Grudging admiration

Yeah, it's grudging. But it is admiration.

On March 7, 1965, in the event that became known as "Bloody Sunday," a group of black nonviolent marchers heading out of Selma, Alabama, on their way to Montgomery in support of voting rights was attacked by heavily armed state troopers. Reporting of the event galvanized the nation, which helped move the adoption of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

That was the event being commemorated amid the media coverage of Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton at competing church rallies in Selma this weekend.

And I have to admit it struck me: Just 42 years - and no, that is not a long time in the run of history - just 42 years after blacks were viciously beaten simply for wanting to vote by police who assumed they still could get away with it - just 42 years later, the leading candidates for the Democratic Party nomination for president are a black man and a woman.

Yes, he speaks in platitudes and yes, they're both more conservative than people think. That's not the point right now.

I'm having a burst of hope. Don't ruin it; it'll fade fast enough on its own.