As someone who railed against "the Establishment" the first time out – oh, about 40 years ago now – I’m both amused and despairing.

I’m amused, because history does seem to be repeating itself. As in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s there is a sudden surfeit of angry screeds denouncing anyone and anything that represents the political status quo. As it was back then – who remembers Hubert Humphrey? -- leaders who were unquestionably liberal suddenly find themselves beset by angry types claiming they are "no different" than dyed-in-the-wool reactionaries.

I’m despairing, because history seems to be repeating itself. The left organizations that were spawned, in one way or another, by SDS did a lot of things right. Most tried to come up with an analysis of the class structure of US society. Many put a strong emphasis on fighting racism, and reformed themselves in response to the rise of a new feminist movement.

Yesterday I was reading VoteHarder's diary about the anti-Iraq-escalation protest at UC-Santa Barbara. A kid named Jesse was arrested, but I quickly dismissed my first thought:

Hey, maybe that's Jesse, who's sort of my nephew (my sister married his dad and helped raise him).

So I was pleasantly amused--and damned proud, actually--to see it was him.

He's been released, pending a hearing, and his statement is on the flip.

Hillary's in, and I'm pondering why I'm happy to see her run.

Consider this irony: She's got the most money, the most connections, and the broadest support of any candidate. But for me, she's still got irresistable underdog appeal.

So I'm liking that she's running, and I'm liking that I'm liking that she's running.

Reasons why on the flip.

It is characteristic of rationalism, I think, that the most earnest and carefully crafted rationales are prepared in service of hot-blooded prejudice.

So it is with current discussions--on-line and elsewhere--of immigration and immigrants.

Two examples on the flip.

Today's New York Times Magazine includes an article by Jim Holt subtitled: "How did science become so contentious and politicized?"

The article, though worth reading, is pretty much the same old same old: Holt wrings his hands over Americans' general skepticism about science, and he sniffs a bit at politicians who fail to embrace scientific evidence about global warming.

Holt reveals the real problem when he gets into this paragraph:

House Republicans on Tuesday rejected a Democratic resolution to name a post office in Berkeley, Calif., after a longtime local activist and city councilwoman, saying 94-year-old Maudelle Shirek doesn't represent American values.

The 215-190 vote was an unusual refusal of an honor that's normally routine. House rules allow lawmakers to propose renaming post offices in their district, and fellow lawmakers usually agree without debate.

San Francisco Chronicle

Until last fall, Maudelle Shirek was my Councilwoman.

Frankly, she wasn't around as much as we would have liked--we missed her at neighborhood meetings, and we could have used her help promoting our local business district--but it was cool to have an icon of the civil rights movement as our local pol. I felt proud every time I saw her speak at a picket-line rally. I felt proud when Nelson Mandela came to Oakland. He thanked Maudelle for her for her work to free South Africa, and hugged her on the stage of the Coliseum.

I'm also proud she's a supporter of the library where I volunteer.

Listen carefully to the words and demeanor of Gretna Chief of Police Arthur Lawson as he explains, on a video now posted on CNN, why Gretna police threatened children, sick, wounded, and elderly as they attempted to flee the flooding in New Orleans.

This is the horrific face of American racist violence today: Calm, courteous, professional, and seemingly rational.

More in extended.

In 1965, when I was seven years old, my mom and dad drove a '57 Chevy Bel Air with three kids and all their belongings from Madison, Wisconsin to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Sometime that fall, Lyndon Baines Johnson visited the state. My folks left us with a babysitter and went to the Raleigh-Durham airport to protest his arrival.

"Why?" I wondered aloud as they were leaving. Why would anyone protest against the President of the United States?

"Because of the war in Vietnam," my mother said.

"We're at war?" I asked, astonished. "How long has this been going on?"