Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
So were the words of Abraham Lincoln.
You have to feel sorry for Lincoln. There were so many things he did not know, so many things he could not foresee.
Lincoln did not know that a public official, in a public place, speaking for a government should not mention or invoke God. He was just too unsophisticated to realize that the Constitution forbids such a thing.
He could not have realized that the freedom being born would have such a short life-span, that the government itself would usurp those freedoms under various guises of "for the good of the people."
Lincoln could not have known that "government of the people, by the people, for the people" would become people of the government, by the government, for the government.
He could not have known that his wish for a government that serves at the will of the people would morph into a people who serve the government.
Lincoln could not have known that the government he envisioned would, indeed, perish from the face of the earth.
He could not have known that "these dead" actually died in vain because that for which they died has died, too.
While people today recoil at the thought of the federal government developing the ability to spy on every aspect of their electronic behavior, they are perfectly fine with the actual spying itself.
It seems to be OK with people for the IRS to target any group they think does not conform to their notion of support for the government.
They seem to think it OK for the federal government to infringe on their free speech rights if those rights are interpreted to mean the mention of God, or Jesus in a public place.
They seem to be OK with the federal government charged with protecting them from attack by foreign entities think nothing of trying to protect them from themselves.
The federal government has become like the anchor of a cruise ship attached to a canoe with a short rope.
And it is bound and determined to sink us all.
7 comments:
Lincoln could also not have known that in the future, the left would condemn him for being a moderate and willing to compromise. Lincoln was willing to keep slavery as an institution, to compromise with democrats, if it meant uniting the country. But those nasty "Radical Republicans" would not budge an inch and pressured him to emancipate the slaves. Danged obstructionist Republicans.
LR: And now the left still persists in trying to tell us that the Republicans, who are for small government, equality for all under the law and teaching self-ability, are different these days.
They, on the other hand, who prefer big government, special treatment for some, and perpetuate dependence, instead of independence, they claim they are like Republicans "used to be."
Blind as bats, they are.
The Republicans of today are NOT the party of Lincoln, or Eisenhower, or even Goldwater or Reagan.
You are the party of Koch, Bachmann, Beck, Palin, Limbaugh, Cruz, Akin, Brownback, Ailes, Santorum, Colter and Alex Jones.
Small minded, conspiratorial idiots whom Lincoln would denounce and deny.
You made your bed. Go lie in it.
Conservative Blogger Free Thinke Takes A Powder. And called it Quits, I guess the Liberals nonsense and Progressive Trolls were too much for him to take.
XO: "... whom Lincoln would denounce and deny."
Ha! Ha! Ha! You behaved right according to your character!
Actually, Lincoln would be on the side of a government of the people, by the people and for the people, much like conservatives today...very unlike liberals today.
Liberals have not and will never change. They are always totally predictable.
Joe - "...Lincoln would be on the side of a government of the people, by the people and for the people..."
Yes, he would. Which is exactly why he would have absolutely nothing to do with you and your Republican party and it's Tea Party, religious nut job core.
You would be much more likely to see that stove pipe hat towering above an Occupy gathering than one of those ridiculous Tea Party rallies.
Also, Joe, Lincoln had an opportunity to allow the size of the government to shrink by about half. He chose to go in the opposite direction.
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