Stacey Seaside

I am not in Chicago

But oh, how I wish I was.

Just to absorb the positive energy from the Democratic National Convention.

Instead, each morning,

I have been youtubing the speeches.

These orations have made me laugh, made me cry,

at 9 am on a very hot island in the Aegean.

President Biden, Hillary Clinton, Doug Emhoff, Michelle Obama, Barak Obama, President Clinton, Govenor Tim Walz

What fun and familiarity there is hearing from these folks–

their positive messages, their personal stories, their hope that we have finally turned the corner.

A month ago President Biden recanted his bid for the Presidency.

In one selfless move, Biden ignited a momentum in the Democratic Party that has given us all whiplash from the enthusiasm and energy of these last 30 days.

This has been a history changing 30 days.

As sad as I was to see the blood sport of politics replace Joe with Kamala, I realized my work to keep Democrats in power would be easier. I believed in Joe—an empathetic man, passionate about the American people and serving their needs. I believe he would have been triumphant over the other guy in the end–as the lesser threat.

I am so excited to be living it, vicariously, from my phone and my laptop

And in person as the phone calls, text messages and emails come from folks who want my help getting themselves registered to vote, casting their ballot for the Harris-Walz ticket.

I have to revisit two moments in our history as a nation that I believe have guided our month long delirium of hope.

The issuance of the Declaration of Independence and Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address are committed to our cultural conscience.

The declaration and the speech are the purest reminders of what America is all about.

Declaration of Independence

July 4, 1776

We hold these Truths to be self-evident,

that all Men are created equal,

that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,

that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness—-

That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men,

deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed,

that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends,

it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it,

and to institute new Government,

laying its Foundation on such Principles,

and organizing its Powers in such Form,

as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. 

“GETTYSBURG ADDRESS”

NOVEMBER 19, 1863

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate-we cannot consecrate-we cannot hallow-this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us-that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion-that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain-that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Thursday, August 22, 2024 will be historic as Kamala Harris accepts the nomination as the Democratic Candidate for POTUS.

We are filling her candidacy with our hope:

to bring unity not division

to bring equity and fair play

to insure everyone’s freedoms, everyone’s rights

For my friends in Greece that are US citizens go to

www.votefromabroad.org

get registered to vote, cast your ballot, cast your ballot for hope, freedom, equity

For my friends at home:

www.iwillvote.com

Vote for hope,

Vote for joy