It was an atypical August summer day in Washington, D.C., 50 years ago next week. Temperatures were in the low 80s, about 10 degrees cooler than normal. Skies were partly cloudy. Most government officials were vacationing.

I was a young copyboy at the NBC News Washington bureau. Correspondent Jack Perkins asked me to accompany him to hear a speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lincoln Memorial.

Has the Zimmerman/Martin affair blown over yet? A week of simmering commentary followed the verdict that declared George Zimmerman innocent of murder, along with demands that President Obama say something. On the Monday after a nationwide “day of protest,” he did—to the surprise of newsmen assembled in the White House press room. The unscripted remarks prompted swoons from the left and scoffs from the right, proving once again that in politics there’s no persuasion, only position.

Among the many disturbing aspects of the George Zimmerman trial is the degree to which outrage appears to have been ginned up. A sad but routine local incident became the latest chapter in our National Disgrace: Episode 1,409,332, more or less. A highly symbolic and emotionally charged vehicle has been rolled out for another run around the block, even though it shows signs of wear and desperately needs a tune-up.

Leland Mitchell, who starred for the all-white Mississippi State men’s basketball team in the early 1960s and played a key role in what’s known as the “Game of Change,” died Saturday at the age of 72. The 6-foot-4-inch Kiln, Miss.-native led the Bulldogs to three straight Southeastern Conference (SEC) titles, and went on to play in the pros for the American Basketball Association’s New Orleans Buccaneers.