Lincoln's Ghost
Washington, Saturday, January 20, 2029, 12:05 (EST)
Twelve score and thirteen years ago, our ancestors brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Four score and seven years later, that nation’s chief executive memorably lauded those who, in a great civil war, had given their lives so that that nation might endure.
Endure—and prosper—it did, beyond all expectation. It became the envy of the world, able and willing to share with other civilized nations what had made it great so that they, too, could endure and prosper.
Yet two score and ten years ago, inheritors of that new nation began to betray the proposition. They launched a new civil war that, five years ago, led to insurrection in hopes that the nation, as conceived and dedicated, might perish.
A brave few kept barbarism at the gates that day—barely. Thereafter, countless more—faithful to the liberty originally conceived—delivered justice, albeit an imperfect one.
The insurrectionists did not relent. In reliance on the inattention, ignorance, and malice of millions who cheered them, they returned to lay further waste. We are here, in part, to dedicate this ceremony to their victims.
And to the robed solitary few who, committed to the proposition that all men are created equal, judged those who denigrated the nation’s laws. They did so with courage, aware that their superiors did not share their commitment.
As we stand at the ruins, we must resolve to rededicate ourselves to government of the people, by the people, and for the people. If we do not, that government will perish from the earth.