19 Nov. 2014 One hundred and Fifty-one years ago today in 1863 the Gettysburg Address was first spoken in Gettysburg, Va. The 272 word speech given by Abraham Lincoln followed Everetts nearly 2 hour long speech. Later, Lincoln apparently told Everett that he hoped his short speech would be good enough after Everetts huge oration. We all know how significant the small 10 minute speech became.
Well now, them's just fightin' words to this Yankee gal, Mister Preacher Man! It's only one keystroke different, BUT Gettysburg is not in Confederate territory (VA)... it's in Pennsylvania (PA)! And yes, today is the commemoration day... seven score and 11 years ago. The nightly illumination of the graves at the National Cemetery is totally beautiful.
How the heck did I do that!!! I definitely know where Gettysburg is and cannot think why I would ........?? Keystroke or no, the v is on the other side of the keyboard from p!! @&$)(;:/-#%^* Color me absolutely red!! Is there something happening in Va. soon that I might have been........? I was so proud of myself because I was ready to post last night but was over my limit. Me, getting the jump on Kate! First thing when I got up and before coffee I hammered out my disaster and now I stand embarassed. Or is that just bare_ss_ d?
Ah ha! So let me get this straight... you tried to beat ol' Kate to the punch with the breaking headline again and retribution was swift? Well now that'll teach ya, won't it?! To get myself back on topic here, I'll say that President Lincoln stayed at the home of a lawyer, David Wills, on the night before the address was given. I've been to the room where he stayed... it's really nothing to write home about except the fact that Abraham Lincoln actually *did* "sleep here" unlike all the faux "George Washington slept here" hoaxes. The then commander-in-chief also has a dedicated pew in the Presbyterian church in town where he attended with local "hero" John Burns on this date also... they heard a patriotic speech there. Burns, by the way, was 69 and grabbed his musket to help the Union cause when the battle dared come to his town.
It is a strange thing. Today, of all days on our 365 day calendar our dear president is going to, dare I say "commemorate" one of the most magnificent speeches in American history by giving one of his own. Yup, he is going to jam the illegal alien issue down our throats with an executive order. I guess, with a humongous stretch we could make some sort of likeness between the two acts but I almost have to bury my head for even seeing anything remotely like pres. Lincoln in O'Bama.
Well... uh.... ummm... he's tall. Yes, we'll go with that, he's tall. Therein lies the only similarity I can come up with. (Although still 3 inches shorter than Abe who stood 6'4"). I have my political opinions like everyone else, but I don't pretend to understand what it all means. Executive order (PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong... I seriously don't know!) seems to mean that a president can do what he (or she should that day come) wants to do withOUT Congress. WithOUT input from the constituents of those Congressmen and women. But then why *have* a Congress? Okay, reading back over that, I see that it sounds like a silly question everyone should have already known, but I was a fairly decent student in school and then much additional learning as an adult, and I seriously didn't know that a president could say "to heck with what ya'll want, I'm doing this anyhow." WHY would that be allowed?! There MUST be something in between there that I'm missing? Maybe other presidents did it but it wasn't such controversial "decisions"? I assume they did for small things maybe. So this one person, unilaterally, can just let's say, put our military in places that 98% of the people do NOT want to go just with this executive order garbage? Why has this never been stopped or modified? He could do something like send us to attack Israel or Canada or French Polynesia just on a whim? Stop laughing, I know it sounds silly... I just need to be briefed on which part it is that I'm missing.
You two are so funny. Thanks for the reminder of the anniversary of this important event in US history. What really get me is that people actually listened to someone go on for 2 hours. I personally, would have taken a mental hike at about 20 minutes, but I guess times were different then and people probably hadn't heard all the news already or whatever it was Everetts included in his speech to take up that much time.
Everett was definitely an outstanding orator of the time. When Lincoln was told that Everett would get top billing, he promised that his own part would be "short, short, short." And it was, of course, but totally remembered through time while it's usually "uh, who'd Edward Everett?" Trivia from that important day in history... there was a pot-de-chambre in a tent close-by because of a kidney issue Everett suffered. Amazing that he talked for two hours without its use... and without notes, by the way. Everett did a great job with his speech... talking about the battle in detail and then calling for the North and South to reconcile... but Lincoln spoke the language of the people and not with Latin and Greek references.
http://www.historynet.com/the-gettysburg-address The link I posted is the address given by Everett. Not much news there but a great oration nonetheless. I did not notice anything in the history of his address where he was doing the proverbial "dance," so maybe the doniker came into better use later. About the O'Bama address.......he decided to waylay that until tonight (20 Nov.) which just happens to be another commemoration. Mexico's revolution day is today. So many holidays we are going to have to learn ya'll. Cinco de Mayo is not a Mexican celebration, at least not in Mexico and the real revolution of Mexico is Sept. 16th, but 20 Nov. is celebrated as revolution day. After we have the test on what I just said (I did say "WE" because I do not EVEN understand what I just said) we shall have fun memorizing other Mexican holidays beause the pres. is expected to use his executive privilage to grant amnesty to the now 5 million illegals which will also blow the southern borders wide open. With all of these extra workers in the U.S. the employers will have to know why their employees are not at work on certain days throughout the year. With the exception of Lincolns Gettysburg address I really hate when politicians open their mouths to orate.
Ya know, even as much as I've had an interest in Gettysburg over the years, and have gone there as often as humanly possibly, I never read that speech. Maybe I should be ashamed to say that I *still* haven't, even with this link because... well, it's just toooo long, whether it's from an excellent speaker or not. I think that most long speeches throughout history could have been made much stronger by cutting them down by about 75%.
