Jane Wiedlin plainly does not subscribe to Michael Jordan's dictum that "Republicans buy sneakers, too."  The statement was born of Jordan's refusal to bow to media pressure for an overtly pro-Democrat political statement.  Jordan peddles athletic shoes.  Jordan understands reality.

It seems that Jane Wiedlin does not.  Wiedlin is a guitarist for the '80s pop-music group The Go-Gos, formerly (for reasons that will soon become obvious) one of the author's favorite bands.  In the midst of a concert in Mountain View, CA on July 9, 2013, Wiedlin expostulated that 2013 is "the best year ever" because it has been a particularly successful one for the homosexual lobby.  Apparently, this made it appropriate for Wiedlin explicitly to mock conservatives.  Earth to Jane: conservatives buy music, too.

To loud cheering and laughter (that civility for which liberals are famed), Ms. Wiedlin jeered that the worst fears of conservatives, a word she spoke with sneering contempt, were being realized: gay rights, she said with relish, have led not only to man-on-man love, and girl-on-girl love, but man-on-beast love.  She averred that she had "made sweet love" with, of all things, a penguin.  According to Jane, they were now engaged to be married, and the next song was dedicated to her fiancé, the penguin.

What, exactly, do "gay rights" and conservative-bashing have to do with a pop-music band's concert?  Absolutely nothing.  However, conventional wisdom allows liberals to politicize and demonize whenever and wherever they please.  That's just what we do, they and their enablers say.

Here's a brief, non-political thought experiment to illustrate the cowardice and moral bankruptcy of that argument:

Imagine buying a costly ticket to a formal event put on by a ballroom-dancing club.  Imagine attending this expensive fancy-dress ball to enjoy a certain kind of activity in a certain kind of atmosphere.  Then imagine your emotions when one of the club's officers grabs the microphone and launches into a lengthy, venomous diatribe against your favorite sports team and its stupid, idiotic fans -- i.e., you.

Most people would condemn such behavior.  Quite apart from being completely inappropriate to the occasion, it's always wrong to insult guests -- or fans.  Somehow, though, liberalism is exempted from the standards of rational, decent behavior; left-wing politics, regardless how vicious, are considered always appropriate as the national default for public discourse.  It is fast becoming impossible for conservatives to follow sports, attend a rock concert, or even to open a novel without feeling besieged and hated, often after paying dearly.

In the author's opinion, Jane Wiedlin is a fine musician.  However, she abused this status by harshly politicizing a stage she was given -- in fact, was being paid handsomely to occupy -- for the purpose of making music.  None of Ms. Jane's band-mates tried to rein her in or change the subject.  It didn't seem to occur to them that this was a concert, not a political rally.

Why would it?  To liberals, everything is overtly political. But choosing to walk away from them and their nasty ways is "intolerant," and those who do so are haters, bigots, and Nazis.  Especially if it costs liberals money.  Only liberals are allowed to be offended, or to vote with their feet.

No one in authority will stand up to these leftist bullies (but I repeat myself, as Mark Twain might say), which is why defenders of traditional values are increasingly besieged by the very kind of hate and intolerance of which they are accused.  It has reached the absurd point that we are even being bullied to apologize for embracing traditional -- true -- marriage. 

Liberals love to hate natural law, but they are unwittingly and ironically by far its biggest beneficiaries.  They call it "oppressive and hateful," but natural law seems indispensable to a society orderly enough to create a level of prosperity sufficient to sustain non-producers.  Like, for example, mouthy left-wing parasites whose "job" (often handsomely paid -- just ask Michael Moore or Barack Obama) is rabble-rousing and agitation.  Or, for that matter, full-time pop-music bands whose members earn big money.

At the end of the concert, Jane Wiedlin exclaimed, "We love you all!"  Pardon my skepticism.

But Jane and your fellow Go-Gos, let this essay serve as a farewell present.  If published, it will be a selfless public service to you, as it will reach many of the conservatives whom you so obviously want to teach a lesson in love and tolerance. 

You're welcome, ladies.

Mark Petrina lives in the San Francisco Bay area.  He was active in California's Proposition 8 initiative, which defined marriage as one man and one woman, in 2008.  An '80s music fan, he has recently become an ex-fan of the Go-Gos.