There is today a political war in which one side, that has for many scores of years enjoyed solid political power and the economic fruits thereof, claims to be the victim of tyrannical federal government and wishes separation from the common weal; and in which the other side, whose representation in the government has for many scores of years not been equal to their relative population, whose concerns for a moral re-dedication to the general welfare are nevertheless criticized as “class warfare”. Like the Civil War, one side’s claim to be innocent of starting the war is found to be manifestly unsupportable.

President Obama has so far shown himself an unwilling Lincoln and the recent episode of debt ceiling hostage-taking by the latter day Confederacy is merely the latest example of that unwillingness. President Lincoln would have done as much as President Obama did to show that he was a serious negotiator, knowing that the other side was not. At the point of debt default, however, President Lincoln would not have capitulated. Rather, he would have used his constitutional authority, both his war powers and the fundamental principal of the full faith and credit of the nation as enshrined in the 14th Amendment, to thwart the opposition and discredit and isolate them politically. It would have been Obama’s own capture of Atlanta if he had emulated his hero more faithfully.

As a longtime Lincoln fan and researcher, I well remember Abraham Lincoln refusing to loan his stepbrother John D. Johnston eighty dollars, telling his brother that instead of “uselessly wasting time” he should go to work for someone “tooth and nail” to someone who would pay him for doing so. In short, he told his stepbrother to stop hitting him up and to get a job.

I submit to you that while the Republican party is not perfect, the Democratic party constantly brings up Abraham Lincoln because it’s preferable to them to try to have everyone suffer guilt than to take a little self-responsibility and get to work. Your last sentence infers that Republicans are NOT defenders of equality; I submit to you that Republicans are defenders of the notion that everyone should have equal opportunity to succeed in America, and if they “uselessly waste time” instead of trying to make the best of their opportunity, it shouldn’t be everyone elses’ responsibility to pay for their lack of initiative.

As a member of ALPLM, I am not pleased at all with the tack this article takes, and I don’t believe that Abraham Lincoln would be so quick to pat a president on the back who thinks that those who don’t have as much are entitled to a free ride on the backs of “the rich.” Obama made a big show out of touting his love of Lincoln out of opportunism, in my opinion, and not any genuine belief in Lincoln or agreement with Lincoln’s beliefs. If you are equating the concept of redistribution of wealth with “equality,” then there are a whole bunch of working people who would have a comment or two about that.