while i'm hanging myself, i want to say that i am so entirely tired of 'the i have a dream speech' that even little bits of it make me scream and flip the off switch. right. great speech. but you can't hear the same thing 18 billion times and still get anything out of it (the only exception is billie doing 'you go to my head'). over the last couple of decades, to be honest, i've been liable to use it in parody: the extreme preacherly emoting, the giant phrases of inspiration, the patterns of repetition. oh you know, it's the last day of class for my preppies. i take this approach: IN THE WORDS OF THE GREAT NEGRO SPIRITUAL: FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST, THANK GOD ALMIGHTY WE ARE FREE AT LAST. alright, have a great break, and let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. every american can produce the inflections at will. i figure it's possible that other people gave other speeches at the lincoln memorial that day; let's let them shine for a mo.