Somebody at Time no doubt thought themselves very clever for having put that question on the cover last week. (Perhaps not surprisingly, it wasn't answered between the covers; as the brief discussion of Lincoln was merely a pretext to run a fawning piece on Daniel Day-Lewis, the cover which appeared in the rest of the world would have been more honest. Who knew that shouting all one's lines makes one a great actor? Other than Sean Penn, I mean.)
However, I actually ask that question with some frequency. Ma Curmudgeon once told me it's unreasonable to expect every politician to be Abraham Lincoln, but I don't know why. Lincoln's greatness was abetted by his savvy political instincts and an astonishing mastery of American rhetorical craftsmanship, but it was grounded in a clear understanding of the American experiment in maintaining civil liberties through representative government, as articulated by the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. For all their elegance and eloquence, neither of those documents is particularly hard to understand. In that sense, in comprehending and furthering just what this country is all about, anyone could have Lincoln's clarity of vision and purpose. And frankly, anyone running for national office should.
I voted on Tuesday, instead of waiting for Election Day, mostly to put myself out of my misery. I didn't listen to the presidential debates because I'm working on not screaming at the radio so much, and I expect that I'll also take a pass on the victory speech delivered by whoever. I'll wager two things about that speech, though: it will make reference to Lincoln and/or his words, and will reflect a complete inability to grasp his understanding of this great country of ours.
No comments:
Post a Comment