Sometimes catch phrases become so commonplace that we lose sight of their meaning. Lincoln’s 203rd birthday a couple of days ago left me thinking about one of them. He concluded his Gettysburg address with the oft-repeated words that those who died fighting for the Union during that great battle fought so “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

I founded the RFC in 1990, and by the middle of that decade we had several thousand supporters. Although a number of them made inquiries about becoming monthly recurring donors or “sustainers,” out of fear of administrative complications I resisted the impulse to establish such a program. However, once we began accepting online contributions it became much easier to process recurring gifts, and in 2009 we began to promote the program in earnest.

Last week I made a quick trip to Southern California. My busy schedule did not permit me to see Hunger: In Bed With Roy Cohn, a new play that recently premiered in L.A. Yet while I was there, I was able to meet with the playwright, the producers and some of the actors after one of the performances.

I just finished reading The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander, with a forward by Cornel West (The New Press, 2012). I urge people to read this essential book.

This morning I read that an ardent member of the Occupy Los Angeles movement has been arrested and charged with lynching.  You might think the protester, Sergio Ballesteros, attacked and hanged someone.