Blog post on the way....be patient (have you heard that before?). You don't have to be patient much longer: Bush is gone, Obama is our President (thank god we have a president again!). More coming soon - turn on your TV and watch the INAUGURATION!!!

Rather than focusing solely on the closing refrain that is so often quoted, “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations,” I instead, on this most auspicious of days, will focus on the following passage from Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address (a very brief speech by terms of the genre, that being inaugural speeches – which though they varied in length, reflected the man and his times.):


“One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the Southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was, somehow, the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union, even by war; while the government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war, the magnitude, or the duration, which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding….Fondly do we hope--fervently do we pray--that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago”.

I focused on this passage not just because of the reference to “colored slaves” (in other words, a reference to Michelle Obama’s ancestors who likely helped build the monuments that dot the landscape across Washington DC). And also an obvious reference to the first president of color that has ever been elected to the highest office in this land. Amen to that…

Comments gleened from MSNBC last night... (although I think I added the part about the hand sanitizer ).

“This is not an America that is urban or suburban… rarely in the course of human events… cities are not just a place for block grants, but a source of possibilities, of opportunities. Obama has a responsibility to reach out… parties looking for a way to separate groups into distinct corners, while all the time needing to reach across the aisles, to talk with each other, to shake hands with each other without reaching for the hand sanitizer.”

This from the Bishop Gene Robinson:
“And please, God, keep him [Barack Obama] safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we're asking far too much of this one. We implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand, that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity, and peace. Amen.” [Thank you, Rachel Maddow] Here's the full text of the entire prayer.