Monday April 07, 2003

CLETUS DISCOVERS THE FIRST AMENDMENT. For decades kids have been into political insignia as fashion statements. I even sported a little Lenin pin for a while because I thought it looked cool. And we all remember Bruce Dern, Peter Fonda, and Jack Nicholson wearing Irons Crosses in those AIP biker movies.

So I don't take too seriously the desire of these young chuckleheads to wear Confederate flag T-shirts. They're just stickin' it to the man, dude.

And I expect in the long run it will be a great education for these young'uns to deal with the effects of walking around a heterogenous society in T-shirts that basically say "I think it was rad when black people were slaves." Unless they don't live in a heterogenous society (for all I know, Beaufort, SC may be whiter than an Aryan snowdrift), in which case their chances at educability are probably slim anyway.

That's what diversity is all about. We each get to choose the kind of community we want to inhabit. I, for example, choose to live in New York, far away from the mouth-breathing, redneck dipshits wearing Confederate flag T-shirts. Isn't democracy lovely? Enjoy it while it lasts!