Some mornings really manage to do what mornings are supposed to do: restore your faith in the world, its beauty and its possibilities.

Today I read a NYTimes follow-up on the story of the Michigan high school student who is paying attention to his world and who knows his (theoretical) rights.

Bretton Barber, a high school junior in Dearborn Heights, Mich., who is deeply interested in civil liberties, knew what to do when he was sent home from school on Feb. 17 for wearing a T-shirt with a picture of President Bush and the words "International Terrorist."

First, he called the American Civil Liberties Union. But it being Washington's Birthday, no one answered.

Next he went on the Internet to re-read a Supreme Court case from 1969, Tinker v. Des Moines, that supported students' freedom of expression. Then he called the Dearborn High School principal to talk about his constitutional rights. And then he called the news media.

Barber had been told by the vice-principal that he couldn't wear the shirt because it promotes terrorism. Go figure.