I don’t get this. I’m pretty damn conservative and I’ve been to Burning Man five or six times. It is not a hippie event, nor is it a political event. It’s been a few years since I last attended and I have heard about some greenie-weenie nonsense they had out there this year. But in my opinion it is wrongheaded tactically and philosophically to assume opposition between Burning Man and Gathering of Eagles. Every aspect of Burning Man is threatened by Islamism. Why not hope that these creative and energetic young people can understand the threat to their lifestyle represented by jihad and and encourage them to defend American freedom just as we conservatives do?
Sounds like the few "Dead" concerts I went to in my youth. Political? Most of them weren't in a state of mind to remember what country they were in.
(Would you believe that back in '05, one self-described Christian said something to the effect of, "We should BOMB THOSE HIPPIES INTO SMITHEREENS!"? He wasn't happy when I told him that, with that attitude, he'd make a great al-Qaeda terrorist, as they have an identical approach towards groups of people who don't share their spiritual or cultural assumptions.)
Despite their weird appearances and "greenie-weenie nonsense" (nonsense, I might add, which is also currently promulgated by the Bush administration and most large corporations), I believe the disaffected youth of the Playa have a LOT more common ground with Freepers than either group might realize, or want to admit. As you said, both Burners and "mainstream" Americans are threatened by puritanical, theocratic, Judeo-Christian-hating, woman-oppressing, gay-killing Islamism, and we need to work on patiently and quietly winning them over to our side.
After all, if being an 18-25YO hipster was an automatic life sentence to moonbattery and ignorance, a certain Reagan-era punk-rock anarchist named TFFKAMM might never have found himself regularly posting on a right-wing public forum a quarter-century later! :-)