On Lincoln the movie

I finally watched Spielberg’s Lincoln. I must say the movie deserves every recognition it received. The writing, direction, production, and performances were all very well done. I believe the men and women portrayed were justly honored. It left me wondering and in tears.

Mr. Lincoln shouldered a great burden both personally and politically. His heart came forth in the speeches he gave and by his actions. During the war, Mr. Lincoln practically lived at the Army hospital. They were not pawns on a board. They were men and boys; someone’s son, someone’s husband, someone’s father.

I cannot help but consider, after hearing Daniel Day-Lewis’ Lincoln, the question: where is our Lincoln of today?

Where are the flawed but deeply caring men who would gladly fight for what is right, even at the pains of political or personal loss? Where are those who would stand up for what is right because it is moral and right; and not political expediency? Where are those who would move us with their words in support of what is right and self-evident; not what is political and tickles the ears of a constituency?

In my readings of Washington, Jefferson, Addams, and Lincoln I find men of character who found it not too great to put it all at risk for the sake of what is right. Do we have anyone like them today?

In this era of sound bites and snippets, as if thinking people only had the attention span of infants, political demagoguery and speechmaking are more about political demagoguery and speechmaking than anything else.

I am concerned that men of Mr. Lincoln’s character no longer exist. I see no leader in present that inspires me to follow. All great leaders were followed, not because of a lash or rule of law, but because of their heart. Those around them saw their character, their nature, their passion, and their willingness to sacrifice personal comforts for what is true and right.

When current political argument vacilates from one hot issue to the next or creates false crises after false crises, the entire point of self-determinate, democratic republican government and sound business practice in governance are lost amid the flurry of waving arms and shouting voices. Forgotten, it seems, is that sanctity of trust and that limited spending based on income should be held highest. They are not at present.

When homicide of prenatal humans is tolerated as a right by political activists, have we as a people lost focus on what is supposed to be self-evident? Has personal and political expediency replaced responsibility?

At the end of Lincoln, the movie, I was moved to tears. I mourned the tragic loss of one who cared so deeply for his nation and its People. I also lamented and asked my God where is our Lincoln for today.