Gettysburg Address

I overheard someone say that today is the anniversary of the Gettysburg Address. Later in the conversation I heard one of the participants ask......"Can you image what the Gettysburg address would have been like if Abe Lincoln had had an academic education?



Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

The Redskins must be Careful

The Washington Redskins must be careful. Slowly but surely the fire is going out. For the fans this is catastrophic. Its hard to be devoted to something you can't see.

The fire goes out of any entity, whether it be a team,or an individual, when there is no longer a will to fight. On a team this happens when more people than not give up. For an individual its when there is despair and no hope for the future.

The Redskins behavior has shown that things are bad. The incident on the Falcons sideline with Hall and Landry show just how bad. Any team that hesitates to support their own is well on its way to darkness.

Jason Campbell's ability to remain responsive to questions from the media gives me hope. He is still fighting, although every time he gets a little banged up he starts rolling around on the field, his face in agony. Let me just say from experience........when you are a leader.......in front of those you led........ it behooves you to keep your emotions in check . Campbell seems to be able to do this in interviews but on the field of play he shows too much of his pain.

If I had to give Campbell advice I'd say to him. "As a leader you don't feel pain during the battle. If you do, your men will fear for you and your opponents will smell blood. Football is a game of emotion. During the battle your emotion is your light, your fight, your weapon, and your greatest weakness. You must protect it."

This why the emotions surrounding the team are in such peril. So much is stacked against the organization, but for the time being the team is still trying. There is still room to blame things other than the players themselves. However, if the light goes out on the field, if everything becomes too much to bear, if Campbell stops answering question with hope for the future, darkness could come.

Anyone who has ever been camping can tell you, it's a lot easier to get a fire going from smoldering embers than it is to Create a new one.