On the 150th Anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, one of the many famous quotes from that "...Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from this earth." represents to me, a challenge that is still ongoing and one certainly does need our responding to.
Abraham Lincoln's words have lend themselves to a spirit of progress, eventually leading to the 17th and 19th Amendments(obviously Lincoln himself pushed for the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments) and even today, it is still being heard in those 15 states(and the District of Columbia which deserves to become a state) who have marriage equality as the law in their states.
The opponents to progress and frankly to any government for the people, they are busy at work. The NRA have made it very difficult to make any meaningful reforms to tackle gun violence(one of them is that gun manufacturers are given a license to kill via immunity from civil suits). The anti-choices use gerrymandered districts and middle of the night sneak attacks to erode a woman's ability to make her own medical decisions. Some far-right interest groups like ALEC are trying to overturn the 17th Amendment(the one that has the people elect their own Senators). And corporations want to use a huge trojan horse called the Trans Pacific Partnership to overturn basic Labor protections like the Minimum Wage, the 40-Hour work week and OSHA.
However, as Martin Luther King once said, "the arc of the universe is long and bends towards justice", and those of us who stand for progress and improving the human condition are gaining ground. The Minimum Wage is very popular and wins elections, Medicaid Expansion is very popular and wins elections, the Majority of Americans want abortion to be legal and pro-choice positions win elections. Background checks are very popular and someday, the extreme gun rights folks will lose elections. Marriage equality is supported by a majority of Americans, and more states are going to be on the right side of history(looking at you New Mexico, Oregon, Virginia and Pennsylvania).
To mark the anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, let's keep fighting. Let's reject the TPP, let's work towards a "Right to Vote" Constitutional Amendment, and let's at long last add the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. We owe ourselves no less than that.
8:39 AM PT: I wanted to include but forget to mention that this same spirit of progress and justice in voting rights also led to lowering the voting age from 21 to 18. I have been starting to think that at least for statewide elections, that lowering the voting age to 16 should happen since states often pass laws that effect those from 16-18 but they have no voice representing them.