A Letter to America
My Friends,
The moment is upon us, or upon you. As we stand here today on the cusp of momentous events the heavy hand of history lays upon our shoulders. The choice you face, the choice you make today, will be felt around the world.
We need you America, all of us, out here in the rest of the world. We’ve sorely missed your absence these past years, it’s time for you to come back to us. You are the nation built upon the lives and dreams of the sons, daughters, brothers and sisters who left. Those who longed for a better life for themselves and their children and did not take the road home, but struck out across the ocean. You are all of us, you are what we could all become, in your worst moments and in your finest hour.
As nations we are shaped and formed in the crucible of our histories, a past we cannot escape and are forever indebted to. America alone shapes her own history. She alone is a nation built upon an idea, an idea. She alone is formed from the crucible of all our histories and forged in her own. To her detriment and her benefit, this is her destiny, to be forever forging her own history, and in so doing, shaping the history of all of us.
The belief in this exceptionalism, both in it’s mythic quality and how it informs you as a nation is truly what makes America great. What ideas you have! Audacious, bold and unquenchable, this is the America we need. Be they myth or truth it is momentous ideas that carry us forward into the light of better days.
The 21st Century is begun and it is time to seize the moment. Time to roll back the darkness and let in a little light, time to make some new friends and renew ourselves for the long road ahead. There is a deal of work to be done and we need you with us.
A great deal more purple prose will fly about the aether tonight, but know that we are watching and we are with you all. So go make some history, it’s what you guys are good at.
I leave the last words to Churchill, echoing down the long years of the 20th Century to counsel us anew.
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” . . . Sail on, O Ship of State!
Sail on, O Union, strong and great!
Humanity with all its fears
With all the hopes of future years
Is hanging breathless on thy fate! ”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
November 4th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Nice. Very nice. I will never quite understand what it is about the Irish that make such good Americans, and people who so clearly understand the American promise.
A few years ago I was at a St. Patrick’s Day festival in San Diego and the stereotypical bloke from Donegal or wherever he was from (there are hundreds of these fellas playing pubs in every corner of the country and we love every single one) strangely insisted on singing “God Bless America.” I found it to be one of the most heartfelt versions I had ever heard.
Anyway, the child bride and I voted via post a few weeks ago. Since then, with this election so on my mind, I have not been able to sleep. Here’s hoping.
November 4th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
I’m not sleeping well either, but here’s hoping today changes all that. Beautiful post, my friend. While there is a good chunk of the country that has devolved into religious fanaticism and anti-intelligence cults (we call it Fox News), there are many, many people here that just want their country back.
Hopefully we can do this, one vote at a time, today.
November 4th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Darn it, Donal. Now I have something in my eye.