“How many years can some people exist before they’re allowed to be free? How many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see?” That seems like an especially poignant Bob Dylan verse from Blowin’ in the Wind during a week when there has been a breathtaking shift in attitudes — public, political, and commercial — about the symbol that has been blowing above the South Carolina Statehouse. From former College of Charleston president Alex Sanders: “It’s a baby step of progress, but we had to step through the blood of nine dead people.”

+ On orders from Governor Robert Bentley, Alabama takes down its Confederate Flags.

+ The bans are so widespread that they’ve even hit the toy car from the Dukes of Hazzard.

+ NYT: Flag supporters react with a mix of compromise, caution and outright defiance. (Pretty cool anecdote at the bottom of this article.)