Eternal

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility—I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it—and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. John F. Kennedy

That fire, almost extinguished in the last eight years, is ignited again.

A New Birth of Freedom

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

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."
Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg, PA, November 19, 1863

Dancing to the Revolution

"Emma Goldman once said, 'I don't want to be part of any revolution that doesn't dance'....The dance is only the beginning. Let's bring on the revolution."

Rev. Rob Hardies, All Souls Unitarian

Quote of the Day....Believe It Or Not

Bob Enyart, a Christian radio host and spokesman for American Right to Life, said it's hard to ignore the evidence [of the existence of God]. "The Bible says that faith is the evidence of things not seen. Evidence. If we ignore the evidence for gravity or the Creator, that's really dangerous," said Enyart. "Income tax doesn't not exist because somebody doesn't believe in it. And the same is true with our Creator."

So if I stop believing in income tax, I don't have to not pay it? Wha?

Quote of the Day

Drunkards are doomed to hell, so men declare,

Believe it not, 'tis but a foolish scare;

Heaven will be empty as this hand of mine,

If none who love good drink find entrance there.

Omar Khayyam

What Is This to You?

Keith Olbermann made another of his famous Special Comments last night, this time about Prop 8. I've never seen him emotional. Angry, stubborn, pedantic, (self)righteous, yes. This time, that anger was tempered with what seemed to me to be a heartfelt bewilderment at why anyone would deny another person a chance at that most illusive dream: love.

What is this, to you? Nobody is asking you to embrace their expression of love. But don't you, as human beings, have to embrace... that love? The world is barren enough. It is stacked against love, and against hope, and against those very few and precious emotions that enable us to go forward. Your marriage only stands a 50-50 chance of lasting, no matter how much you feel and how hard you work. And here are people overjoyed at the prospect of just that chance, and that work, just for the hope of having that feeling.

With so much hate in the world, with so much meaningless division, and people pitted against people for no good reason, this is what your religion tells you to do? With your experience of life and this world and all its sadnesses, this is what your conscience tells you to do?

No Capital E

Ed. Note: The correct usage of President-elect is without the capital E. Sorry for the error. I'm still getting used to it. 70 days to drop the "elect" altogether!!

Prop Hate

For the transformation of Obama's election, California showed us Tuesday how far we have to go for equality for all.

Ironic that so many African Americans voted for Prop 8. I'm not black but believe that I am not truly free unless all of my fellow Americans are. I'm not gay, but cannot abide my government telling my gay friends that their love is not the same, that their commitment does not equal mine. I'm not a christian but cannot understand how the words of Christ are interpreted to condone discrimination. Naive, of course, but I'm still struck by it when it happens so visibly and with such contradiction. Barack Obama's parents' marriage was illegal when he was born.

Despite the loss, two of my gay friends noted that momentum is on the side of justice. Again, how far we've come in a generation. The long arc is bending, if too slowly.

Could He Have Dreamed?

I went to the Lincoln Memorial last night with to pay my respects to the old man and to sign a card to Obama. There is an inscription on the spot where Martin Luther King stood as he gave the I Have A Dream speech in 1963.

My friend Laura asked: "Do you think Dr. King could have imagined that there was a boy alive that day who would, 45 years later be president?"

Did Medgar Evers? Malcolm X? Did any of the men and women, black and white, from Alabama and New York and Washington, DC ever think it would happen this soon after that march? So soon after Selma? How far we've come in Obama's lifetime. How far will we go in his next 47 years?

2012

LOL!

Under Press-ure

This is a clip of the President-Elect roasting his new Chief of Staff. That, and his first press conference, remind me a little of JFK and his famous press events. Both are funny, erudite, intelligent, strong, had the press eating out of their hands. What a change. I know it won't last, but it's fun for now.

Ed. note: I tried to find a clip of a Bush press conference, but since he has so few, I couldn't. You know what I mean.

Tears of Hope

I've been very moved by seeing the response of many African Americans to the election. Watching the tears stream down Jesse Jackson's face on election night, listening to Colin Powell describe how he wept unabashedly and then choked up on camera, laughing with Will Smith as he recounted his reaction.

And my co-worker, Kim, telling me that her dad, who is suffering from dementia but who knew very clearly that he was voting for a black man for president. And my brother-in-law, wishing only that his dad was still here to do the same.

I remembered, too another incident, when I was in New Orleans in 2006 with a group from my church. We listened to two women who lived through Katrina and its aftermath. One, a white woman from the mostly white Garden District and an African American woman, who recounted how she and her family were stopped by police trying to get out of the city and were told that the next town over didn't want any n%^^$#s in their town. As we listened, David, a black member of our church (whose daughter is biracial) knelt next to me and cried. I had never felt so ashamed.

I hope David wept on Tuesday, this time tears of joy and hope. And I hope he forgave some, too.

Vote by Snail

There are stories this year of election irregularities, flyers telling Democrats to vote on the 5th, keeping students from voting, putting polling places miles out of town with too many voters than the law allows.

We need to move toward early voting, vote by mail, maybe electronic voting. We don't need to travel by horse and buggy to get to the city on Tuesday anymore.

My friend Laura worked as an election protection lawyer in Virginia. She talked to a man who was kept from voting in Richmond because he was told he was registered in Fairfax. He has lived in Richmond for years. Instead of going home in disgust, he drove two hours to Fairfax to vote.

Despite the pain in the neck, 62 million Americans got up early, waited in line, endured some inconvenience. How could anyone sit this out when so many people, especially in Virginia and points south, fought and bled and died to give us the right? Sounds romantic but so much more poignant this time.

The World Changes.

Il Mondo Cambia.

The Italian center-left Democratic Party celebrates Obama's victory even as their right-wing, George Bush-loving, plastic surgery-addicted, rich-enough-to-buy-elections-and-prosecutors Prime Minister Berlusconi calls Obama "handsome, young, and tanned." Yes, tanned.

Italians are sick of him, even though they do still harbor many prejudices.

Yes

I just came back from the corner of 14th and U Streets, where an exuberant rally has broken out. Young people and not so young, black and white and Latino, are laughing, dancing and chanting "Yes We Can" and "USA" and "Obama". Car horns are sounding as they careen down 16th Street toward the White House, where many folks are offering to help George Bush pack.

14th and U was the epicenter of the 1968 riots. When I moved to DC 15 years ago, it was still pockmarked by burned out shells of buildings and liquor stores that sold beer by the bottle for a dollar, nasty fast food, and the scars of '68 unhealed. Tonight, its residents are celebrating this historic night, our nation's historic step forward.

When Barack Obama was born, his parents' marriage was against the law in 13 states, including the one immediately to the south of DC. When he was 7 yrs old, many American cities, including the one he and his family will live in, were torn apart by riots when the nation's most prophetic African American leader was gunned down. Tonight, Barack Obama is the President-Elect of the United States.

I think all of this outpouring, and the tears I can't seem to stop, are a great release from the frustration of the last eight years, the shame of Guantanamo and Abu Graib, the worry over our soldiers on two fronts, the fear that we are doing more to solidify the power of the Executive Branch than fighting those who would do us real harm.

We can see a future of hope and of pride and faith in democracy, not the blind, jingoistic kind, but a clear-eyed faith in the hard work of democracy and the good that government can do because it is ours; it is us. Out of many, we are one. The dream of our founding fathers is alive.

I have never been so proud of this country.

Quote of the Day

"If you have a mother-in-law with only one eye and she has it in the center of her forehead, you don't keep her in the living room. " Lyndon Johnson

I don't know what it means either but I love it.