"better angels of our nature"

I'm the kind of nerd who always gets excited when the new New York Review of Books arrives. This excitement is always keener when I see there's an article by Garry Wills included.

Wills' latest, Two Speeches on Race, compares Lincoln's Cooper Union address with Obama's recent remarks, and I found it quite illuminating. Wills compares the two ambitious Illinois politicians and their strategies and obstacles, and suggests that Rev. Wright is to Obama what John Brown was to Lincoln. Excellent stuff.