Garry Wills

http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2011/jan/13/obamas-finest-hour/

In a blog of the New York Times, Garry Wills wrote about "Obama's Finest Hour". The editorial was as finest an editorial I have read in a very long time and certainly equal to the subject it addressed. Not only did it describe someone's moment of inspiration but the writing by Mr. Wills was inspiring as well. He compared the president's speech to that of Abraham Lincoln, not for the first time but certainly made the comparison more concrete. It is being re-tweeted as I write this. I, myself, have done so and included it on my Facebook account.

There is no doubt what Mr. Wills describes as the president's finest hour is exactly that; but the journalist was able to describe the moment to his readers in such a way that readers can now seek a replay for themselves for they are everywhere and listen to it. It provides the essence of the moment when a leader reaches out to console a nation and succeeds. It is as if we are watching another president after the end of the blood bath of the Civil War reach out to console a nation with the Gettysburg Address.

There are writers, no doubt, who write things that sink down into oblivion and are never read by the masses let alone reacted to by many people. There are others who seek to raise awareness of injustice and cruelty within the human population and others who want to bring attention to themselves and some cause that will not be of any advantage to anyone. It is nice to be the kind of writer whose work brings a positive glow to the rest of our lives. Those are the writers who write books like "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. There are many examples. Of course, there are books such as Mein Kampf(My Struggle) by Adolf Hitler. There are other examples of those books too.

I don't believe in censorship. If one does not want to read a certain book, don't. Certainly, the man accused of shooting the people in Arizona wrote his own opus on the Internet as many who have been convicted of different crimes recently have done. Those who do not read a lot and commit heinous crimes have gone out of their way to put down their own words. I have no intention of reading their words. To be fair, the man accused has not been convicted of any crime.

What I can do is read such writers such as Garry Wills and realize that "we can be better" as President Obama said in his speech and honor those who died in an hail of bullets from a madman's gun. We don't have to blame people and call our neighbors names and even for a short time remember we are all in this life together. As writers, we can help with the healing. That is a good place to be, on the side of angels.