Aron Kay. The Pieman. The man who threw a pie at Andy Warhol. Threw a pie at William F. Buckley. Threw a pie at Phyllis Schlafly. A Yippie. A troublemaker. A Lower East Side original who was in the room when the room was on fire.

Now he has done something Phil Ochs would have done if Phil was still here. He took Phil's "Here's to the State of Mississippi" — one of the great protest songs of the sixties — and rewrote it for 2026. "Here's to the State of Donald Trump." Same melody. Same fury. Different target. The song still works because the song was never about Mississippi. The song was about power that does not answer to the people it governs. That has not changed. The address changed. The song did not.

Phil Ochs wrote protest songs that were so specific they became universal. "Here's to the State of Mississippi" named names and named places and named crimes and the naming was the protest. Aron Kay is doing the same thing in 2026. The naming is the protest. The specificity is the courage.

I knew Aron from the scene. The Yippies. The smoke-ins. The street actions. He was there when Jerry Rubin was there. He was there when Abbie was there. He was there when I was there. The Lower East Side was small enough that everybody knew everybody and loud enough that everybody heard everybody. Aron was loud. Aron is still loud.

Watch it. Share it. The corner is still open and the Pieman is still throwing.

See also: Buildings Hold the Signals