After spending four days at the Democratic Convention in Denver, Colorado last week I realized that there is great hope for the US political landscape. There were very intense and educational platform discussions on Universal Healthcare, Global Warming, Renewable Energy Resources, Religious Unity, Ending the War in Iraq, Staying out of Iran, Stopping Election Fraud, Supporting Independent Media, to name a few. I was invited to the Convention by the Progressive Democrats of America to perform either before or after all of their panel gatherings and it was an experience I won’t soon forget. In the evenings of course there were many parties, and concerts, but these were more off the issue’s and more of a celebration of the possibility of the “change that is coming to Washington”, to put it in Mr. Obama’s words.
I was even caught up in the war protest one early evening as a good friend and I were riding bikes around the city and decided to go check out the protest. While taking pictures I got a little to close to what was now a massive crowd of protester’s filing through the downtown streets. The riot police came out in droves and started breaking the crowd up and pinning large groups down on sidewalks, using the threat of physical violence, tear gas, mace and pure police state intimidation. It was quite unsettling to see how fine the line is between peaceful protest and full on chaos, especially when you mix in a few kids spray painting anti-war slogans on pristine city monuments and a thousand police officer’s geared up with gas masks, bullet proof shields, and the desire to test their training.
In the end it was truly inspiring to see the heartbeat of the Left is alive and well and being pro-active this year. John McCain and the Republican party are sure to make a good showing in Minneapolis next week and although I do not personally support this party’s line of thinking on many issues, I look forward to the heated debates over the next two months for this is a Democracy and only through the Yin and Yang do we find the center.
There were two quotes I heard while in Denver I would like to share here. “For those who want Universal Healthcare, or to end the war in Iraq we must have great patience and perseverance for this is a democracy, not a dictatorship. If it were a dictatorship we could have healthcare for all tomorrow, but it is precisely the fact that all points of view are heard and respected that things take so long to move forward.” and the second is “The demonization of those we disagree with is not a sound strategy for seeing eye to eye and creating the positive change we need in the world”… I could not agree more.
Thank you Joel Segal, Mike Hersh, Tim Carpenter, Theresa Caldwell, Sona Verdi, Mimi Kennedy, Norman Solomon, Rabbi Lerner and all the folks at the PDA for granting me access to so many events and insights, and for the great honor of inviting me to perform my music at this most important gathering of hearts and minds.

Progressive Democrats of America