Our place to talk – an independent website for supporters of the Liberal Democrat party in the UK.

The most-read independent website by and for Lib Dem supporters. Not paid for by trade unions or millionaires.

Advert

Tag Archives: gettysburg address

Opinion: After 150 years, the Gettysburg Address still matters

By Andy Boddington | Tue 19th November 2013 - 12:06 pm

It was just ten sentences long. A mere 273 words delivered in less than three minutes. Yet the Gettysburg Address has resonated through history, finding relevance in every age.

In May 2003, I was researching history in Los Angeles. The news channels had cleared the decks for just one story. One hundred or so miles to the south, President George W. Bush trying to define his own place in history.

The USS Abraham Lincoln was stationed off San Diego after a long deployment, including action in the Bush/Blair war in the Gulf. Beneath a banner of “Mission Accomplished”, a jubilant Bush told the assembled crew and an attentive nation that major combat operations in the Iraq War had ended. In a speech that lacked humility, he said: “We have fought for the cause of liberty, and for the peace of the world.” Bush boasted of the precision of war, of how “new tactics and precision weapons the guilty have far more to fear from war than the innocent.” Seemingly oblivious to the huge cost in human life, he declared that war against terror, against Al Qaida, was being won.

Continue reading »

Posted in News | Also tagged george bush and tony blair | 6 Comments

Most Read

Op-eds

Burnham has left a gap on tax. We should run through it. (Tom Reeve)
Should the Liberal Democrats support “None of the Above”? (Samuel Jackson)
Extending the school day: A catalyst for economic growth (Edward Marsh)
An open letter to Andy Burnham (Tony Vickers)
Four challenges in Andy Burnham’s in-tray (Callum Robertson)

Advert

Recent Comments

Peter Hirst
What is it that we want the media, the public and the world to take as the defining message of this conference? Most are not interested in the intricies of our ...
Peter Hirst
This country certainly needs something tangible that demonstrates to the world that it is becoming a different country. A wealth tax might do it if it is compr...
Peter Hirst
We could and perhaps should find people whose human rights are being abused and stand up for them. Whether it's an asylum seeker seaking refuge from persecution...
Peter Davies
As anounced, the basic pension will remain taxable. In the past, this did not affect those whose only income was the state pension because they were below the t...
John C
I've always felt we should have a None Of The Above option on ballot papers. If it gets the most votes, it forces a fresh election where none of the original ca...