yippie

The air was sharp with the spirit of rebellion, as if one were listening to Jimi Hendrix while eavesdropping on the 1960s anti-establishment musings of Black Panther deputy chairman Fred Hampton or Yippie activist Abbie Hoffman.

I'm just old enough to remember Republican outrage after Yippie leader Abbie Hoffman was arrested, in 1968, for desecrating the symbol of our democracy.

Decades later, surprised by seeing Joint Chiefs Chairman Air Force Gen. Richard Myers wearing a flag shirt on Memorial Day in Washington, DC, in 2005, writer, activist, and Yippie co-founder Paul Krassner made the obvious connection to Hoffman, who as the police led him away had been heard to remark, "I only regret that I have but one shirt to give for my country."

Upon their return home, Blood, Sweat & Tears were lambasted by the American press and subsequently by Yippie leader Abbie Hoffman, who led a protest outside their stint at Madison Square Garden.

The march had its performative aspects, to be sure — but even those, such as the Yippie ceremony to “levitate” the Pentagon, had a purpose: to employ mockery and mordant humor as a way of delegitimizing the forces perpetuating the war.