Off-Topic: Lincoln-awful President who did a good thing
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Name:
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MartiniMan
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Subject:
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Lincoln-awful President who did a good thing
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Date:
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2/25/2013 10:10:39 AM
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All this back and forth about Lincoln and whether he would or would not identify with the GOP or Democrats is a waste of time. If you have read about Lincoln you would know that his embracing emancipation was done primarily to maintain the support of the abolitionists in the war against the south. He was no ideologue when it came to slavery like Wilberforce but he was practical and saw abolition as the wedge to maintain support for the war and in that regard he was right. Regardless of that, the end of slavery was indeed a very good thing, however, I would note that slavery was abolished in other parts of the civilized world without a civil war but maybe our situation was unique (i.e., the south's agriculture economy was reliant on slavery). Lincoln was devoted to keeping the United States united and on that score he could identify with either party today.
Why do I think he was an awful President? Because he more than any other President before him created the notion of an overarching federal government whose powers were no longer limited and no longer only those not reserved for the states. Also, his conduct during the war (i.e., suspending habeas corpus to silence opposition in the north) and other imperial actions also changed the nature of the presidency. And both those paved the way for an FDR that turned a mild worldwide depression into a Great Depression in the U.S. Which paved the way for Johnson's failed war on poverty. Which paved the way for Obamacare et al.
So Lincoln was an awful President that turned out to do something very good. But to assume the civil war was the only way to end slavery is wrong. But it is what it is. But what I find so ironic is what drove us apart in the 1860's was both a good thing, states rights, and a bad thing, slavery. What is driving us apart today is once again states rights (still a good thing), and a drive toward European-style socialism, a very bad thing. And like the 1860's, the Democrat party is once again on the wrong side of history.
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