The Party of Lincoln

Surf’s up!

As the spirit of US the People was moving over the surface of the electoral waters, a sea change took place; in Congress, blue majority now replaces red authority. In the cities and in the towns, through plains and mountains, up and down. . . good news on the doorstep. America can take a forward step. As in the earlier era, when prophet Bob sent out the message, with a little help from Peter, Paul and Mary, a new wind of fresh leadership brought forth a paradigm shift; the winds of change were strong and they were swift, as they are again, now. “Come senators, congressman, please heed the call; don’t stand in the doorway; don’t block out the hall, ‘cause the times they are a-changing” But be careful, all ye democratic leaders; don’t go power-hungry like the republican oligarch-feeders . Remember that We the People put you there in Congress, and We the People remain the strongest. Remember that the first Republican president was Abe Lincoln, a backwoods lawyer who spoke Emancipation, and Eisenhower had been a general who helped defeat the nazimania nation. The party of Lincoln, Grant, Garfield, Eisenhower and Reagan must not be turned over to a make-believe pagan; the donald may be occupying the oval now, but the Presidency is an office that has proven to be beyond his decency grade. He’s just taking pot shots at Muslims, while the oligarchs are guzzlin’. His classified documents are hidden in a closet, while his fat cat cronies drink from our nation’s faucet. The words of the prophets are written on the peoples’ halls: come senators, congressmen, please heed the call; don’t stand in the doorway; don’t block out the hall. . .cuz the times they are changing, and this nation definitely needs some rearranging. With magamaniac republicans being flushed down the Congressional bowl, this may be the time to wipe the Republican rear guard clean . . . and restore to health and good will the Grand Old Party of Lincoln, Grant, Garfield and Eisenhower. Yeah, I say unto thee, we do need two parties in our United States America. I submit this opinion in the land of the free and the home of the brave, written by this registered Republican who did—truth be told—vote for a straight Democratic ticket. Listen and hear about Moses and Martin Luther King: Carey Rowland

Truth

Is it true that we live in the year 2026? Yes. If you are an American, we are living in the two thousand and twenty-sixth year after the birth of Jesus Christ. Why is our calendar begun at the supposed birthday of one man? Could it be that His birth was an event of such importance because He changed, for all time, the way men and women live and conduct their lives? There was a moment in time, probably in the year 33 A.D. when Jesus was hauled before a Roman emperor to be judged for causing a disturbance among the people in the Roman province of Judea. The encounter went something like this: “Your own nation and the chief priests delivered you to me; what have you done?” Jesus answered: “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to my accusers; but as it is, my kingdom is not of this of this realm.” Pilate said: “So. . . you are a king?” Jesus replied: “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truthhears my voice.” Pilate said to Jesus: “What is truth?” Well that’s a good question. Is the sky blue? Well, no, not at night. Do hardwood trees have leaves? Yes, they have leaves, beginning in the spring; but in the fall the leaves fall, and eventually they crumble and deteriorate into the soil; then they provide a basis for other trees to grow and extend roots into earth that is millions of years old. It’s a little bit like the humans. We live and move and have our being for awhile, maybe 70 years. . . 80, 100, whatever. But then each life expires and goes down into the ground. Is it true that a Christian will arise to eternal life in heaven? So a man comes along and picks up a leaf; he finds it to be interesting; he takes a He sets it down on the floor in his living room.

Is that a wooden floor?” Well, no, it just looks like one. That floor is a synthetic plastic that is manufactured to look like wood. All that to say, we live in a real world where some things are truly what they appear to be. But there are other things that appear to be something that they are not. Consider the person who was occupying the oval office on January 6, 2021, trying to convince his Christian vice-president to go along with the plan to take over the government of the United States, illegally, by force. Vice President Pence did not go along with the magamaniac plan. He was a Christian whose deepest allegiance had been given to the One who stood before a Roman official and said, “My kingdom is not of this realm.” All that to say: If you call yourself a Christian, will you go with the One who chose the cross, rather than the crown? Will you go with the One who said that His kingdom is not of this world? Will you go with the One who made best use of that crucifixion to demonstrate that life does indeed go on after death? If you believe that, we’ve got some real estate in heaven that we will share. And that’s the Truth. I’m not kidding. To believe in the One who survived death itself is the most important choice you will ever make. And that’s the Truth! I’m not making this up. Travelers’ Rest Yours truly, Carey Rowland

Union

In 1972, I served as chairman of the LSU Student Union Speakers Committee.

I introduced the comedian Dick Gregory to an audience of 1400 people in the theatre. He spoke very convincingly to his listeners, making skilfull use of his humorous world view to explain and justify the plight of black folk to obtain justice and dignity in 20th-century America. Soon thereafter, I was approached by Mike Connelly, president of the local chapter of the Young Americans for freedom. He complained that our guest speakers were too liberal. It was a point well-taken, as we had brought in, not only Dick Gregory, but previously Dr. Spock, author of Baby and Child Care and Paul Goodwin, author of Growing Up Absurd. Conservatives of that mid-20th-century era had complained that the baby boomers, one of whom is this writer, were being spoiled, and that these two authors, Dr. Spock and Paul Goodwin, were largely responsible for our generation's turning out to be so contrary. . . preferring to identify with rock’n’rollers, hippies and protesters against the war in Vietnam. I understood Mike Connelly’s complaint; so I asked him to get William F. Buckley to come and speak to us at LSU.  Mr. Buckley was the founder of the National Review, a magazine that advocated for American conservatism in a way that was intellectually more appropriate and effective than the John Birch Society. William Buckley’s message to us college kids was appropriate and profound. I was glad that we had succeeded in recruiting him. The American deep South of that era was a culture very different from what it is today. We have come a long way in conducting a society that assures freedom and justice for all people.     President Abraham Lincoln’s leadership in the 1860’s was a decisive factor in our great American hope to establish freedom and justice for all. He was the author of the Emancipation Proclamation. His insistence  that we preserve our American freedom and justice for all citizens changed the course of history. As history unfolded, thousands of American soldiers fought to preserve the human rights of all Americans. Many of those soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice of life, demonstrating their last full measure of devotion. The Union of our people here has caused US  to remain, for wherever citizens gather to assure the American name, their is justice and favor for all those who are willing to act according to the all-American game, politics. Politics is better than insurrection. Like the ancient prophet Zechariah, we have two staffs in American politics: Favor and Union. Any citizen who does not find a favorable path to accomplish political goals can at least—it is their duty— cherish and respect the rights and privileges of all the rest of us to have life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And we can dream, as Paul Simon did. . . “and I dreamed I was flying; high up above. . . my eyes could clearly see the stature of Liberty. . .”

Liberty and Justice for All, the American dream: that’s what the Union of our citizens here has caused America to retain:  one nation, under God, with Liberty and Justice for all. Glass half-Full

The Circle Cycle

Will the cycle be unbroken, by and by, y’all, by and by? Is there a better destiny for our people in the times ahead, by ’n by? I was standing by my window on a November day, when I heard the news reported. . . the Democrats had taken the day

So magamania has been broken, yesterday, y’all, yesterday! Have our better angels prevailed to actually fulfill our audacity of hope? Has the nation gotten tired of watching fools glorify themselves trying to manipulate magamania? . . . as Jefferson was turning over in his grave? Maybe its curtains for the non-believers and men-stealers who been talking in the name of religion. Maybe it’s time the elephant party get back to the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto.

Will the cycle be unbroken, by and by, y’all, by and by? Undertaker, please drive slowly; undertaker please drive slow. That elephant party, you’re a carrying, I hate to see it go. I recalled the days long gone, when Honest Abe ran the show. He sent the soldiers into battle to free the slaves, to stop the desecration on rebelmania row. Yes magamania has been broken, yesterday. We say ‘byebye, bye ’n bye. Ya’all don’t come back now, y’hear? Underground Railroad Rides Again !

At the Lincoln Memorial

(an excerpt from Glass half-Full)

They walked up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.When they reached the top, Bridget was gazing, like most everyoneelse who ascends here, with rapt interest at the seated statue. But Marcus, holding Bridget’s hand, gently prodded her to keep moving, slowly to the left, through the myriad of ambling visitors. They came to an inner sanctum. Carved on the white marble wall in front of them were the words of the slain President’s Gettysburg address.Marcus stopped, taking in the enormity of it, both physically andphilosophically. He was looking at the speech intently. Bridget was looking at him. After a few moments: “Isn’t that amazing? “Yes.” She could see that he was thinking hard about something. The great chamber echoed a murmur of humankind.“Supreme irony.” The longing of a nation’s soul reverberated through the memorial… in the soundings of children, the whisperings of passersby. Deep within Marcus’ soul, something sacred was stirring, and she could seeit coming forth. “The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but can never forget what they did here.” He was reading aloud Lincoln’s words on the white wall.But for the echoes of a million people who had passed through thisplace, there was silence. After a moment, Bridget responded. “…and yet, thereit is carved on the wall, for all to see: ‘the world will little note what we sayhere….’” “Right, Bridget. Isn’t it amazing?” Suddenly, amid the noise was a loud shouting. Marcus could hear where it was coming from. He moved quickly away, toward the noise, to see what was happening. Bridget felt the sudden coolness of air on her hand, in the absence of Marcus’ gentle grip. As soon as he emerged from behind the marble column, Marcus was puzzled by an incongruous, glistening wet flash of red upon the feet of Lincoln’s statue. What the hell? Instinctively, he ran over to it. He could still hear a constant shouting; it was a ranting. Then his attention settled on the man who was yelling. He had a bucket in his hand, dripping with red paint. The rant went on, and suddenly Marcus was comprehending it: “…you sonofabitch see if you can get that off and then rub it on your white ass, your sorry white ass that destroyed what this country could have been you’re atraitor to your race.” This must be a dream, a very bad dream. Marcus was noticing the speaker’s bald head, goatee, his moving mouth spouting insult. Then Marcus was deciding to do something. It seemed to him that it was someone else speaking when he asked, loudly, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Glass half-Full

North Carolina Home

(Listen to song link below) I found a pair of Murphy-to-Manteo shoes; and I kicked off those Asheville-Statesville blues. . . went from Deep Gap down to Raleigh. . .met a friend I never knowed in Holly Springs. Now I’ve been to Arizona; walked the beach down in Daytona, I was born in Louisiana, took a drive through Alabama; but North North Carolina’s my home. I love the Carolina sunrise, Carolina apple pies, I love my Carolina woman in my Carolina home. I had a thrill up in Chapel Hill; I rode a boat on the coast near Shallotte, climbed a mountain in Swannanoa, pulled a bluefish on the shoah, and ain’t it just like a friend of mine to ease my troubled mind. I’ve seen the weavin’ wavin’ wheatfields out in Kansas; I’ve the fruited plains and the popular purple mountains’ majesty. Bur the place I’m surely going to is the home I’m most into; it’s tarheel blue and Duke blue too and every tall tale’s true. Ilove the Carolina sunset, rolling waves at Bogue inlet, Queen’s Road in old Charlotte, Queen’ s road and all that; yeah; that’s my home.

I worked a diddly-haw upstart saw in Waccamaw; I duffed a goofily gosh-darn golf game in Greensboro, sat on the porch in Siler City; even old women there are pretty. I wouldn’t trade this place for the world; it’s precious as a Pamlico pearl. Here to tell you about Denver, Durham and Dallas, about Kill Devil Hills and Cary and Biltmore palace, about Topsail’s total sunshine, Triplett’s tipplin’ moonshine, about Weddington, Wilmington, Waynesville,Wilson, and cardiac pack-attack Wolfpack too. It’s the midway midpoint t’wixt Manhattan/Miami; it’s s bobcat, cougar, yeah Panther and a bald eagle mammy; it’s the fairest of the fair. Heaven’s interstate exit is there. . . Y’all come see us when you can now! (I’d just as soon be in Boone.)I found a pair of Murphy-to-Manteo shoes; and I kicked off those Asheville-Statesville blues. . . went from Deep Gap down to Raleigh. . .met a friend I never knowed in Holly Springs. Now I’ve been to Arizona; walked the beach down in Daytona, I was born in Louisiana, took a drive through Alabama; but North North Carolina’s my home. I love the Carolina sunrise, Carolina apple pies, I love my Carolina woman in my Carolina home. I had a thrill up in Chapel Hill; I rode a boat on the coast near Shallotte, climbed a mountain in Swannanoa, pulled a bluefish on the shoah, and ain’t it just like a friend of mine to ease my troubled mind. I’ve seen the weavin’ wavin’ wheatfields out in Kansas; I’ve the fruited plains and the popular purple mountains’ majesty. Bur the place I’m surely going to is the home I’m most into; it’s tarheel blue and Duke blue too and every tall tale’s true. Ilove the Carolina sunset, rolling waves at Bogue inlet, Queen’s Road in old Charlotte, Queen’ s road and all that; yeah; that’s my home.

I worked a diddly-haw upstart saw in Waccamaw; I duffed a goofily gosh-darn golf game in Greensboro, sat on the porch in Siler City; even old women there are pretty. I wouldn’t trade this place for the world; it’s precious as a Pamlico pearl. Here to tell you about Denver, Durham and Dallas, about Kill Devil Hills and Cary and Biltmore palace, about Topsail’s total sunshine, Triplett’s tipplin’ moonshine, about Weddington, Wilmington, Waynesville,Wilson, and cardiac pack-attack Wolfpack too. It’s the midway midpoint t’wixt Manhattan/Miami; it’s s bobcat, cougar, yeah Panther and a bald eagle mammy; it’s the fairest of the fair. Heaven’s interstate exit is there. . . Y’all come see us when you can now! (I’d just as soon be in Boone.) Listen: North Carolina Home Glass half-Full

The Sounds of Irrelevance

There’s the cell phone buzz again; it came to jangle me again because some jangly came beeping, and leaves its blip while I am thinking. And the message that was planted in my phone. . . now is gone within the sounds of irrelevance. In literate words I read alone old books, and new ones now long gone Beneath the halo of lamp light I turn the pages, left to right. Then my ears get stabbed by the jingle-jangle toys of unseen voice with political noise a phoney voice with pleas for cash but I assess its all political trash. But in the online light I discern they’re wanting money that I earned in work I did in days gone by. So I ignore it with a sigh. ‘bots with people voices speaking but really it’s Ai blather bleeping while people still sing songs that we should hear as history and relevance still draw near. Fools in politics who do not know money like a cancer grows. . . Hear the words of the real news; citizens trying to snuff out the fuse

of insurrection and maga greed as money men amp up the feed that snuffs out the words of relevance with the noise of irrelevance. And the magas bowed and scraped to the president who raped. Now the signs display a dire warning in the resistance that is forming And the sign said the words of the prophets are written in the Bible books Let Justice roll down like the waters! Public servants must do what they oughter! Let us go by the wisdom in the books not the money of the oligarchal hooks. Money ain’t worth the paper and plastic its printed on. Let’s restore Truth, Mercy and Justice before its gone. There’s a way that gets out of this political money mess. It’s the underground railroad that rolls us out of stress. Glass half-Full