As we are now engaged in what will be a lengthy war for the survival of civilization itself, I will quote from that speech. Lincoln's words are as valuable and meaningful today as they were 143 years ago in the fields of Pennsylvania. To those that have died in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and to those who will yet die in this war in places not yet known, I honor you by invoking the words of one of the greatest of American presidents:
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....
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You think of the reaction of Americans when anything goes wrong in Iraq today, and then you think of the Civil War. How did Lincoln do it? Fredericksburg in December of 1862, and the Union loses 14,000 men; Chancellorsville four months later, and the Union loses 17,000. Yet, Lincoln managed to keep the Union hanging in there until they prevailed. Imagine how the country would react to those kinds of losses today, and that was a civil war.
I heard a quote from the movie "Patton" the other day in which the general says that America has never lost a war, and we never will. I think the big question now is whether the United States can win a war in the media age that lasts more than a month.
I find it ironic that so many of the days designed to honor Americans such as Memorial Day (formerly Decoration Day, when families would go an decorate the graves of veterans), Labor Day, Presidents' Day(glommed together between our first and sixteenth presidents to make room in the calendar for MLK Day), etc. have just become another excuse for a sale at The RoomStore. I predicted something similar would happen with Martin Luther King Day, and sure enough every year I see a few more ads touting sales on this mandated holiday. How long before we see his profile used on ads like we do with Washington and Lincoln? And how about instead of shopping on July 4th, we actually honor our independence by celebrating with family and friends? It's gotten to the point that our kids know more about Eid and Cinco de Mayo than they do about their own national holidays.
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