Celebrations of the 250th anniversary of our United States were on most channels. My choice was from Williamsburg, Virginia – deeply soul-stirring in giving passionate voice to the timeless declarations from the founding era and with a spectacular fireworks display that rivaled anything I’ve seen over many decades, in person or on a screen.
It happened, of course, in the shadow of this present administration’s trashing of so many cherished bulwarks of the rule of law, freedoms of the press and assembly, separation of church and state, and pursuit of the common good, not just the ballooning enrichment of the privileged few.
President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address echoes in my mind – his surpassingly elegant and eloquent 272-word, two-minute reconstituting of our nation, its purpose, and its enduring aspiration: “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” It needs reclaiming yet again in the face of the grotesque reality that unfolds day by day: the far-right’s project of a government and even an entire society that is of the pedigreed (only whites count, ideally of Northern European background), by the predatory (using whatever means necessary, legal or not), and the plutocratic (money talks, no shouts, everywhere, including in elections).
Which vision of our future will prevail? We can’t just wait and watch from the sidelines. The past is the gift we celebrate. Its ideals and examples – the good ones, not the many bad ones – need to stiffen our resolve to move forward, united for all, with no one left behind.
Fred Reklau
Oak Park