A Giant

It's been a month and I'm still inching through Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals. I'm enjoying it, so I'm kinda glad it's slow going. When I finally complete it, I'll miss Lincoln's cabinet (especially Salmon Chase), his family, and most of all, the melancholy man himself.

So wise, so insightful, so articulate! In 1848, Rep. Lincoln accused President Polk of "hoping to escape scrutiny by fixing the public gaze upon the brightness of military glory, that serpent's eye that charms to destroy." He went on to compare Polk's war message to, "the half-insane mumblings of a fever dream."

Is it any wonder why I'd prefer to stay back in the 1800s with Lincoln? Yes, we have a lot of heartache ahead of us. (Eddie has already died. We still have to mourn Willie. Then there's the nightmare of the Civil War and the night at the theater.) But damn, he was an exceptional human being, and even the bad times are enlightening when you're with Abe.