek for making the decision he did, but it really turns my stomach that he had to make that decision at all. I replied and cited a few public figures whose image or career isn't affected by their political stances. I've been considering that over the past 24 hours. As I wrote to Derek, his political views don't hinder his ability to write a lovely melody. He writes letters to politicians to voice his concerns, but it doesn't hinder his ability to play a drum. Derek has an incredible voice-- and I'm sure it's just as incredible after he uses it to protest more troops in Afghanistan. Ugh. I mean, Bono sings "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and PACKS stadiums in doing so. What is the damn difference?