LIVE-BLOGGING OBAMA'S CANTON SPEECH - ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND OUR BETTER ANGELS.

I just spent an hour+ live blogging the Obama "closing argument" speech hosted by the very smart Writes Like She Talks blogger Jill Miller Zimon.  The speech was great - I've placed some of  it here for you in case you missed it - and very inspiring.  It's also interesting what one chooses to write as the speech moves on.  I surprised myself - both at the idealism I can still summon after having lived through John Kennedy and the 60s -- and at the ideas that still make my heart stand up.  It is so exciting to hear them couched in terms of one America, coming together to find solutions, listening to "our better angels" as Abraham Lincoln called them in his first inaugural address.  Here's how Lincoln closed that address - does it sound familiar?

I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

It is this sense of bringing together that transcends even the policies and changes pledged by Senator Obama.  I fear that if America doesn't find a way to come together now, we will spin apart for good.  If we don't find a way to show a unified, committed and moral face to the rest of the world, all that we have stood for will dissolve - as it has already begun to do. For years I have been haunted by this poem -- by Percy Bysshe Shelley , that I feared prophesied our fate.  It is what I was afraid I saw happening and it is what I honestly believe we have but one more chance to face down.  Listen:

Ozymandius  by: Percy Bysshe Shelley (1817)

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert... Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
My name is Ozymandius, King of Kings,
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Do you ever worry that all we have become could be lost?  That our arrogance, or laziness, or the cravenness of some of our leaders (and some of us) will devour all the idealism that helped to build what we are?  These fears have stayed with me.   I know that this country is like none other.  Joe Klein once said "Judge a country with the open door standard.  When you open the door, do people try to get in or try to get out?"  By those standards, our greatness remains.   

But we need to return to that American sense of possibility - of duty and commitment, that brought us this far, that got the Greatest Generation through the Depression and World War II, that informed the marchers in Selma and Montgomery, the Peace Corps and Vista volunteers, the Teach for America teachers, the anti-war movement; that motivated the philanthropy of many of great wealth - including many of the tech billionaires emerging from our most recent explosion of American ingenuity  -- and that motivated those  who joined the military to help protect us all.  That is the American that Obama speaks to and the America the world so admires.  I hope we receive the opportunity to recapture and enhance that part of ourselves.  I fear this election may be our last chance.

Comments

[Kay Dennison]

I live in Canton and am very aware of how badly the past 8 years have treated us. I posted the entire speech at my blog if anyone is interested. I did so because all we usually see is sound bytes.

I couldn't get tickets but several of my friends were there and quite impressed. Obama speech gave a lot of people hope.

Our community has been hit hard in recent years with huge job losses so hope is thin on the ground.

Our long term Congressman who is retiring from Congress was more concerned with parks than jobs. His heir apparent is taking a page from McCain and running a nasty campaign. He will do exactly what his 'owners' tell him to do if elected.

The real surprise (shock) here was when our local newspaper, that usually endorses the Republican candidate, endorsed Obama.

I'll be glad when tomorrow comes but I'm worried that healing won't come earily. As my hero, Jack Cafferty says, "it's getting ugly out there."

[Karen S.]

What a wonderful post, Cynthia. Inspirational. I haven't been able to keep up with my favorite blogs lately (that will hopefully change soon) but I do like to check in periodically. You never disappoint.

[Judy]

Great post, Cindy.

I was there, and it was wonderful. All I've really done is post his speech verbatim. Pictures to follow, probably tomorrow. It was hard to get very good ones because we weren't close, but I tried.

I loved seeing him in person. So very inspirational. I'm still high on that; he's got such great energy that he brings to a crowd.

[Jill Zimon]

Wow - you really put this all in context, Cindy. Thanks for being there. :) And now, we can read you over and over and over too. :)