Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Abe Lincoln: Arch Liberal Traitor!

The next time you wonder why Abe Lincoln is held in such high esteem, consider his prophetic letter, as a congressman, to his long-time law partner William H. Herndon, explaining his opposition to the Mexican-American war.

"Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such purpose, and you allow him to make war at pleasure. Study to see if you can fix any limit to his power in this respect, after having given him so much as you propose. If to-day he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade Canada to prevent the British from invading us, how could you stop him? You may say to him, -- 'I see no probability of the British invading us'; but he will say to you, 'Be silent: I see it, if you don't.'

The provision of the Constitution giving the war making power to Congress was dictated, as I understand it, by the following reasons: Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object. This our convention understood to be the most oppressive of all kingly oppressions, and they resolved to so frame the Constitution that no one man should hold the power of bringing this oppression upon us. But your view destroys the whole matter, and places our President where kings have always stood. "


A leader impoverishing his people in wars by invading countries suspected of planning an attack...sounds eerily familiar. I guess Lincoln was just another bleeding-heart liberal, and a traitor, and all the other idiotic names the pro-war crowd likes to hurl at anyone who dares question the wisdom of a war high in cost and low in tangible benefits...to anyone possessing a lot of Haliburton stock anyway.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I agree with the point you are making. Sadly however, a significant portion of the current "Tea Party" conservative movement especially in the South is trying to label Abraham Lincoln as a traitor. The rising stupidity of our nation is alarming.