open letter to Obama

Hey All -- I'm glad so many of you made the transition to the blog!! All is well in New York, NY - today the weather's in the 50s and I'm delighted. I was afraid that the conversation was losing some of its polemic tone, so I felt it was time to bring up Obama again.
Before the blog distracted me, I was sitting here preparing for my American Legal History class that begins in an hour. Our topic the last two weeks has been post-Civil War Reconstruction and for today I had to read Plessy v. Ferguson. I've read Plessy multiple times since high school for various classes, but it struck me anew to read it in the context of these words written by a student at Princeton I know who had an "open letter to Barack Obama" published online today:


" ... Of course, some do deny that every human being has a right to life. They say that size or degree of development or dependence can make a difference. But the same was once said of color. Some say that abortion is a “necessary evil.” But the same was once said of slavery. Some say that prohibiting abortion would only harm women by driving it underground. But to assume so is truly to play the politics of fear. A compassionate society would never accept these false alternatives. A compassionate society would protect both mother and child, coming to the aid of women in need rather than calling violence against their children the answer to their problems. Can we become a society that does not sacrifice some people to help others? Or is that hope too audacious? You have said that abortion is necessary to protect women’s equality. But surely we can do better. Surely we can build an America where the equality of some is not purchased with the blood of others. Or would that mean too much change from politics as usual? Can we provide every member of the human family equal protection under the law? Your record as a legislator gives a resounding answer: No, we can’t. That is the answer the Confederacy gave the Union, the answer segregationists gave young children, the answer a complacent bus driver once gave a defiant Rosa Parks. But a different answer brought your father from Kenya so many years ago; a different answer brought my family from Egypt some years later. Now is your chance, Senator Obama, to make good on the spontaneous slogan of your campaign, to adopt the more American and more humane answer to the question of whether we can secure liberty and justice for all: Yes, we can. — Sherif Girgis of Dover, Del., is a senior philosophy major at Princeton University and a 2008 Rhodes Scholar.