“Well you have seen me and according to general experience you have seen less than you expected.” Lincoln at Hanover Junction, Pennsylvania.
Hanover Junction was a train stop on the way to Gettysburg. Lincoln was traveling there to dedicate the Soldiers National Cemetery. The address was delivered 160 years ago on November 19, 1863. Unity was the theme; 271 words was the length.
Today the image is the show and introductions often take more than 271 words. And the audience, for whatever politician, is frequently fed poll tested talking points to reinforce their prejudices. Performative politics pairs image with emotion and aims at division. The politician’s calculus is that “against” is more powerful than “for”. The problem: when sharp division wins the country loses.
At Gettysburg Lincoln called “for the living to dedicate their lives to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.” Is it even possible to conclude that today’s government is of, by and for the people? Is it, to use the most glaring failure, possible to accumulate almost 34 Trillion dollars of debt to be passed on to the next generation and conclude that today is about the future?
Much time is spent arguing about free speech. Today’s argument often surrounds what elite universities suppress. And that certainly is an important subject. But what about our nation’s finances; a subject that goes well beyond the episodic hyper-emotional subjects of the day.
I would argue that few, if any, of our media stand-ins are even able to intelligently probe beyond verbal shadowboxing. It is much easier to grill politicians and their stand-ins on the emotional issue of the day. In the recent off-year elections abortion policy was said to be the determinant.
At the risk of going well beyond 271 words let me close with these final thoughts.
Of, by and for the people—the refrain from both the Declaration of Independence and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address lingers, but only faintly. Politicians, aided by an incurious or ill-prepared press, have shifted the battleground, as facts are drowned out by opinions often wrapped in rhetorical excess.
“You have seen less than you expected”. Abraham Lincoln, who led the Union in war and then began to lead the nation in peace before being assassinated, was singular. The times will not allow another. But as we, the people, exercise our rights we should keep in mind TS Eliot’s poetic lines: “Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don’t mean to do harm; but the harm does not interest them.”
Our national debt and its inescapable trajectory are a disgrace. Not just harmful, but a disgrace.
Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books.
Mickey Terrone says
Geez Al, inflation and expanding debt has hit everywhere, including the number of days between the Battle of Gettysburg and Lincoln’s immortal Gettysburg Address. The 139 days between July 3rd and November 19th have already grown from 139 to 224! And of course, it wasn’t 224 days after the end of the Civil War that Lincoln spoke at Gettysburg because Lincoln had been assassinated a week or so after Appomattox.
Having picked those nits, I’m sad to acknowledge the serious accuracy of the remainder of your article. Hyperbole and disinformation are on gaudy display as leading Republicans resoundingly plead with the public to cut spending after their 4-years of fiscal restraint during the Trump Administration grew the national debt by 33.1% during his term as president. FDR grew the national debt the most of any president (791%) over his 13 years in the White House, which included both WWII and the herculean task of bringing America out of the Great Depression. Even so, he only grew the debt by 2% more than Woodrow Wilson in his 8 years (WWI). Source: (https://www.investopedia.com/us-debt-by-president-dollar-and-percentage-7371225)
Yet, beyond Trump, Ronald Reagan grew the debt by 160.8%, GHW Bush grew it by 42% and George Bush by 72% and Nixon by 34%. By some contrast, Biden has grown it by 8.8% in nearly 3 years. The same Republicans who today are howling about the national debt are many of the same ones who approved Trump’s massive tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% of Americans while spending massively on military spending. Al, I’d call this grandstanding at its demagogic worst, not to mention a biblical level of hypocrisy.
The Top 1% now holds 15X more wealth than the Bottom 50% combined. Source: (https://www.inequalitymedia.org/how-wealth-inequality-spiraled-out-of-control?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAmNeqBhD4ARIsADsYfTdQo-zYKD2ve5fnblK97ahCsuLgiPayWKM6Q9EWnKM7rqpQxV9Xvd0aAr1OEALw_wcB)
The US Treasury Dep’t. estimates that the Wealthiest 1% of Americans avoid paying $160 Billion annually in taxes. Between April 2020 and October, 2021 alone, American billionaires have accumulated $1.8 trillion in wealth, or nearly 50% of the entire bottom 20% of the US population. (Source: Truthout.org)
Our US tax policies are at the root of these long term fiscal problems. And while this issue ought to weigh most heavily on the minds of the Republican “Base” of poor white voters, it seems to make no difference to them as they elect ultraconservative representatives and senators to the US Congress whose campaigns are funded by the “dark money” of millionaires and billionaires.
The US won’t be able to reverse these trends until our tax laws are revised, we stop outspending the rest of the world substantially in military expenses and we are able lessen public reliance on government spending.
Howard Freedlander says
Al Sikes rightly calls out Abe Lincoln’s substance and the shallowness of most modern-day politicians. Time has shown that few elected leaders emulate him. Sad.
Steven Smith says
Mr Terrone shares a deep understanding of this issue. Who makes money when the Fed borrows money? The Banks. Republicans. Who makes money when Congress rubber stamps the next Military spending bill? The Military/Industrial Complex, Lobbyists, Politicians. The Maga Right Republicans talk about draining the swamp, tearing it all down. Well, not all, really. Just the part that serves the American people, the part that provides a social safety net against the greediest 1% among us.
Kenneth Cole says
I cannot comment on this excellent article on Lincoln by remember my good friend James Getty. He was for many years Gettysburg’s Lincoln. I was involved with him in Gettysburg
and when I was at the Capitol. We re-enacted the train ride to Gettysburg in 1988 125th Anniversary. He was the star of the event. He always played his role with dignity and respect.
Movies, traveling the country doing lectures and in thousand of school visits during his long career.
He made us all proud to be Americans
Al Sikes says
Mickey, sorry for the date inflation. Regardless progress on our disgraceful debt will require bi-partisanship and everything including higher taxes must be considered.
Patti Willis says
Amen, Al Sikes. Amen.