29 October 2024
Washington, DC
Dear Charlie,
Look, I know I’m a sucker, like most middle-aged white dads of a certain kind, for the promise of American Values and History and Big Ideas. Which is to say: I believe that Jefferson meant what he wrote that all men are created equal, and that the American experiment with democracy is something that can — no, is meant to — go on into the future.
Yes, I know that Jefferson was full of his own contradictions. Yes, I know that the high ideals aren’t ones that we’ve lived up to, but that’s the thing about high ideals: they’re a challenge to yourself to do better. They’re a challenge to yourself to be better. America has grown, developed, and thrived because of that challenge to be better, do better, and go out and take it head on.
The last decade has been… a lot. As someone who has been up and close to it, living in the District of Columbia, the whipsawing against our democratic values, the political violence, and the scary march toward fascistic christian nationalism has taken a huge toll. As the kids say, “Check on the 700,000 residents of the District, we’re not okay.”
Over the last few months, as this peculiar contest between a felon and a prosecutor has caused a lot of scary frustrations, but over the last week or so, I’ve found myself looking forward more, and back less. Tonight, we watched VP Harris’ speech on the TV together. It was clear you’d rather be watching Pokemon or a Disney show, and, honestly? I can respect that. But we watched the speech together, and listened to VP Harris talk about what she loved about America, and how she embraced the freedoms that stand amidst our highest ideals. There was a moment that hit me like a hammer.
Toward the end of her speech, she pulled a phrase from the Gettysburg Address: “can long endure.” It’s been a through line of the last two weeks for me, and we talked about that tonight. You wanted to know why I had tears in that moment, and we got to the end of the speech and I talked for a while about what this election means, and why it hit so hard.
The context of the original line was the opening to the Gettysburg Address: “Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure.” The tide had turned when Lincoln spoke those words, but the Civil War had two bloody years left to finish. It has truly felt over the last decade that we’ve been close to another similar conflict. The last letter to you that I wrote and published here was the result of historic conflict at the Capitol, egged on by a petty tyrant attempting to cling to power despite losing the election. Since then, we’ve been continuing to simmer the conflict between those who would seek to change America from a representative democracy to an authoritarian and nationalist state.
We stand now on the precipice of another historical moment, one that tests whether our nation of laws – of, for and by the people – can long endure in the face of those who would wrest its mantle of freedom and liberty from the hands of the people. The choice is clear. We can place it in the hands of a responsible public servant, or place it in the hands of a petty and venal man with an enemies list, and a promise to rule cruelly over this nation, not for its betterment, but for its corruption.
I truly believe that we can turn our back on that temptation, and deliver America from the worst angels of its nature, by voting to preserve our union, and our high ideals.
We can long endure.
We must.
It won’t be easy, and it won’t be without work, or a fight. But the good things in life are worth the work, and they’re worth the fight. They’re worth everything we can throw at them.
Forgive your sentimental Dad a few tears in front of a speech tonight, he was glad to see someone taking this moment seriously, understanding the stakes, and in the face of division, hatred, and chaos, turning to empathy, togetherness, and embracing the moment.
That’s the future I want for you. That’s the future I want for all your friends. And it’s within reach, and we’ll defend it with everything we’ve got, and work to secure it for posterity.
Cannonball 