The Party of Lincoln

I’m listening to one of Aaron Copland’s most famous and popular works called Lincoln Portrait.  I was deeply inspired the first time I listened to this music over forty years ago. I am inspired now.

This orchestral work is music composed by Copland with narrations he selected from various documents of President Abraham Lincoln, including The Gettysburg Address.  Throughout the piece the narrator says, "That's what he said. That's what Abe Lincoln said." When you listen you’ll notice that you hear the entire work played through with  only instruments and then the same music is repeated with the narration.  When you’ve listened as many times as I have, you'll be able to sense the narration from the beginning. I can't separate the music from the words of the sixth  president of the United States of America.  My favorite recording, the one I’m listening to now, is the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy with Adlai Stevenson II as narrator.  Stevenson was the Ambassador to the United Nations under President John F. Kennedy.  Lincoln Portrait opened to an mixed reception on May 14, 1942 with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.  Over the years it has become one of Aaron Copland’s most performed and beloved works. It's is certainly one of my most beloved musical compositions.

My involvement in politics over the years has been limited mostly to voting in local, state and national elections.  Doesn’t that make me a responsible American citizen?  Yes it does. I did call my governor's office several times a few years ago.  According to the media he was on the fence about eliminating smoking in restaurants and other public places in the state of Georgia.  So I called several times to express my opinion that ridding restaurants of second hand smoke would be a really good thing.  The Republican governor was more concerned about the overreach of government and the infringement of business owner's rights than he was discomfort and health issues  from second hand smoke, but he approved the legislation to ban smoking  Did my calls make any difference in his decision?  Something did.

For the first time in my life I've decided to get more involved in government and the legislative process..   So what exactly am I willing to do?  It's like a good friend of mine told me a few weeks ago, "I'm willing to get as politically active as I need to."  For starters I am going to call my U.S. representative  and express my concern about my health care coverage.  I am now insured under the Affordable Health Care Act in spite of a preexisting mental condition.  If President Trump and the GOP eliminate it with no comparable replacement,  I'll be without health insurance. I do not look forward to that possibility. "Obamacare" might not be the best health insurance in the world, but it's a heck of a lot better than none at all, If the GOP does in fact replace my insurance, I can only hope and pray that "Trumpcare" will be at least as good as what I have now.

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Aaron Copland composed “American music.”  At times it’s "cowboy" and at times it’s "Indian", but if it’s Fanfare for the Common Man or The Red Pony Suite  it always sounds like the wide open plains of the American west. Think of it as the way Lonesome Dove would sound if it were a symphony. To read the words of Abraham Lincoln is to be reminded of what is good and best about our country. It is to be reminded of the power and dignity of the office of the President of the United States. To hear these words of  Abraham Lincoln against this  music is a quintessential  American experience.  “This is what he said. This is what Abe Lincoln said, ‘As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is not a democracy’ “.  Lincoln’s country had somehow, almost miraculously, survived a war against itself.  Just after he had buried 620,000 of his fellow citizens Lincoln  made no mention of “American carnage”, but of American freedom and hope.

I didn't vote for Donald Trump for president.   But I respect the democratic process.  It doesn't matter as far as the election is concerned that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote,Through the electoral college system, which is, in fact, the way we elect our presidents, Trump won the election.  Did he get help from the Russians?  Our intelligence community says there is no doubt about it. Would he have won without that help?  Only God knows. The fact is when the electoral votes were tallied, he won. Then does it matter that Clinton won the popular vote? Time will tell. Last Saturday over two  million people around the world  weighed in on that.

Our country is divided in half,  just like when Abraham Lincoln was president.  There is no reason to think that one side will secede from the Union and take up arms against the other as in 1861. But we are just as fractured as when our country did just that.  Those who voted for Trump  are ecstatic. Those of us that lost are afraid and dejected, I, personally, think we have reason to be.  If the first press conference is any indication, the "White House" agenda is much like the "Trump agenda" during the elections, i.e. saying whatever he wants to about anything that threatens his unquenchable ego, even if it's devoid of facts and truth.   Is this horrible and dangerous habit going to apply to both domestic and international issues for the duration of his term?  When a foreign power criticizes him is he going to tweet insults and threats against them. Some of these nations are armed with nuclear weapons. Shouldn't this concern all of us regardless of who we voted for? Nuclear weapons are non-partisan. 

I wrote my first research paper for my teacher Mr. DiMichelle in the sixth grade at the College Street Elementary School in Enterprise, Alabama.  I chose as my topic, President Abraham Lincoln. I poured myself into that handwritten paper and made an A. I have felt a kinship with the sixteenth president ever since.  I am the party of Lincoln.  This is what he said. This is what Abraham Lincoln said,"Fellow  citizens we cannot escape history.. We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down in  honor or dishonor to the latest generation. We, even we here, hold the power and bear the responsibility."

Aaron Copland's music fills me with great pride and great hope.  Frederick Buechner said, "And now abides faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is hope."  My hope is not dependent on any election. I may be a little down and dejected about one party controlling every branch of government. And not my party. And would Abraham Lincoln be comfortable with this party?  But every single person in Congress and the White House are there because American citizens voted them in.  Every single member of the judiciary was appointed by those elected officials. And, like it or not, will be appointed by those officials.  I not only have to live with that, I have to respect that.  But now I have some calls to make.   And when is that next march? God bless the first amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America. We know that America can bend; now we'll find out if she can break.