King's name should take a backseat to no other American's, and yet even in the short period since his death, his remembered legacy seems to grow smaller by the year. I heard three or four reports on King on NPR this morning, and was depressed to hear him limited to work as a civil rights leader; that his lasting record may be relevant only to blacks. In fact, he could arguably be called the American with the single greatest influence over the country's history, laws, and culture. He was a giant, and for everyone--not less the white boys from Idaho like me, who hear his words as universal calls to a greater standard.

And now, as the Republican machine threatens to permanently corrupt our democracy, his words--more than ever--have resonance that go far beyond civil rights. He was a civil rights leader, certainly--but not JUST a civil rights leader.

"This hour in history needs a dedicated circle of transformed nonconformists. Dangerous passions of pride, hatred and selfishness are enthroned in our lives; truth lies prostrate on the rugged hills of nameless Calvaries. The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority." --MLK Jr., 1963

Right on, Jeff.

Here's what I want to know: Why is Oregonian's news department completely silent today on Martin Luther King Jr.?

There's a great op-ed by a doctor in Eugene, "The unfulfilled legacy of King's final dream", and a sports headline, "Basketball classic today honors Martin Luther King Jr."

But nothing in the news.