Tinker v. Des Moines - article in Register today

[rurallib]

I am about the same age as Mary Beth Tinker. Back in 1965 she and her brother were suspended from school for wearing a simple black armband to school one day to protest the Viet Nam war. For a couple of high school kids it was an incredibly courageous thing to do. In 1965 majority opinion was still for the war and in the midwest it was backed even moreso - except on the campuses.
They and their parents challenged the suspension in court in a case that eventually worked its way to the US Supreme Courtin 1969. Of course the Court was at the tail end of a very liberal era. I believe Burger had just become CJ, but the rest of the Court was pretty liberal (I think they had justices such as Marshall, Douglas, White, Brennan, Goldberg, Stewart). The Tinkers won in a landmark case for freedom of expression.
The reason I bring this up is an article in the Sunday DMR. Mary Beth Tinker has returned for a national historical day event in Des Moines tomorrow.
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060430/NEWS02/604300350/1001/NEWS

Believe me, what these kids did back then took an incredible, incredible amount of courage. I can still remember the comments from my parents friends.
Hats off to Mary Beth and her brother John Tinker. Thank you very much.
And now in their honor, let's help our reps see that Bush must go.