Wisdom for our time, from Honest Abe’s time
Of the more than 40 presidents to occupy the White House, Abraham Lincoln was the only one whose presence was essential to the nation’s future.* The Great Cataclysm that occurred under his leadership had been building for decades and had become inevitable; had it occurred under those who came before him, or those who came after him, the Union as we know it would not have survived.
With that in mind, I’ve collected some pearls of wisdom from Honest Abe that hold particular relevance for our own times and challenges:
“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise — with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.”
“The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves — in their separate, and individual capacities.”
“There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law.”
“I believe it is an established maxim in morals that he who makes an assertion without knowing whether it is true or false, is guilty of falsehood; and the accidental truth of the assertion, does not justify or excuse him.”
“I don’t believe in a law to prevent a man from getting rich; it would do more harm than good. So while we do not propose any war upon capital, we do wish to allow the humblest man an equal chance to get rich with everybody else”
—————————
*And yes, I confess that is artfully worded. We did have one other essential president, George Washington. Like Lincoln, he was uniquely qualified for the time in which he served.
But you see, Washington never lived in the White House.
– Jay Bookman
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553 comments Add your comment
Stevie Ray
February 18th, 2013
4:20 pm
TBS
February 18th, 2013
4:15 pm
Because avoiding one and focusing on the other allows him to avoid real tough questions and completely control the information agenda.
Speeches really don’t accomplish much except to connect with the folks he already has in the bag..
getalife
February 18th, 2013
4:21 pm
Our union survived a civil war and w.
The State of our Union is strong.
josef
February 18th, 2013
4:21 pm
A question…why Lincoln and not Washington today?
Itchy Finger
February 18th, 2013
4:21 pm
That obama energy policy sure is working out well… For the gubmint & gas companies that is…
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blumer/2013/02/17/true-national-average-gas-price-likely-higher-press-reporting#ixzz2LGi7uI7X
indigo
February 18th, 2013
4:21 pm
Erwin – 4:16
Lincoln would know the Civil War was long over.
He would expect, in over 150 years of American politics, to see a great deal of civil improvement.
Instead, he would see today’s politicians acting like spoiled children, not the statesmen he would hope to see.
JamVet
February 18th, 2013
4:21 pm
He is certainly the greatest President in recent history….
Funny.
But only in terms of criminal prosecutions and convictions in an American administration.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6O3rKQfCF0
Jay
February 18th, 2013
4:21 pm
“Why did you leave out Reagan Jay? He is certainly the greatest President in recent history….”
I’m surprised you think that way, Christian. You mean the gun-grabbing, abortion-supporting, tax-raising, amnesty-granting, nuke-weapon-abolishing, union-supporting Ronald Reagan? The guy who today would be laughed out of the GOP?
Granny Godzilla
February 18th, 2013
4:23 pm
AmericaShrugged
February 18th, 2013
3:55 pm
“The worst thing you can do for anyone you care about is anything that they can do on their own.”
― Abraham Lincoln
.
.
.
.
Ain’t buying this one…..
Can you cite a source?
Keep Up the Good Fight!
February 18th, 2013
4:24 pm
Why did you leave out Reagan Jay? He is certainly the greatest President in recent history….
[R]ecently departed President George W. Bush already ranks close to the top in polls of historians asked to rank the worst president in American history. Rather than wade into the thicket of which men best or worst served their nation during their time in the White House, we would like to offer a different kind of list. Here are five presidents who routinely rank far above what their performance in office deserves in surveys considering presidential performance: …President Reagan ushered in the misguided era of massive deficits, bloated military spending and tax cuts for the very rich that America still struggles to this day to put to an end. Yet Reagan wrongly receives credit for the economic boom that began a few years into his presidency due to events entirely outside of his control. When Reagan took office, America faced double-digit inflation rates matched with a sharp spike in unemployment. Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker, a Carter appointee, chose to break the first problem by exacerbating the second — driving up interest rates in a successful effort to break inflation. When Volcker finally took the brakes off the economy and ended the recession he created by lowering interest rates back to more normal levels, housing and auto sales took off, the economy boomed back to life, and Reagan rode the undeserved credit to a second term in the White House.
As Rosalynn Carter once said, Reagan made America “comfortable with our prejudices.” Reagan infamously began the final leg of his presidential campaign by traveling to the Mississippi town where three civil rights workers were brutally murdered and proclaiming “I believe in states’ rights.” Reagan ignored the AIDS crisis for years. He gave us Justice Antonin Scalia. And he tried and failed to appoint another justice who once claimed that the federal ban on whites-only lunch counters is rooted in a “principle of unsurpassed ugliness.”
getalife
February 18th, 2013
4:24 pm
“Speeches really don’t accomplish much except to connect with the folks he already has in the bag..”
Yes, acting on what the majority elected him to do and to give details to those actions.
The idea is to get the majority to pressure congress but if they fail like they have been doing, he will act without them.
Stevie Ray
February 18th, 2013
4:24 pm
Itchy Finger
February 18th, 2013
4:21 pm
The president(s) really have no meaningful impact on gas prices…they can tap reserve but not sure that would impact pricing….Notice how the speculators who do control the pricing always have some BS reason when costs fluctuate..especially abnormally?
Jay
February 18th, 2013
4:25 pm
” Thank god we have the DEMS who apparently do everything right eh?”
No, Stevie Ray. It’s like that old joke about outrunning the bear. The Democrats don’t have to do everything right. They just have to do fewer things wrong than the Republicans, which these days is a very low low bar.
Erwin's cat
February 18th, 2013
4:25 pm
indigo – >/i>He would expect, in over 150 years of American politics, to see a great deal of civil improvement.
I really can’t speak to Lincoln’s expectations….I wasn’t there and I never knew him
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
February 18th, 2013
4:27 pm
“I can either run the country or I can attend to Alice, but I cannot possibly do both.”
T. Roosevelt commenting on his daughter Alice Roosevelt Longworth
Stevie Ray
February 18th, 2013
4:27 pm
Jay
February 18th, 2013
4:21 pm
Is Reagan best compared to what’s happening today or what happened during his term? Like all presidents, he did things that were popular and unpopular…
I think ranking presidents is useless. Some of course are clearly not worthy. Seems to me how the issues of that time handled and how the country was left to the next occupant is most important…
Erwin's cat
February 18th, 2013
4:27 pm
pardon my fat fingers and lack of opposable thumbs today…
Ekko Chamber
February 18th, 2013
4:29 pm
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe”
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
February 18th, 2013
4:30 pm
Achoo!!
William Henry Harrison
getalife
February 18th, 2013
4:30 pm
reagan was a bad President.
Not sure why the cons love him because he granted amnesty, cut and ran in Beirut and blew up the deficit.
Stevie Ray
February 18th, 2013
4:30 pm
Jay
February 18th, 2013
4:25 pm
Can’t disagree with that..of course you wouldn’t know it from the left posters here….
The sad truth is that the only way the GOP comes into vogue is if the DEMS/Obama’s plans, especially PelosiCare, explode. Seems the popularity of one party is governed not by what they accomplish but by how the other side has screwed up..
williebkind
February 18th, 2013
4:33 pm
Hey its presidents day! Did Obama the king violate the constitution today with another “executive order”?
Christian Conservative
February 18th, 2013
4:33 pm
Jay
“Why did you leave out Reagan Jay? He is certainly the greatest President in recent history….”
I’m surprised you think that way, Christian. You mean the gun-grabbing, abortion-supporting, tax-raising, amnesty-granting, nuke-weapon-abolishing, union-supporting Ronald Reagan? The guy who today would be laughed out of the GOP?
Reagan was a leader Jay. Something we certainly don’t have now. If Reagan had the Congress that he has now he would have this country headed in the right direction… All those ridiculous comments are frivolous at best…. He was certainly respected by every nation as was Bush. Clintoon and the current White House buffoon were laughed at…
TBS
February 18th, 2013
4:33 pm
Stevie
If you believe that rock on buddy
I agree that the lack of being questioned begs the question, but many have submitted themselves to more questions, but that didn’t prove to show them to be any better at their job..
TR
February 18th, 2013
4:33 pm
It was my glasses case and by golly it was a LONG speech, but I felt as strong as a Bull Moose! Remember dear Mckinnley’s demise brought me into power and Harrison’s Doctors hastened his demise with their incessant probing….
Erwin's cat
February 18th, 2013
4:33 pm
“Gazuntite”
John Tyler
Christian Conservative
February 18th, 2013
4:34 pm
JamVet
He is certainly the greatest President in recent history….
Funny.
Was he impeached? Oh wait that was your boy Clintoon….
JamVet
February 18th, 2013
4:34 pm
Reagan was certainly respected by every right wing dictator/murderous thug and their death squads around the globe…
williebkind
February 18th, 2013
4:35 pm
“No, Stevie Ray. It’s like that old joke about outrunning the bear. The Democrats don’t have to do everything right. They just have to do fewer things wrong than the Republicans, which these days is a very low low bar.”
I would not know what wrongs the democrats do those evils are never reported and never discussed in detail.
Stevie Ray
February 18th, 2013
4:36 pm
TBS
It is a fact that avoiding press conferences and the mainstream media in general is a bona fide marketing strategy planned and practiced. That’s why he spends all his time out in the field..difficult questions he avoids could actually be the way to win over folks from the other (floundering) side…
Of course honesty, for anyone in DC, remains elusive.
josef
February 18th, 2013
4:36 pm
DDR
Love Princess Alice…
To Sen. McCarthy when he addressed her by her first name:
“The policeman and the trash man may call me Alice; you.can.not.”
About Dorothy Parker:
“Dorothy is the only woman in history who has had her menopause in public and made it pay.”
Mama Says
February 18th, 2013
4:37 pm
Surely we an all agree that no politician which held office during our early years would recognize the country today.
Even the liberals of the time held some pretty conservative views.
The overall argument made by cons has been and continues to prove true.
The fact is that the more modern we become the more liberal the country is.
Social Security is not performing as it was suppose to, the welfare process has become bloated with more and more expenditures and red tape and we are currently arguing over the right to own guns.
I doubt seriously any politician back in the day would support any of what they would see now.
It seems that in the attempt to do good liberals have tasked all of us to do everything. Liberals have managed to take a simple issue of taxes and turn it into a political argument. If you were really serious the loopholes would have been gone when you had the power in the first two years of the administration, cons could not stop you. Yet you never addressed the issue, you played the game with it.
I guess the biblical saying of teach a man to fish has succumbed to simply just give him the fish. The reason being that the liberals wanted to subsidize the fishing pole and the cons said he could make it himself.
While we argue the handouts grow larger and larger, as does our debt. The only thing getting smaller in degree are the are the amount of actual people paying taxes and the American work ethic.
A Simple Man
February 18th, 2013
4:37 pm
Interesting that no one quotes where Lincoln declared his legal power comes from that allowed him to send in troops against the South. I guess the same place President-Who-Can-Do-No-Wrong get’s his drone powers. Just sayin…
Redneck had it right.
JamVet
February 18th, 2013
4:39 pm
I would not know what wrongs the democrats do those evils are never reported and never discussed in detail.
Here ya go:
The 50 Most Popular Conservative Websites
1) Fox News: 260
The Washington Times: 4,717
2) Wall Street Journal: 383
3) The Drudge Report: 748
4) New York Post: 888
5) WorldNetDaily: 2,692
6) Newsmax: 3,264
7) Free Republic: 3,988
9) TownHall: 5,986
10) The Rush Limbaugh Show: 7,624
11) Real Clear Politics: 7,957
12) National Review: 10,346
13) Hot Air: 11,517
14) Michelle Malkin: 12,871
15) Glenn Beck: 13,153
16) Human Events Online: 17,538
17) The Heritage Foundation: 20,746
18) Newsbusters: 21,452
19) Lew Rockwell: 24,677
20) The Weekly Standard: 25,565
21) News With Views: 27,352
22) Sean Hannity: 28,086
23) Pajamas Media 28,969
24) The Ludwig von Mises Institute: 29,116
25) Atlas Shrugs: 29,548
26) The American Thinker: 29,980
27) Cybercast News Service: 32,348
28) Neal Boortz: 32,857
29) Reason: 33,254
30) Lucianne: 34,135
31) Ann Coulter 36,864
32) The Cato Journal: 39,187
33) Daily Paul: 41,465
34) The Volokh Conspiracy: 42,021
35) Bill O’Reilly: 42,533
36) Redstate: 42,655
37) Conservapedia: 43,866
38) Power Line: 44,542
39) Jewish World Review: 44,765
40) Front Page Magazine: 48,645
41) Daniel Pipes: 49,692
42) Little Green Footballs: 49,844
43) Campaign for Liberty: 50,638
44) The American Spectator: 52,377
45) Commentary: 55,447
46) GOPUSA: 58,771
47) James Lileks’: 60,536
48) Right Wing News: 63,097
49) Wizbang: 63,427
50) Day by Day: 63,455
51) Moonbattery: 67,850
52) Life News: 69,493
53) Vdare: 70,866
54) Debbie Schlussel: 73,543
55) Republican National Committee: 73,599
56) Lifesitenews: 73,823
57) Dick Morris: 77,187
58) Blackfive: 83,031
59) Outside the Beltway: 83,455
60) American Conservative: 90,579
Stevie Ray
February 18th, 2013
4:39 pm
IMO, some of the best presidents did little or nothing during tenure..generally they did not screw things up more.
It is a puzzle to devise variables to evaluate most accomplished presidents…
Itchy Finger
February 18th, 2013
4:40 pm
Stevie Ray
The president(s) really have no meaningful impact on gas prices…they can tap reserve but not sure that would impact pricing….Notice how the speculators who do control the pricing always have some BS reason when costs fluctuate..especially abnormally?
President Bush certainly got blamed for it…. obama seems to get a pass…
alex
February 18th, 2013
4:40 pm
In Alice’s “salon” there was a pillow emblazoned with :” If you have nothing nice to say, come sit right next to me”. and yes, she was a republican……( which is better than DeLaurian’s wife’s which said neuvo rich is better than neuvou poor)–Rock on alice.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
February 18th, 2013
4:40 pm
That’s why he spends all his time out in the field..difficult questions he avoids could actually be the way to win over folks from the other (floundering) side…
Surely you are flailing. Not even Boehner can deliver his own party to vote for GOP plans and the GOP collectively opposes anything Obama is for (intentionally). There is no other side to “win over” in Congress. Only by putting public pressure of the “people” on members of Congress has movement been obtained and even that is not nearly as strong as it should be.
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
February 18th, 2013
4:41 pm
“For every fatal shooting, there were roughly three non-fatal shootings. And, folks, this is unacceptable in America. It’s just unacceptable. And we’re going to do something about it.”
GWB –Philadelphia, Penn., May 14, 2001
Stevie Ray
February 18th, 2013
4:41 pm
JAMVET
I have found RealClearPolitics to simply be a consolidator of news and opinions…left and right..maybe I’m missing something?
Christian Conservative
February 18th, 2013
4:43 pm
getalife
reagan was a bad President.
Not sure why the cons love him because he granted amnesty, cut and ran in Beirut and blew up the deficit.
An Obama supporter claims Reagan blew up the deficit…. Was that statement supposed to be a joke?
Stevie Ray
February 18th, 2013
4:43 pm
Itchy Finger
February 18th, 2013
4:40 pm
So what…anyone on either side who suggests a sitting president has meaningful impact on gas prices is just playing typical DEM v GOP BS.
I guess he/she could carpet bomb the bigger sources of oil but that won’t happen..
How about those electric cars?
Itchy Finger
February 18th, 2013
4:45 pm
Who would have thought. Howard Dean being honest. Dems want to raise taxes on the middle class to pay for more food stamps & obama phones….
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/02/18/howard-dean-middle-class-tax-increases-needed-to-save-social-programs/
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
February 18th, 2013
4:46 pm
hiya josef!
Of course someone like Alice R. would be my favorite!! I LOVE a strong, feisty, I’ll say what I wanna say dangit” woman. Especially someone from her time!
=================
ASM: Interesting that no one quotes where Lincoln declared his legal power comes from that allowed him to send in troops against the South.
The south attacked Ft. Sumpter – a GOVERNMENT land owned entity. Lincoln did not strike the first blow — the south did.
Without the South/Ft.Sumter — perhaps the civil war would’ve never started.
==================
“This is an impressive crowd — the haves and the have mores. Some people call you the elite — I call you my base.”
GWB –at the 2000 Al Smith dinner
Itchy Finger
February 18th, 2013
4:46 pm
obama plays golf with Tiger as Americans continue to suffer…
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/17/obama-plays-golf-in-florida-with-tiger-woods/
Erwin's cat
February 18th, 2013
4:47 pm
“For every fatal shooting, there were roughly three non-fatal shootings. And, folks, this is unacceptable in America. It’s just unacceptable. And we’re going to do something about it.”
it’s almost 5 to 1 now
http://www.rit.edu/cla/cpsi/WorkingPapers/2012/2012-08.pdf
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 18th, 2013
4:48 pm
Liberals have managed to take a simple issue of taxes and turn it into a political argument.
Grover Norquist says, “What?”
Jay
February 18th, 2013
4:48 pm
Simple Man, I guess it would be the same power that George Washington used to put down the Whiskey Rebellion, installing himself as the head of the army that marched against the rebels. Nobody questioned it at time, even though all the drafters of the Constitution were right there watching.
You’ve also got this:
“No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation…”
and
“Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort….”
Firing on Fort Sumter by definition was an act of treason under the Constitution.
Stevie Ray
February 18th, 2013
4:48 pm
Itchy Finger
February 18th, 2013
4:40 pm
You know, last december I was attending a healthcare PE thingy in DC. Howard Dean was one of the panelists..I always thought very little of him. My mind was completely changed when he provided honest commentary of the negative impact to providers of PelosiCare..
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
February 18th, 2013
4:48 pm
May God save the country, for it is evident that the people will not.
Millard Fillmore
Itchy Finger
February 18th, 2013
4:49 pm
Stevie Ray:
obama has blocked drilling. He has also imposed more regulations on gas companies and energy companies than any President. He does have an impact whether or not you want to admit it…
Keep Up the Good Fight!
February 18th, 2013
4:49 pm
Without the South/Ft.Sumter — perhaps the civil war would’ve never started
Oh noooooo….. You have released the
Krakenjosef.alex
February 18th, 2013
4:50 pm
@ Jamvet, perhaps he was also respected by the vaunted Soviet Union..Perhaps he was at least partialy responsible for the dismemberment of the USSR,perhaps that is good(?), perhaps after Carter this country needed a leader, warts and all, but a leader…perhaps he made mistakes and could have done better..
“Mr. Gorbachec tear down this wall”….. and pass the vodka, Nancy and her friends sre driving me crazy and that Raisa is (was) a hottie….
josef
February 18th, 2013
4:50 pm
“My father always wanted to be the corpse at every funeral, the bride at every wedding and the baby at every christening.”
–Alice Roosevelt Longworth
When LBJ was showing his surgery scar:
“Thank G-d it wasn’t his prostate!”
JamVet
February 18th, 2013
4:54 pm
Perhaps he was at least partialy responsible for the dismemberment of the USSR,perhaps that is good(?)
No question.
Ronnie made some gargantuan mistakes and surrounded himself with criminals but I cut him some slack nowadays.
Probably because of GWB!
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
February 18th, 2013
4:54 pm
I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.
Thomas Jefferson
================
Honorable mention — here’s another TJ quote:
The Witch set me up
Thomas “You Da Man” Jefferson concerning his relationship with Sally Hemmings
Jay
February 18th, 2013
4:55 pm
“He was certainly respected by every nation as was Bush. Clintoon and the current White House buffoon were laughed at…
Oh yeah. The Iranians sure respected him. He sent them a cake and a Bible! Oh, and the Lebanese! They respected him for turning tail and retreating after hundreds of our Marines were slaughtered in Beirut, and then taking it out on mighty Grenada. And the Israelis were no doubt in awe when they learned that he had been there in person filming the liberation of Nazi concentration camps.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 18th, 2013
4:57 pm
“Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren’t able to practice their love with women all across this country.”
– George W. Bush
Stevie Ray
February 18th, 2013
4:58 pm
Itchy Finger
February 18th, 2013
4:49 pm
I don’t think that would meaningfully change prices any time soon. The speculators control all of that with futures trading. If we got rid of that, you may have something the.
josef
February 18th, 2013
5:00 pm
“No man is good three times,”
On cousin Frankie’s third election.
Stevie Ray
February 18th, 2013
5:03 pm
Jay
February 18th, 2013
4:55 pm
Sure his middle east play was pretty awful but in other areas of the world, particularly Europe, he did ok. The current occupant is witnessing the biggest mess in the ME that anyone can remember…
I do like that fact that he prefers to let others take the helm over there..we got no business meddling in the tents of others..any others but you wouldn’t know it historically as we are empirialist dadgummit!
I’d like to see us bring all the troops home..everywhere, now. We should be ashamed at the insecurity we possess (for no good reason) the requires us to spend 500 trillion on defending the universe from things we don’t like..
Erwin's cat
February 18th, 2013
5:03 pm
“No man is good three times,”
If he was that would be exceptional
TBS
February 18th, 2013
5:03 pm
Jam
Reagan should get the credit for toppling the Soviet Union
But all should know and acknowledge, if they are truthful, Soviets were already in trouble and Reagan sucked a$$ in a lot of other areas..
getalife
February 18th, 2013
5:03 pm
“Was that statement supposed to be a joke?”
We, the majority use facts and live in the real world.
Join us.
getalife
February 18th, 2013
5:05 pm
Afghanistan took down the Soviet Union.
комиссар (Occupation)
February 18th, 2013
5:05 pm
Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.
[...]
A few men own capital, and that few avoid labor themselves, and with their capital hire or buy another few to labor for them.
- December 3, 1861
Stevie Ray
February 18th, 2013
5:07 pm
500 billion that is…
Jefferson
February 18th, 2013
5:07 pm
President Reagan, was the 1st divoiced president, the 1st of the big spenders, ordered Iran Contra (a 2nd lt. don’t make those calls) and was a movie star with fans.
alex
February 18th, 2013
5:07 pm
and to you Josef, the penultimate Alice quote @ 5:00, salutation and happy readings, haven’t picked up the Faulkner, yet….
Thomas
February 18th, 2013
5:08 pm
I look more to Ricky Henderson for my inspiration and tend to fade posers such as dear old Abe and George-
In the early 1980s, the Oakland A’s accounting department was freaking out. The books were off $1 million. After an investigation, it was determined Rickey was the reason why. The GM asked him about a $1 million bonus he had received and Rickey said instead of cashing it, he framed it and hung it on a wall at his house.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 18th, 2013
5:08 pm
Afghanistan took down the Soviet Union.
With us supplying them.
Carter warned us of petro dollars funding extremists.
getalife
February 18th, 2013
5:10 pm
nixon was a nasty con that started the money pit called the war on weed.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 18th, 2013
5:11 pm
“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”
– George W. Bush
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
February 18th, 2013
5:11 pm
Oh noooooo….. You have released the Kraken josef.
===============
@Itchy finger — Congress (who makes laws and holds the purse strings), is on vacation while America suffers………..
===============
The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we provide enough for those who have little.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
=========================
I know I am getting better at golf because I am hitting fewer spectators.
Gerald R. Ford
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlz0he9rtKw
Stevie Ray
February 18th, 2013
5:11 pm
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 18th, 2013
5:08 pm
It seems to me that Charlie Wilson as opposed to “us” pushed to get rocket launchers to bring down helicopters..then they got used to kill us…funny how that works.
getalife
February 18th, 2013
5:11 pm
“Carter warned us of petro dollars funding extremists.”
He was right and President during “Argo”.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 18th, 2013
5:13 pm
..then they got used to kill us…funny how that works.
I can think of many words to describe this issue, but “funny” isn’t one of them
Jefferson
February 18th, 2013
5:14 pm
President Nixon was scared of John Lennon and freedom. President Reagan outspent the USSR. President Johnson was not a good bookkeeper.
Mama Says
February 18th, 2013
5:14 pm
Right or wrong Kam,
Obama and the democrats could have taken every loophole out of the tax system when they had all chambers of government in Obamas first two years .
philosopher
February 18th, 2013
5:15 pm
Christian Conservative: ” If Reagan had the Congress that he has now he would have this country headed in the right direction…
If by “the right direction”, you mean YOUR direction…NO THANKS. .Jesus’ instructions to us are about as liberal as it gets ….How disturbing it all must be…
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 18th, 2013
5:16 pm
… when they had all chambers of government in Obamas first two years .
All chambers?
False.
Jefferson
February 18th, 2013
5:16 pm
Those tax loopholes will be gone soon, mom — keep your shirt on.
JamVet
February 18th, 2013
5:16 pm
TBS, in my view, Reagan’s role in the downfall of the USSR was more symbolic than anything. He championed it as a cause, and it was a damn good cause.
There can be no doubt that other much more important causes and reasons were behind the actual downfall. As noted by a real foreign policy expert, Richard Nixon, who had concerns about Reagan’s intellect and wrote that he was “shallow” and of “limited mental capacity”…
alex
February 18th, 2013
5:16 pm
facts?….do you mean unassailable truths , e.g. a law of physics….I wish political OPINION columns where so cut and dried, but then again, how much fun would that be?….
weetamoe
February 18th, 2013
5:17 pm
Artfully worded. Another name for question begging?
I have seen our present president himself tell two blatant lies. I mention them because they took place fairly recently and could be seen and heard during interviews on national television. Both were mendacious claims against those he sees as his enemies. They are not the only pants on fire claims noted by fact checkers, but the ones I saw myself. He claimed Bush responsible for the Fast and Furious action and he insisted the sequester was introduced by republicans.
My New England schools had a slightly more jaundiced view of Abe. But whatever his transgressions, the fact that Doris Kearns Goodwin invokes his name during almost every interview is much more punishment than he deserves.
TBS
February 18th, 2013
5:21 pm
Jam
We agree more than you realize..
Overall I am not a fan of Reagan and have expressed as much..
Can we get a Thulsa around here? He will tell us how he was the real Super Man
td
February 18th, 2013
5:23 pm
All this revisionist history of who the true Lincoln was. Lincoln was a dictator that did not really free any slaves and really wanted all blacks to go back to Africa. Lincoln totally ignored the Bill of Rights and illegally started a war with the South.
“Garrison knew Lincoln well. He knew that Lincoln stated over and over again for his entire adult life that he did not believe in social or political equality of the races, he opposed inter-racial marriage, supported the Illinois constitution’s prohibition of immigration of blacks into the state, once defended in court a slaveowner seeking to retrieve his runaway slaves but never defended a runaway, and that he was a lifelong advocate of colonization — of sending every last black person in the U.S. to Africa, Haiti, or central America — anywhere but in the U.S.”
http://www.lewrockwell.com/dilorenzo/dilorenzo12.html
“The Dictator Lincoln invaded the South without the consent of Congress, as called for in the Constitution; declared martial law; blockaded Southern ports without a declaration of war, as required by the Constitution; illegally suspended the writ of habeas corpus; imprisoned without trial thousands of Northern anti-war protesters, including hundreds of newspaper editors and owners; censored all newspaper and telegraph communication; nationalized the railroads; created three new states without the consent of the citizens of those states in order to artificially inflate the Republican Party’s electoral vote; ordered Federal troops to interfere with Northern elections to assure Republican Party victories; deported Ohio Congressman Clement L. Vallandigham for opposing his domestic policies (especially protectionist tariffs and income taxation) on the floor of the House of Representatives; confiscated private property, including firearms, in violation of the Second Amendment; and effectively gutted the Tenth and Ninth Amendments as well.”
Escaped from Email Purgatory
February 18th, 2013
5:25 pm
“Don’t boo… vote! It’s the best revenge!”
Which tall, thin man uttered those inspirational words during cataclysmic times?
Bookman draws a not-so-subtle parallel between Lincoln and Obama through a comparison of the tumultuous times in which each presided over America.
That’s rich.
If history ever hands out Presidential jockstraps, Honest Abe needs a XXL; Obama? How small a size do they come in?
Wake me up when BHO does something more significant than make liberals’ legs tingle.
Jefferson
February 18th, 2013
5:25 pm
as always, td is full
комиссар (Occupation)
February 18th, 2013
5:26 pm
One quibble, Jay Bookman.
Nothing of Abraham Lincoln’s true lesson for us today really has anything to do with “wisdom”.
Wisdom is the stuff of self-help books and TED seminars, the cozy realm of comfortable truisms that steers clear of the truly explosive, irresolvable antagonisms. It avoids ruffling feathers. It has nothing to do with 600,000 plus dead on battlefields for the sole purpose of rooting out an idea that many pragmatic and genteel-minded folk would just as soon have lived with.
To give you an idea what “wisdom” actually looks like, look at this –> http://www.emory.edu/EMORY_MAGAZINE/issues/2013/winter/register/president.html.
Needless to say, it has nothing whatsoever to do with what Abraham Lincoln was doing.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 18th, 2013
5:26 pm
Lew Rockwell
There’s your sign.
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
February 18th, 2013
5:29 pm
Bush’s CABINET was responsible for Fast & Furious — if you saw in Politifact where that was a pants on fire, then you must’ve been looking at the wrong information.
=============
Obama and the democrats could have taken every loophole out of the tax system when they had all chambers of government in Obamas first two years .
These are the things Obama and the Demorcrats had to do when he came into office in 2008:
Stop a recession
Manage the debt
Stop/slow down the escalation of job losses
Stop/slow down the mortgage fiasco
A quick list of some of the things he got done in his first 100 days:
**January 26 – Obama signs his first two Presidential Memoranda concerning energy independence, directing the Department of Transportation to establish higher fuel efficiency standards before 2011 models are released and the allowing states to raise their emissions standards above the national standard.[21] T
** Obama signs his first bill, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which promotes fair pay regardless of sex, race, or age.
**Obama signs a presidential memorandum launching the Middle Class Working Families Task Force to be led by Vice President Joe Biden
***Obama announces that companies receiving large amounts of federal bailout money through the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) must cap top executive pay at US$500,000.[35] Obama signs the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 reauthorizing and expanding the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).[36][37][38] Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar cancels 77 leases sold by the previous administration to oil and gas companies, while letting 39 leases stand.[39].
===============
This is what the Republican congress did their first 100 days in office:
Complain/Blame Obama.
Try to repeal Obamacare
Complain/Blame Obama. some more
Go on vacation
Complain/Blame Obama.
Try to repeal Obamacare
Holiday time off
Complain/Blame Obama.
Try to repeat Obamacare AGAIN…………
And fially…..
Complain/Blame Obama.
getalife
February 18th, 2013
5:29 pm
If the cons were consistent in their beliefs, they would hate reagan but their beliefs change daily to attack our President.
Brosephus™
February 18th, 2013
5:30 pm
“You’re damned if you do. You’re damned if you don’t.”
–Abraham Hussein Lincoln
Just seems like he spends a lot of time giving speeches…..last I heard he has given more speeches than the number of days in office. He has also apparently given the fewest press conferences than any on record.
Shorter: I don’t like him giving speeches unless it’s the kind of speeches I like.
If he has a press conference, then he’s going to make a statement or speech before accepting questions. Maybe you should suggest that he uses his appearances as town hall type functions. I think more people would be concerned if the president hid behind the liberal biased media instead of communicating with us.
You can’t possibly want the liberal president to hide behind the liberal media, can you?
JamVet
February 18th, 2013
5:30 pm
This is the quality of site that you troll around and get your info from, td???
http://www.lewrockwell.com/
Looks like a political version of the National Enquirer!
Bernie
February 18th, 2013
5:33 pm
Jay, May I remind you that Abe is not so revered around these parts. This is not Pennsylvania!
Abe was the one who approved the order to burn Atlanta to the ground. Everything was Burned down from here to SAVANNAH! Every home,business,Plantation,shack, and outhouse was set to Flames!
It took three generations for any of it, to return to any recognizable beauty. Its anger is still seething just below the surface to this day. There is no great love in the White Southern Man’s heart for good ole Abe.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
February 18th, 2013
5:33 pm
Obama and the Democrats could have invented a floor wax/dessert topping when they had control of Congress! — Thomas Jefferson
td
February 18th, 2013
5:33 pm
JamVet
February 18th, 2013
5:30 pm
This is the quality of site that you troll around and get your info from, td???
http://www.lewrockwell.com/
Looks like a political version of the National Enquirer!
Lew Rockwell did not write the article or the books, so why do you want to bash the site and not talk about the author. BTW: This was the first time I have ever been to the site because I am not a Libertarian due to some of their nutty stances.
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
February 18th, 2013
5:34 pm
wis·dom
/ˈwizdəm/
Noun
The quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment; the quality of being wise.
The soundness of an action or decision with regard to the application of such experience, knowledge, and good judgment.
================
td — if you wish to read and believe revisionist history then go for it!! It’s a free country dude!
Just, in all fairness so that you won’t look like a blooming idiot, keep everything that you’ve read/believe to yourself.
It’s just better that way.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 18th, 2013
5:34 pm
…why do you want to bash the site and not talk about the author.
Dittoheads say, “What?”
TGT
February 18th, 2013
5:35 pm
Proclamation 97 – Appointing a Day of National Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer
March 30, 1863 (emphases mine):
Whereas the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the supreme authority and just government of Almighty God in all the affairs of men and of nations, has by a resolution requested the President to designate and set apart a day for national prayer and humiliation; and
Whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord;
And, 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 prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.
It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.
Now, therefore, in compliance with the request, and fully concurring in the views of the Senate, I do by this my proclamation designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer. And I do hereby request all the people to abstain on that day from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite at their several places of public worship and their respective homes in keeping the day holy to the Lord and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.
All this being done in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the divine teachings that the united cry of the nation will be heard on high and answered with blessings no less than the pardon of our national sins and the restoration of our now divided and suffering country to its former happy condition of unity and peace. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this 30th day of March, A. D. 1863, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-seventh.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
If only the ACLU were around! Right libs?