Local opinion: As it turns out, the revolution is being televised

In 1971, poet-musician Gil Scott-Heron penned the now-famous spoken-word poem “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised:

“You better get off your couch and do something because you’re not gonna see it on TV, and anyway, your activism won’t really be fairly covered there. So, no, it’s not gonna be on TV. You want societal change? You gotta pay for it with action; ain’t gonna happen any other way.”

Starting in 1971 you could taste the change that was sweeping America — in landmark Supreme Court cases, new laws, protests. The Court unanimously applied the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to women (Reed v. Reed), holding an Idaho statute that preferred men over women to be unconstitutional. In New York Times Co. v. United States, the Court expanded the First Amendment rights of the press when it ruled against Nixon’s attempt to stop publication of the Pentagon Papers. Then, in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, the Court unanimously upheld the use of busing to achieve desegregation in schools.

In 1972, Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment and sent it to the states; it enacted Title IX to prohibit sex-based discrimination in any educational program receiving federal funds.

In 1973, Congress passed the Rehabilitation Act, the first-ever federal disability rights law prohibiting discrimination in federal employment or by contractors; and the Endangered Species Act, with a vote count of 92–0 in the Senate and 355–4 in the House. Los Angeles elected its first black Mayor, Cesar Chavez went on a 24-day hunger strike protesting the Arizona law restricting farmworkers’ rights to organize. And in that same year, the Supreme Court affirmed Roe v. Wade.

Today? Today, on bended knee, sycophants seeking favor from a would-be king bankrolled him to buy a wrecking ball and smash to bits part of the White House, the soul and central symbol of American democracy, representing the Rule of Law, the peaceful transfer of power, and the ideal of a government that is accountable to the American people. I teared up watching it on TV.

That’s what foreign invaders do. They target the venerable institutions, the revered ones in the attacked land.

In 1814, the British burned down the Treasury, the Capitol, the Navy yard, and the building where the president lived — which wasn’t called the White House until white paint was used to cover up the smoke damage. It was the only time in American history that invaders occupied Washington.

Until now. Yes, the revolution is being televised.