'm amazed this is happening. I mean, I'm amazed that anyone is batting an eye over this. It's commonplace for musicians, especially folk musicians, to be very upfront about their politics, and they are typically liberal if not downright radical. Anyone out there ever heard of Pete Seeger? Peter, Paul & Mary? Paul Robeson? Utah Phillips? The Almanac Singers? The Weavers? Woody Guthrie? Arlo Guthrie? Bob Dylan? Phil Ochs? Joan Baez? I'm sure all these people (if they were all still alive) would approve of what Linda Ronstadt did enthusiastically. I'm amazed that anyone who frequents a website devoted to folk music wouldn't know this and expect this.

I'm trying to imagine how I'd react if any of these people surprised me by saying something I strongly disagreed with. Suppose one of them said he favored the death penalty, for example, or thought the Patriot Act was a good thing. I'd be shocked, but first of all, I'd LISTEN. I'd want to understand. If they recommended a movie that explained their point of view, I'd want to go see it. But regardless, I'd at least continue to enjoy their music. No way would you catch me defacing a poster, or demanding my money back for no good reason.

Furthermore, I don't believe any substantial number of Ronstadt's audience did that, either. Believe it or not, even most Republicans are decent people. It only takes one asshole to deface a poster, and for all we know, maybe only one asshole did. As far as people walking out, they were probably only trying to beat the rush, since it was during the encore anyway. I think the Aladdin management lied and exaggerated the whole thing. They probably want to blame her for their own incompetence. This is really reprehensible.

I guess I don't need to tell you what I think of the anonymous guests who not only take it for granted that the management's story is true, but even try to justify what the audience supposedly did.