Birmingham: May 3, 1963

Photo by Charles Moore

 Fifty years ago this happened:

"So the question is not whether we will be extremist but what kind of extremist will we be. Will we be extremists for hate or will we be extremists for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice — or will we be extremists for the cause of justice?"  

—Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"

"The condescension is bad, but the argument is even worse."

Matt Taibbi's blog post today, "Same-Sex Marriage Makes David Brooks Crazy" is really great:

This morning's David Brooks column on same-sex marriage was one of the weirdest, most mean-spirited things I've ever seen in The New York Times.

Entitled "Freedom Loses One," the article is a sarcastic broadside against . . . well, against something, though it's not clear exactly which of the many post-Sixties permissive-society hobgoblins Brooks hates is the real target here.

...Brooks is trying to make a "point" here – he takes something like 800 words to make it, but it boils down to a single snarky observation: "Isn't it ironic that these same people who've been fighting for the right to personal indulgence for all these decades since the Sixties are now fighting for the right to be legally restrained?"

Really, go read the whole thing.

Here's my point: I know I just barely missed being a "Baby Boomer" by a couple of years, but I really can't wait for that generation to retire so we can finally move past the cultural battles of the 60's. I'm especially sick of conservatives using "hippies" as a punching bag on which they work out their anxieties about the crazy ideas of freedom, equality and peace. As David Wilcox wrote:

Now I was just a young thing
When the sixties were in swing
They were singing of Aquarius
And all that it would bring
A lot of dreams got frozen
When the time turned bitter cold
They blossomed like a flower
But what a way to go. 

Frozen in the snow
Singing Spring is coming
Frozen in the snow

Thanks

To all those who have marched for civil rights, equality, social justice and peace: I am truly grateful for all you've done and continue to do. Please accept this groovy tribute as a small token of my appreciation.

Eric Andersen sings "Thirsty Boots"

PS: I covet his outfit, but sadly, I don't think I could pull off the scarf.