Abraham Lincoln said it better than anyone at Gettysburg when he pointed out that while one mourns the dead, the best way to respect them is to fight on for what they believed and see their greatest dreams realised. “But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground….
Tag: Abraham Lincoln
Keeping One’s Enemies Close
When Obama became President I remember reading the general consensus that he had a spark of Abraham Lincoln about him. I thought at the time this was a back-handed compliment insinuating that the famous Bill to liberate slaves was the beginning of Obama ‘s political career, but the reason given was the way in which…
What Makes Greatness
I am sure the old saying ‘cometh the time, cometh the man’ (written in more chauvinistic times but still sadly very true) describes the fact that human history shows in times of crisis someone always bubbles to leadership and somehow gets peoples/nations/tribes through the crisis. As Toussaint Louverture boldly spoke out against slavery on behalf of…
Republicanism in America
When Robert Lee sat down to sign the peace accord after the Civil War he, according to those who were there, referred to the North as the United States, showing that even in defeat he thought of America as two separate countries. It was a painful expression of a political view point still warmly held…
An Incapacity To Know
I recently tried reading a modern, humorous book about everyday life and I found it incredibly hard to get into, in fact I have given up. I rarely give up on fiction – the last time was because of the inherent racism of the writer – but I found it impossible to get into the…