Mary Anne Berkery of Brooklyn's November 23 letter to the New York Times editors stated:

"The reason most Americans supported an unknown, untested, thinly experienced Barack Obama as president was that they were desperate for real change.  His unequivocal mandate was to bring change.

"Instead, we watch as he appoints person after person from the Clinton political machine, creating a virtual third Clinton presidency -- the very re-creations many of us had worked hard to prevent.

"Instead of taking the mantle of Franklin D. Roosevelt, he has taken the mantle of Bill Clinton.

The above headline was taken from a quote by the philosopher George Santayana.  How its profound truth resonates today.

President Lincoln wrote from Washington on August 23, 1963 to Horace Greely, "As to the policy I seem to be pursuing as you say, I have not meant to leave anyone in doubt.  I would save the Union.  I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution."

The U.S.A. was split apart regarding slavery.  Lincoln recognized that united we stand, divided we fall.  Lincoln recognized the authority of the Constitution created by the founders of our nation.

The conclusion of the Civil War united our nation and brought freedom to the slaves.  The price was high - the deaths of 620,000 soldiers along with an unknown number of civilian fatalities.

The May 24, 2007 cover of U.S. News & World Report showed a color photo of George Bush with a troubled expression.  A headline in bold white print read BUSH'S LAST STAND followed with this ominous caption, "He's plagued by a hostile Congress, sinking polls, and an unending war, yet he won't budge.  Then in large print this question is asked:  "Is he resolute - or delusional?"

U.S. News & World Report writer Kenneth T. Walsh explained succinctly and with on target accuracy the in depth meaning behind this sensational cover story.

The caption on the page where the story begins reads:  "The president still exudes confidence, but his ship of state is taking on water - fast -a sinking presidency."

The article explains that Bush is now comparing himself to none other than what many historians believe was the greatest of all U.S. presidents -none other than Abraham Lincoln, remembered in Washington now with the magnificent Lincoln Memorial, which is visited by millions every year to pay respect to what Lincoln achieved in the Civil War.  Is this delusional?

The greatness of a speech is not in the ears of those who are present to hear it.  There were many gathered in Gettysburg who were disappointed at the president's brief remarks.  There were even more gathered in Nuremberg who rose to ecstasy on wings of hate provided by a madman.  A great speech isn't measured in the applause it brings, or in the approving comments in the next day's papers.

It's in the echoes.  It's in the way the words move down the corridor of years, painting events that come after, living in the minds of those who were not even alive when the words were uttered.

For those of us who lived through "I have a dream" or "ask not," those few words are enough to bring back a scene, a time, and heart-wrenching emotions.  For a generation before, "but fear itself" must have brought much the same reaction.  Before that, there was a "cross of gold," and before that "the better angels of our nature."

And before that, was a speech delivered by a young man of 28, a man just entering public life.  You may never have heard this speech, but it's words not only echo in our modern world, they resonate.