Abe Is Hot!

Interest in Abraham Lincoln is getting hot now that the bicentennial of his birth is approaching next February 12. One might say that Abe himself is "hot," thanks to all the presidential contenders and wannabes are comparing themselves to him.

Here's a cool photo from the Associated Press showing some renovation work being done on an 1871 statue of Lincoln in Philadelphia. I'd say Abe is hotter than ever. Note the blowtorch in the worker's hand.

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Lincoln Statue Decapitated For Fifth Time

Today's Mail Tribune from Medford, Oregon brings the sad news that for the fifth time, the Abe Lincoln statue in Lithia Park in Ashland, Oregon has had its head cut off. Local officials are distressed, because the statue had only recently been repaired and rededicated after the 2005 decapitation. Other such acts of vandalism occurred in 1958, 1967, and 1973.

Damage is estimated now to be at $1,200. Park officials do have a spare Abe head, but have no idea if they will restore the statue now or not. A local merchant is suggesting that a security camera be focused on the statue from now on. Police in Oregon currently have no suspects. Sorry for the lack of photos.

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If You Can't Be Lincoln, Join Him

Here's a photo from today's New York Times showing Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton posing in front of Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. She visited it today, while contemplating her impending loss of the nomination.

Members of the press pool actually asked her if she thought either her husband or she would ever have their likeness carved in the mountain. Perish the thought! In her defense, at least Mrs. Clinton laughed at the question.

I guess if you can't be just like Abe, you can at least pose with him.

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Lincoln Memorial Maintenance

Here's an interesting photo of some maintenance being done on the Lincoln statue in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. This photo is from three years ago, but for some reason is popping up on the Reuters news site recently. I didn't know that cleaning of the statue occurs, so this was news to me.

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A Nation Remembers Their Sacrifice

Today is the day that we remember the ultimate sacrifice of our fallen military personnel who died while serving our country in defense of our freedom. Unfortunately, the true meaning and history of this day have become obscured as many of us treat it as the beginning of summer, to be celebrated with picnics, barbecues, boating and drinking.

While we all have our own opinions about war and the military in general (especially these days), we all need to be grateful to those who gave their lives for us. Lincoln said it best in his closing remarks of the Gettysburg Address:

...that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

For a detailed history of Memorial Day, click here.

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Do We Need Another Abraham Lincoln?

I love to find hidden gems about Abraham Lincoln in small town papers and other obscure resources and then share them with my readers. Here is a great editorial asking the rhetorical question "Does America need another Abe Lincoln?" The article comes from fwdailynews.com, a family of newspapers serving northeastern Indiana.

The author begins by sharing the fascinating news of yet another auction coming up (June 2008) at Christie's in New York of a document signed by Old Abe himself. What's so unique about this document, though, is that it was also signed by Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate States Of America! It seems that this document was signed by both presidents in order to grant safe passage to a gentleman who wished to sell approximately 100 bales of cotton in order to support the Orphan Home of Mississippi. The document is estimated to bring between $100,000 and $150,000 at auction. It's the only known Civil War document signed by both Lincoln and Davis. I suspect it will fetch far more than that.

But the author of this editorial goes on to make an eloquent plea to Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barrack Obama the presumptive nominees of their parties for president. The author makes a great case that the next president will need to "bind up the nation's wounds" and to put partisan politics aside in order to solve the many problems our nation is facing. The next president, according to the writer, needs to lead all of us, convince Congress to help him (or her) make our country great again. Please take a moment to read this wonderful editorial.

I couldn't agree more. We've all had enough of the blithering babble stemming from both sides of the political spectrum. The politics of hate from the left and the right won't solve a thing.

Yes! A resounding YES! We do need another Abraham Lincoln, a person who will lead our nation through grace, dignity, intelligence, and magnanimity.

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Justice Scalia Compares Himself To Lincoln

I've added a few posts to this blog in recent days and weeks about how politicians are falling all over themselves trying to claim that they are just like Abraham Lincoln. Now we have Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia joining the rush to be Abe.

In remarks made earlier this week at the Centennial Celebration of the Illinois Supreme Court Building Gala, Scalia claimed that his strict constructionist views of the U.S. Constitution aren't that "far removed'' from those of Abraham Lincoln.

Well, perhaps Justice Scalia is correct. I am not a lawyer and I confess to not knowing a good deal about Lincoln's legal views. But this much I do know: Justice Scalia consistently rules against the rights of ordinary people in favor of the government and big business every chance he gets. No doubt he is an absolutely brilliant lawyer and justice, but he is also heartless when stomping on the rights of the people. Somehow that does not seem very "Lincolnesque" to me.

Can we please have today's political leaders, elected and otherwise, quit comparing themselves to Abraham Lincoln? The more they try, the sillier they appear.

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