Free Republic

"It is important for us to remember that in every country -- here in Russia, in the United States, around the globe -- that part of good government is making sure that we’re creating a space for civil society to function effectively: freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, making sure that people can join together and make common cause around the issues that they care deeply about," Obama told the groups that gathered at the St. Petersburg airport just before he headed back to Washington.

In the opening months of the Civil War, a pro-Southern newspaper editor in the Philadelphia suburb of West Chester was forced to cease publication when an angry mob destroyed his equipment and federal marshals later ordered him to shut down.Did President Abraham Lincoln ultimately issue the directive to stop the newspaper from operating? Neil Dahlstrom, an East Moline native, and Jeffrey Manber examine the question in their new book, “Lincoln’s Wrath: Fierce Mobs, Brilliant Scoundrels and a President’s Mission to Destroy the Press” (Sourcebooks Inc., 356 pages). The book focuses on a little-known figure of the Civil War, John Hodgson,...