As I remember my Civil War History, the Union was foundering in the early days of the war. Battles were frequently lost, public support was slipping and Lincoln's critics smelled blood. The reasons for the war and for simply not just allowing the southern states to leave the Union were not compelling enough after so many casualties. Lincoln concieved a masterstroke. The Emancipation Proclaimation elevated the war from a trade dispute, and war over taxes to a holy crusade to end slavery and free men from bondage. Of course it wasn't really that simple, but the speech gave a moral clearity, a moral purpose to supporting the United States during that dark time. It also made any thought of interferrence by European powers unthinkable, with their strong abolitionist movements.

This may well be the effect of Mr. Bush's speech yesterday. Now the parallels are not exact, I understand that, but what this does is draw a clear line, publicly. This is what many of us hoped and believed he was up to all along, and now it's out in the open. It turns the debate on it's head. It's now not about WMD's (which was important, but not the main issue) or oil, or anything else now except one thing,.....Freedom.

Let ANSWER explain why that is a bad thing to give people.

In the beauty of the lilies
Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom
That transfigures you and me;
As He died to make men holy,
Let us die to make men free;
While God is marching on.

The smaller issues are set aside, Mr. Bush has called us back to what made us great, back to what we aspire to be, back to focusing on the fight for the only thing that truely matters...........Freedom.