Topic: U.S. History
What would Abraham Lincoln do? Abraham Lincoln would have never voted for the $ 850 billion dollar bailoutby Jonathan Cymberknopf
(libertarian)
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Abraham Lincoln is seldom spoken of around Libertarian circles, but I think he should be mentioned and remembered as Abraham Lincoln was truly ahead of his time.
Never mind, the fact that Abraham Lincoln was the last Third Party candidate to be elected as President in U.S. History. Abraham Lincoln would have never voted for the $ 850 billion dollar bailout.
Please read very carefully Abraham Lincoln's quote and you will most definite know Abraham Lincoln is turning in his grave right about now.
"It is an old maxim and a very sound one, that he that dances should always pay the fiddler. Now, sir, in the present case, if any gentlemen, whose money is a burden to them, choose to lead off a dance, I am decidedly opposed to the people's money being used to pay the fiddler...all this to settle a question in which the people have no interest, and about which they care nothing. These capitalists generally act harmoniously, and in concert, to fleece the people, and now, that they have got into a quarrel with themselves, we are called upon to appropriate the people's money to settle the quarrel."
-Abraham Lincoln, January 11, 1837(speech to Illinois legislature)
I hope it shines a greater appreciation for Honest Abe who is my biggest hero in American History.
"I leave you, hoping that the lamp of liberty will burn in your bosoms until there shall no longer be a doubt that all men are created free and equal."
-Abraham Lincoln, July 10, 1858 (Speech at Chicago, Illinois)
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Posted By: Jonathan Cymberknopf
Date: 2008-10-08 10:02:57
Yes Randy, Abe was a Republican, but look again, The Republican Party was the Third Party at that time. I know it's hard to imagine, but it's true. The media of course does not want you to know this, so you don't get any ideas of voting for a Third Party again as they are controlled by the Two Party system. To top it all off, The Republican Party decided to call themselves and rightfully so "The Party Of Lincoln"
Lincoln was a great President, no doubt. "Great", however, is a subjective term. When I use the word, I am refering to the idea that he had more of an impact than most, if not all, of his fellow Presidents.
While no one can rightfully dispute that the Emancipation Proclamation and the fight to contain and eventually end slavery were among the most impressive acts of any President of this country, the manner in which it happened was Unconstitutional, and grossly over-costed.
Because of the interpretation of the Constitution that Lincoln formulated, the precedent was set to usurp States' Rights and...ah screw it. FedEx is here with my new laptop. ;-)
He was going to say, usurp states' rights and enhance the power of the central government.
He doubted that he had the constitutional authority to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, which he finally justified only as a wartime measure, applying only to the seceding states.
In his 1862 State of the Union message, he called for a constitutional amendment Forcing freed slaves to colonize outside the United States. He wanted them free, just not in his back yard!
Lincoln himself once called secession “a most sacred right, which we believe is to liberate mankind.” Then fought a war to deny that right.
Lincoln shut down hundreds of northern newspapers and arrested thousands of critics of his war. Sound familiar?
Lincoln achieved what the Princeton historian James MacPherson calls “the Second American Revolution,” giving the Federal Government virtually full authority over the internal affairs of the states. Literally usurping their sovereignty. Peaceful secession was a state’s ultimate constitutional defense against Federal tyranny. Without it, the Federal Government has been able to claim new powers for itself while stripping the states of theirs.
Today he is widely ranked as one of our “greatest presidents,” along with another bold usurper of power, Franklin Roosevelt.
I, for one, would like to keep his third party candidacy as quiet as possible, lest the 'honest' third parties be sullied by the distinction.
Comrade Lenin Counsels to create your own opposition and constrol it. What a masterpiece of Machievelian Strategy to build a party which draws people who oppose your monetary, political and ethical crimes and to make repudiation of Lincoln, who has beaten you in the past, a fundamental doctrine of the controlled opposition party. When we take the gloves off and take them on as the party of Lincoln, we will prevail- not until
... and, if I may be permitted two afterthoughts on the subject of Libertarian doctrine and credentials-
1- A great American Jew named Grocho Marx explained to the House Committee on unamerican activities that, "I wouldn't want to belong to any club that would have me as a member", and...
2- A great American WASP named T. S. Eliot said,
"When I am formulated, sprawling on a pin,
then how shall I begin
to spit out all the butt ends of my days and ways."
Gosh, where to start? Lincoln, was by far, one of the more dishonorable Presidents to ever sit in the White House. He was a "nationalist", an ultra-Hamiltonian who was very willing to not only disregard the edits of the Supreme Court Chief Justice Tanny concerning the Writ of Habeas Corpus, but even signed a warrant for the Chief Justices arrest. Lincoln subverted the Constitution, arrested the Maryland Legislature to prevent the State's secession and illegally created the State of West Virgina without either Congressional approval or the Consent of the People of Virginia.
Lincoln detained and imprisoned 10s of thousands, some report over 100 thousand people thoughout the North for sedition; many of whom were never told what they were being charged with and were never allowed to redress the charges against them in court because Lincoln suspended the Writ of Habeas Corpus, contrary to the Constitution which only delegates that power to Congress. Lincoln closed hundreds of Northern newspapers, any who dared question Lincoln's power or his policies were endanger of being labeled traitors.
His Emancipation Proclamation did not "free" the slaves, instead it only allowed for freedom to those slave who were in Confederate Territories and didn't allow for the freedom of those who were held in slavery in Union controlled territories. In other words, it did't free a single slave.
The first and perhaps the strongest evidence that the war had absolutely nothing to do with slavery was Lincoln himself. Had slavery been the primary cause of the war, or even an ancillary cause then Mr. Lincoln would have never attempted to make a deal with the Southern States to support an Amendment to the Constitution to forever protect the institution of slavery, all they had to do was agree not to Secede. It was a deal that the South could have easily accepted especially if that was the reason for the South's Secession, but that was not even the reason the South craved disunion. The Southern People could have avoided the entire conflict and destruction of their country had they simply accepted Lincoln's deal, but the deal did not address the real reasons behind the South's desire to Secede from the Union. So, in essence, Lincoln would have assisted in protecting the vile institution of slavery if the South would take the bribe he offered them, they didn't of course, because the War was not over slavery but heavy taxation on the South and a very unbalanced federal budget that favored the Northern States and the power structure of the Northern Industrialists.
Even the act of Secession itself was not the cause of the War, nor was Lincoln a dye-hard Unionist prior to the events that lead up to Secession. Lincoln and indeed, the entire country was well aware of the Right of Secession because it had been taught and espoused by just about every educational institution and politician from the time of the Ratification of the Constitution. In fact, every single Resolution for Constitutional Ratification included clauses declaring the Right of Secession if the federal government or a majority of the Several States did not adhere to the Articles of the Constitution. It was taught in every Military Institution in the country, including West Point, until after the War when the doctrine and all textbooks that expounded the Right were systematically purged by the Radical Republican Party.
There were far more abolitionists in the South than in the North, but the difference was that those in the South actually cared about the slaves themselves. After the Union "liberators" left the South, they showed exactly how much they cared for the slaves. During the first few years after the War, nearly 400,000 slaves died of starvation and nearly as many poor white Southerners met the same fate; the only thing that kept more from dying was the generosity of both the black and white people to help each other during that period.
Indeed, the Republican Party has returned to its ruthless roots, it is once again the Party of Lincoln, the Party of Nationalism and Tyranny. Bush and Cheny would feel right at home in the presence of Lincoln, Stanton, Seward, and Thad Stevens.
By all means read a book by John Marshall entitled "An American Bastille" to see the real Lincoln and the real Republicans; then read about the real Lincoln as written by his friend and law partner William Herndon, that is an eyeopener into the character of the man.
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