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To: Gordon Pym
You, and the artist, are both entitled to your opinions. However, in evaluating any president, the good needs to be weighed against the bad. That's why I put a guy like Lincoln in my top ten even though he made some terrible mistakes at the beginning of the Civil War which may have prevented it altogether had he played it right. For example-- a proper response to Ft. Sumter would have been sending the navy to shell Charleston and the marines to retake it, not an invasion of Virgina.

Same observations for TR on the federal land grabs. The National Park System makes up a small portion of federal land holding. The massive socialized land grabs such as ANWR would likely be vehemently opposed by TR if he were alive today.

79 posted on 09/17/2010 8:42:12 AM PDT by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
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To: Vigilanteman
We're probably not as as far apart on our view of history as you may think. I do believe that TR firmly believed he was doing the right thing when he took lands of unique character for federal protection. I credit him greatly for developing the US navy into a world class power and for developing the US voice in international affairs. However, his failing was in seeing the federal government as a means for meddling in issues that should have been no business of the federal government. It is this elitist mindset that led to further power expansions being accepted by the states and by the individual citizens. It was under TR that federal regulatory agencies were formed and it was these agencies that were used to control ever more of individual lives. Perhaps he thought they would always be altruistic and not overreach their authority but it was TR that created the dragon that has since gone so far out of control.

I believe the same about Lincoln BTW but I cut him a bit more slack because of the crisis he was facing. He also put in sunsets to his power expansions even though congress extended them as long as they could and this should have been a lesson to any true constitutionalists that followed.

80 posted on 09/17/2010 9:17:10 AM PDT by Gordon Pym
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