Thoughts on America at 250 – Part 1 of 3

Abraham Lincoln was afraid.

He did not fear for his life. He knowingly risked his life many times.

Abraham Lincoln feared for democracy. Consider the first two sentences and the conclusion of the Gettysburg Address.

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. **** 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.

Now we, too, are tested, as all times and all generations of Americans are tested, on whether we believe in and will fight for government of the people, by the people, for the people.

Democracy is the best form of government and it is the only legitimate form of government. The right to vote is the bedrock of freedom. Let’s fight for democracy and make it work for all of us.