Fred, since you mentioned both Jello Biafra and yours truly in your post last night, you might be amused to know I “toured” with Biafra.

About 15 years ago, I was the token conservative on something called the “Spitfire Tour.” Former MTV VJ and current co-host of Fox Business Channel’s The Independents Kennedy was also on the tour, but she concentrated almost solely on Social Security reform, leaving the stuff the kids hated to hear for me to say. I appeared on stage and occasionally traveled with, at one venue or another, with Biafra, Michael Franti, Rosie Perez, Ralph Nader, Art Alexakis (from the band Everclear), the Indigo Girls, and other folks you immediately associate with Jonah Goldberg.

From what I recall, Alexakis was a really interesting and solid guy and easy to talk to. Franti and I had our differences (oh boy did we), but offstage he was easy to talk to and sociable. Biafra struck me as obnoxious from the outset (though it is possible he was just holding my politics against me). By my lights, the most effective activist-celebrity types talked about their personal experiences. Alexakis, for instance, talked about deadbeat dads and drugs. Rosie Perez was great telling personal stories, but fairly ridiculous talking about the public-policy aspects of the global AIDS epidemic. Biafra, meanwhile, struck me as someone who trafficked in ad hominem and nonsense as a matter of personal pride. He would spout numbers about how the deficit would disappear if we just taxed religion. He shouted bumper sticker slogans about a maximum wage. Corporations were running everything.

I think he had a lot of dumb ideas, but I don’t think he was dumb himself. He just seemed to think talking like a left-wing comment-section troll was entertaining and constructive. The only time I remember him being persuasive about anything (persuasive to me, that is — he was telling the audiences everything they wanted to hear) was when he talked about how vegetarianism shouldn’t be leapt into like a new religion but eased into slowly. I remember thinking, “Funny, he doesn’t look vegetarian.”