September 11, 2002
Gettysburg Revisited
A Buzzflash Editorial places the language of Lincoln's incomparable Gettysburg Address in the context of today's struggle. The tragic loss of so many lives can only be given meaning if the tragedy becomes an occasion to rededicate ourselves "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."Lincoln's words are perhaps even more important today than when they were new. And they make it clear that what is essential in the American dream is "government of the people," precisely what Bush/Ashcroft/Rumsfeld/Cheney et. al. are chopping away. What is endangering America is not in the Middle East, but in the White House.
-- By David Cogswell