Free Republic

A retired US Marine officer with whom I corresponded asked, "What type of crisis do you think will cause the intellectual right to form a critical mass - if that is even possible?" I wrote back, "Lincoln's Second Inaugural is chiseled on the wall of his monument, and he said all that needs to be said. If they won't take it from Lincoln, why would they take it from us?" But it's Lincoln's birthday, and it's time for another try. Abraham Lincoln is America's least popular president. It seems odd to say this given the near-deification of a man who...

There is nothing more irritating to a warrior-poet than an unwillingness to debate. If speech is troubling, or blatantly false, or amateurish, then it will fall of its own weight. I don’t need, and I suspect a majority of truthseekers don’t want, an administrator hovering above the public forum deciding which issues are too controversial for polite company. The Civil War has become untouchable, unless you agree with the standard arguments. 1. Lincoln was a god among men. 2. The South was evil. 3. Union is the ultimate goal of the American experiment. 4. The Federal government’s design trumps the...

What if our 16th president’s plight was not to abolish slavery, but to hunt down the vampires who killed his mother and grandfather? And what if he leads troops into battle wielding an axe, better to sever the heads of undead vampires with? That is the premise of this summer’s “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.” (Yes, really.)

It is common knowledge that more books have been written about Abraham Lincoln, our 16th President, than any other figure except Jesus Christ. With so much archeological attention directed toward him it is unlikely that much new factual material will surface about Mr. Lincoln. When taken as a whole, the in-depth forensic examinations of his writings, relationships, lineage, marriage, religion (or supposed lack thereof), evidence a complex and brilliant identity. An interesting phenomenon of the last twenty years, however, has been to place a contemporary lens over Lincoln. In recent writings, Lincoln has been gay, depressed, and now even a...

Republicans gathered in St. Joseph Saturday night regarded differences within their party not as fractiousness but a sign of good health leading to this year’s elections. Gathered at the annual Buchanan County Lincoln-Reagan Dinner at the St. Joseph Country Club, GOP officeholders and office-seekers called the party energized statewide and nationally. The fact that so many races have produced hard-fought primaries only means a broader base of support for the general elections against Democrats, they said. Missouri U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt said primaries prove a testing ground for candidates at all levels. “I think we’ll see that in the (U.S.)...

Timeless words...written 149 years ago but could have been penned yesterday, but not by the current Imposter-in-Chief: "Insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment, inflicted upon us, for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and...

Full Title: Last check for $800 Abraham Lincoln wrote the day before he was assassinated is discovered after 150 years (and it's now worth $25,000) A personal check that Abraham Lincoln wrote the day before he was assassinated is among those that were rediscovered by an Ohio bank. The Plain Dealer in Cleveland reports that 70 checks were found in a vault at Huntington Bank's Columbus headquarters, including checks signed by George Washington, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens and Thomas Edison. Some are being displayed at branches throughout the state. The Lincoln check had been made out to 'self' for $800.

Huntington Bank discovers original checks signed by Lincoln, Washington, Edison, Twain and others (photo gallery) President Abraham Lincoln made out this First National Bank printed check to "self" for $800 on April 13, 1865, two days before he died. BROOKLYN -- Dozens of personal checks -- some 150 to 200 years old and signed by the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Charles Dickens, George Washington and Thomas Edison - have been unearthed by Huntington Bank. Some of the historic checks, all signed by U.S. presidents, were unveiled Tuesday and are on display at Huntington's newest branch in Brooklyn. The display is...

Obama is certainly the most arrogant president in American history. This clip from the end of the entire 60 Minutes Obama interview didn't make it on air.

....He always has to try to be somebody *else*...? He's tried to "culture vulture" Kennedy, Lincoln, MLK, Roosevelt, and anyone *else* he thinks he can steal the Mojo of...He's a Nowhere Man...a phoney. He not a genuine article. and neither are those who sing his praises. What a phony!

Over the last couple of days, several well-regarded Republican pundits have taken it upon themselves to educate Republican primary voters about the many shortcomings of Newt Gingrich. As I read them, I was reminded of Abraham Lincoln's reaction to the series of military and political experts who warned him that Ulysses S. Grant was an overly ambitious, incompetent drunk. When these experts demanded Grant's removal after the then-unprecedented casualties at Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, Lincoln acknowledge Grant's shortcomings but responded, "I can't spare this man; he fights." Many of Grant's critics were enamored of George B. McClellan, a...

One hundred fifty years ago, Civil War broke out in the United States. In my opinion, this war was the worst war in our 235 + year history. It divided us as a people on many issues - slavery only one of them. The casualties - including both the Union and Confederate soldiers - were the greatest of any of our wars - even the American casualties during World War II - the worst war of the 20th century. The video scene below from Cold Mountain (2003) and extended lyrics from When Johnny Comes Marching Home give a sense of...

Thieves have snatched a copper sword from the burial site of president Abraham Lincoln, one of the most revered leaders in US history, local media reported. The roughly three-foot (90-centimeter) sword was brandished by the statue of a Civil War artillery officer at the Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site, located in Springfield, Illinois. The sword was broken off at the handle, The State Journal-Register reported Friday. The theft was apparently the first since 1890, when the same sword was stolen from the statue, the newspaper said. At that time, the sword was made of bronze that largely came from melted-down...

A controversial scheme to build a mosque, supermarket and housing has led to both jubilation and resentment since it was given the green light by city councillors. They approved outline planning permission for the mosque and houses at the old Boultham Park Dairy on Monday and the Islamic Association of Lincoln First says it is aiming to unveil detailed plans in the near future. Dr Tanweer Ahmed, trustee of the association, told the Echo he is thrilled that the quest for a purpose-built place of worship can now progress to the next stage. "I am very happy and very pleased...

If slow and steady really does win the race, Newt Gingrich could well end up being the Republican nominee for president. Thus far, this campaign season has been defined by flash-in-the-pan fortunes. Michele Bachmann was first out of the blocks and won the Iowa straw poll, but this seemed much like a house of straw when Texas governor Rick Perry entered the fray and became her Big Bad Wolf. But then he blew his own house down with a series of disastrous debate performances, allowing the Cain Train to pull into the station. This brings us to where we are...

Every five dollar bill should have a little speech bubble coming from Lincoln's mouth proclaiming, "I was a Republican!"

Ford says it will create 170 jobs in the next two years at two of its plants near Detroit, as the automaker seeks to bring battery-pack manufacturing and hybrid-transmission assembling for its next line of pure electric cars and hybrids to the U.S., a report says. According to the Associated Press, Ford will invest $10 million in its Ypsilanti factory to build battery packs, resulting in around 40 new jobs. These battery packs are currently being assembled in Mexico by Delphi. Ford hasn't revealed the identity of the supplier who will be providing the company with advanced lithium-ion battery cells,...

Ford Motor Co., after selling its European brands, said it will discontinue its 71-year-old Mercury brand by the end of the year and expand its Lincoln lineup with a new small car. Ford’s board voted today to cease production of all four of Mercury’s models in the fourth quarter, Mark Fields, the automaker’s president of the Americas, told reporters. Ford will send letters to 1,712 Mercury dealers this week offering them buyouts and giving some the chance to merge the Lincoln half of their franchise with Ford showrooms, he said.

"Gingrich, who has criticized debate moderators on more than one occasion recently, said he’s for figuring out “some model by which some people could actually have rational conversations.”

I recently heard an ad on the radio from Let's Move, Michelle Obama's anti-obesity campaign. It stated that nearly one in three children in American are overweight or obese. The numbers are even higher in African-American and Hispanic communities, where nearly 40 percent of the children are overweight or obese. Then, within the same hour, I heard an ad for the Food Bank of Lincoln stating that one in four children in America are hungry. Looking at their website, this could mean they do not have enough food or are food insecure. The website further noted that the word "hunger"...

At a ceremony to honor the opening of the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in our nation's capital Friday, the late civil rights leader's daughter Bernice made an historical error that would evoke tremendous ridicule and derision if she were a conservative. BERNICE KING: "But as I close, I close with the recognition that daddy is standing, Lincoln is seated. Lincoln remembered for signing the Declaration of Independence. Daddy being remembered as standing up for truth and standing up for justice and standing up for righteousness and standing up for peace and standing up for freedom. Daddy is now...

On Monday, during a stop on his supposedly non-campaign bus tour of the Midwest, President Obama made an absurd claim regarding the treatment he received from his political opponents (emphasis added): “When you listen to what the Federalists said about the Anti-Federalists, and the names that Jefferson called Hamilton and back and forth — I mean those guys were tough,” Obama said. “Lincoln — they used to talk about him almost as bad as they talk about me. So democracy has never been for the faint of heart.” Interestingly, Governor Palin had visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum...

President Barack Obama said yesterday in Decorah, Iowa, that he absorbs more political criticism than Abraham Lincoln, the assassinated 16th U.S. president, attracted from his Civil War critics. The comment came during a question-and-answer session where one invited audience member asked Obama how he deals with his congressional critics in the GOP. “The Congress doesn’t seem to be a good partner. You said so yourself, they’re more interested in seeing you lose than [seeing] the country win,” the questioner lamented. “Democracy is always a messy business in a big country like this,” Obama responded. “When you listen to what the...

Obama: I have it tougher than Abe Lincoln 1 hr 28 mins ago President Barack Obama said yesterday in Decorah, Iowa, that he absorbs more political criticism than Abraham Lincoln, the assassinated 16th U.S. president, attracted from his Civil War critics. The comment came during a question-and-answer session where one invited audience member asked Obama how he deals with his congressional critics in the GOP. “The Congress doesn’t seem to be a good partner. You said so yourself, they’re more interested in seeing you lose than [seeing] the country win,” the questioner lamented. “Democracy is always a messy business in...

At his campaign-style town hall meeting in Decorah, Iowa, President Obama compared the criticism he has received from Republicans and other political opponents to the troubles faced by President Abraham Lincoln during the civil war. "Lincoln," the president said, "they used to talk about him almost as bad as they talk about me." The president's remarks came in response to a question from a woman who said that congressional Republicans are refusing to be a "good partner" to work with the president. "What happens to our democracy?" the woman asked. "We are in a very divided country right now. What...

See video at link. Wonderful

As the prospects for a legislated agreement on raising the debt ceiling remain remote, demands for President Obama to take unilateral action are increasing. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md) suggested that “the president could use his authority under the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling on his own. If Congress can’t agree on what’s right for the country, the President is empowered to go forward without their approval.” Representative Jim Clyburn (D-SC) maintains that “under the 14th Amendment, the president has broad authority to act for the good of the people in the event that Congress can’t or...

In recent weeks, there have been many metaphors and analogies from President Obama in describing the negotiations on the debt and the deficit. He's used terms like "shared sacrifice," "eat our peas," and putting aside "our sacred cows" in the name coming to an agreement. Speaking at the University of Maryland, Mr. Obama said Lincoln had his convictions, but he was constantly making concessions and compromises. "[T]he great emancipator was making a compromise in the Emancipation Proclamation because he thought it was necessary in terms of advancing the goals of preserving the Union and winning the war," Obama said. The...

Former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin’s family vacation tour of historic sites has attracted hordes of media attention—a situation that CBS News Producer Ryan Corsaro characterizes as “dangerous.” “We’ve been provided with no schedule or itinerary,” Corsaro complained. “We’re forced to stalk her if we want to find out where she’s going and what she’s doing. It’s very aggravating, not to mention dangerous. Every network wants to be first in line to get the best picture, to be close enough to overhear every conversation. Media vehicles are racing with each other, tailgating, weaving in and out of traffic trying to beat...

As the season of presidential politics 2012 unfolds, I’m struck by similarities between today and the tumultuous period in our history that led up to the election of Abraham Lincoln and then on to the Civil War. So much so that I’m finding it a little eerie that this year we are observing the 150th anniversary of the outbreak of the Civil War. No, I am certainly not predicting, God forbid, that today’s divisions and tensions will lead to brother taking up arms against brother. But profound differences divide us today, as was the case in the 1850′s. The difference...

After Barack Obama became the first African-American President, an admirer decided to sculpt a statue in his honor.  When he completed the project, the artist donated it to the city of Chicago. The 50 city aldermen eagerly began looking for a proper site for the work of art. After almost a year of considering different places around Chicago, the 50 aldermen could not agree upon an appropriate venue. Eventually, the Mayor suggested that they send the statue to Washington D.C., and with a unanimous vote the city council agreed. When the statue arrived in the capitol, the U.S. Senate,...

Abraham Lincoln, speech in Lewiston, Illinois, August 17, 1858, four days before his first historic debate with Stephen A. Douglas: "The Declaration of Independence was formed by the representatives of American liberty from thirteen States of the Confederacy, twelve of which were slaveholding communities. We need not discuss the way or the reason of their becoming slave-holding communities. It is sufficient for our purpose that all of them greatly deplored the evil and that they placed a provision in the Constitution which they supposed would gradually remove the disease by cutting off its source. This was the abolition of the...

Just wondering what people might have to say about this. Both would say they tried to preserve their union. Both employed military might to do so and killed lots of their own citizens. ML/NJ

The following is adapted from a speech delivered on February 16, 2011, at a Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar in Phoenix, Arizona. TO BEGIN, consider one of the most important measures of property, the kilogram. It’s a measure of mass or, for non-scientific purposes, weight. According to the papers last week, a global scramble is under way to define this most basic unit after it was discovered that the standard kilogram—a cylinder of platinum and iridium that is maintained by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures—has been losing mass. You may think that this is impossible. Of all the...

McLEAN, Va. – Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address has inspired Americans for generations, but consider his jarring remarks in 1862 to a White House audience of free blacks, urging them to leave the U.S. and settle in Central America. "For the sake of your race, you should sacrifice something of your present comfort for the purpose of being as grand in that respect as the white people," Lincoln said, promoting his idea of colonization: resettling blacks in foreign countries on the belief that whites and blacks could not coexist in the same nation.

The 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War offers an opportunity to reflect upon the wartime statesmanship of Abraham Lincoln. Impelled to the presidency by a constitutional crisis, Lincoln stood on the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution both before and during the Civil War. With special attention to what Americans today may learn from Lincoln as we grapple with a global war and prodigious debt, this lecture will illuminate Lincoln's example of self-government under law.

After getting elected chairman of the D.C. City Council in November, Kwame Brown asked for a black Lincoln Navigator L, with a DVD player for the back seat, a power moonroof, polished aluminum wheels and an all-black interior. When the Public Works Department delivered a black Navigator with a gray interior, Mr. Brown's office told the city to send it back. "He was just very clear he wanted black on black," said Brown spokeswoman Traci Hughes. "It doesn't show as much dirt and wear and tear." Public Works' employees found a second Navigator in Coldwater, Mich. But Mr. Brown was...

On Presidents’ Day, Americans take a day to recognize the office of the presidency – and to reflect upon the country’s best. FrumForum asked freshman Republican members which president they admired the most, but excluded President Reagan from contention to give the other presidents a fair chance. The fourteen Republican members who responded gave a range of answers, but President Abraham Lincoln came out on top. Interestingly, these freshman congressmen have something in common with President Obama, who has identified Lincoln as his favorite president. Independent voters also agreed – a new Gallup poll shows that Lincoln was their favorite...

Abraham Lincoln’s greatest love was politics, but his intellectual passion was for what the 19th century called “political economy” — the way economics and politics intersected in society and government. According to his law partner William Herndon, Lincoln “liked political economy, the study of it,” and Shelby Cullom, who practiced law beside Lincoln in Springfield, Ill. (and later crafted the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887), thought that “theoretically . . . on political economy he was great.” Although Lincoln’s angular, shambling appearance gave him the look of anything but a student of economics — one contemporary said he resembled “a...

Abraham Lincoln is attributed with the following: "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time."Clearly he had Democrats in mind. Obama knows he can fool Democrats and the press all of the time. Sometimes they even fool themselves. Obama knows well he got hammered in the recent election. Consequently, he sought to change his image and enlisted the assistance of a number of people. He has sought help on his "reinvention" from CEO's, Ken Duberstein...

The Great Emancipator was almost the Great Colonizer: Newly released documents show that to a greater degree than historians had previously known, President Lincoln laid the groundwork to ship freed slaves overseas to help prevent racial strife in the U.S. Just after he issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, Lincoln authorized plans to pursue a freedmen’s settlement in present-day Belize and another in Guyana, both colonial possessions of Great Britain at the time, said Phillip W. Magness, one of the researchers who uncovered the new documents. Historians have debated how seriously Lincoln took colonization efforts, but Mr. Magness said the...

Author Joe Wheeler, historian and scholar, brings to the pages of this insightful book the knowledge gleaned from over ten years of study and more than sixty books on the life and times of Abraham Lincoln. Skillfully weaving his own narrative with direct quotes from Lincoln and poignant excerpts from other Lincoln biographers, Wheeler brings a refreshingly friendly rendition of Lincoln's life, faith, and courage.

A Virginia man has confessed to trying to rewrite history by altering a date on a document penned by Abraham Lincoln -- a move that enhanced his own reputation as a scholar, the National Archives said today. Longtime Lincoln researcher Thomas Lowry, of Woodbridge, Va., admitted that he changed the date on a presidential pardon issued to Patrick Murphy, a Union Army soldier who was court-martialed for desertion during the Civil War, said David S. Ferriero, archivist of the United States. Lowry altered the date on the document from April 14, 1964, to April 14, 1965 -- the day John...

"On the night of Barack Obama’s rally in Tucson..." (continued)

A RESPONSE TO THE BLOOD LIBEL OF 1860 by Abraham Lincoln: "You charge that we stir up insurrections among your slaves. We deny it; and what is your proof? Harper’s Ferry! John Brown!! John Brown was no Republican; and you have failed to implicate a single Republican in his Harper’s Ferry enterprise. If any member of our party is guilty in that matter, you know it or you do not know it. If you do know it, you are inexcusable for not designating the man and proving the fact. If you do not know it, you are inexcusable for asserting...

After witnessing the effrontery of Barack Obama against the states and our constitution, it is apparent this man has come here for the sole purpose of fomenting a civil war. From day one of his campaign he has made efforts to position himself as a parallel to Lincoln. From his campaign announcement in front of the Illinois state capitol where Lincoln served (with a Lincoln banner behind him), to his announcement of Biden as his running mate (in front of a Lincoln banner), from his quoting of Lincoln (in specious contexts) to his insistence upon swearing in on the same...

I'm not a big fan of conspiracy theorists, but love to throw them a bone. From Jordan Maxwell via Charlie Max's blog: Lincoln was elected to the Congress in 1846, Kennedy in 1946. Lincoln was elected President in 1860, Kennedy in 1960. "Lincoln" and "Kennedy" both have 7 letters. Both men were concerned with civil rights. Both men's wives lost children while living in The White House. Both were shot in the head on a Friday. Lincoln was shot in a theater named Ford. Kennedy was shot in a car named Lincoln, built by Ford.

On a recent pilgrimage to Gettysburg I ventured into the Evergreen cemetery, the scene of chaotic and bloody fighting throughout the engagement. Like Abraham Lincoln on a cold November day in 1863, I pondered the meaning of it all. With the post-Tea Party wave of libertarianism sweeping the nation, LincolnÂ’s reputation has received a serious pillorying. He has even been labeled a tyrant, who used the issue of slavery as a mendacious faux excuse to pummel the South into submitting to the will of the growing federal power in Washington D.C. In fact, some insist, the labeling of slavery as...

This is the proclamation which set the precedent for America's national day of Thanksgiving. During his administration, President Lincoln issued many orders similar to this. For example, on November 28, 1861, he ordered government departments closed for a local day of thanksgiving. Sarah Josepha Hale, a 74-year-old magazine editor, wrote a letter to Lincoln on September 28, 1863, urging him to have the "day of our annual Thanksgiving made a National and fixed Union Festival." She explained, "You may have observed that, for some years past, there has been an increasing interest felt in our land to have the Thanksgiving...