If you didn’t have to work today (or maybe if you did), I do hope you had a least a moment to think about MLK’s life and legacy. I know I have a special connection to him as a white southerner who believes he helped redeem my own folk from shameful and sinful habits of thought, word and deed. But he is indeed a quintessential American hero, and this day belongs to us all.
Here are some remains of the day:
* Multnomah County (Portland), Oregon, Republican Party “honors” MLK and Abraham Lincoln with a commemorative gun raffle. Seriously.
* In what could be a response to Kevin Williamson, Paul Krugman explodes idea that the very rich are virtuous bourgeois strivers.
* Pew survey on NSA surveillance program shows deterioration of Democratic support for NSA since last summer, but no immediate impact from Obama speech.
* At the Monkey Cage, Robert Shapiro examines the issues on which young voters do and don’t differ from their elders.
* At College Guide, Jon Marcus reports new research showing high-profile US News and Princeton Review rankings of colleges do affect number and type of applicants.
And in non-political news:
* Metrodome deflated for final time as Minneapolis begins transition to new stadium.
Let’s end this MLK Day with something upbeat: Mavis Staples performing “Eyes on the Prize.”
Selah.
