Impasse. Stuart hated impasses. He hated ambiguity of any kind. The older he got, the more ambiguity he saw… — Harry Turtledove

“You notice he does not do anything about it. The first amendment to the Constitution protects our right to speak freely.” He let out a chuckle the wind flung away. “The first amendment also protects his right to speak freely, however distasteful I find his opinion.”

A low murmur came from his audience, more frightening in its way than the fury they had shown before. Fury didn’t last. Now Lincoln was making them think. Thought was slower than anger to flower into action, but it was a hardy perennial. It did not bloom and die.

He’d turned fifty-seven earlier in the year, and the past had a way of looking better and the present worse the older he got.