Thursday, January 14, 2016

His Great Mission


... His great mission was to accomplish two things: first, to save his country from dismemberment and ruin; and, second, to free his country from the great crime of slavery. To do one or the other, or both, he must have the earnest sympathy and the powerful cooperation of his loyal fellow-countrymen. Without this primary and essential condition to success his efforts must have been vain and utterly fruitless. Had he put the abolition of slavery before the salvation of the Union, he would have inevitably driven from him a powerful class of the American people and rendered resistance to rebellion impossible. Viewed from the genuine abolition ground, Mr. Lincoln seemed tardy, cold, dull, and indifferent; but measuring him by the sentiment of his country, a sentiment he was bound as a statesman to consult, he was swift, zealous, radical, and determined...
-- From Frederick Douglass' "Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln"

Nobody ever gets Superman on a unicorn.

All we ever get are deeply flawed humans to whom we assign an impossible job.

Bur after history has moved on a step or two, sometimes we are wise enough to notice that occasionally we manage to put the right, flawed human into the right, impossible job at just the right time.

6 comments:

Ivory Bill Woodpecker said...

Damn, you've got it bad.

I think about our country the way I think about my refrigerator. I want it to work properly, for the sake of my safety and comfort, but I do not waste love on it.

Apparently, you actually love the USA.

I would ask why, but love is an emotion, so by definition it is not rational, and can't be explained.

Neo Tuxedo said...

I think a more apt metaphor would be thinking about our country the way one thinks about one's house, but maybe that's just me. If your house isn't up to spec, after all, it has much more immediate effects on your safety and comfort.

Ivory Bill Woodpecker said...

NT is correct. A house makes a better metaphor.

waldo said...

So, you're warming to Bernie then...?

Ebon Krieg said...

History is a harsh mistress. The flaws of our humanity lay bare before us and in stillness we weep.

I may not agree with some of the views you have, but I have the utmost respect for you.

You are probably one of the most dependable writers I know and I thank you.

Cinesias said...

Shorter PurityBrigade member:

Listen, man, McCain/Palin would have been just as able as Obama, and even thinking Obama did alright means that you, like love the US Empire and rub 'em out to drone strikes.

#Greenwald/Trotsky 2016