On...Happy Birthday Abe

Happy Birthday!

Today marks the 200th Birthday of Abraham Lincoln (and with the possible exception of George Washington) our most beloved and often misunderstood president. Myth, legend, and historical truth are bound to get blended in popular culture, especially about someone so large in our history and who died so tragically at 56 years old.

Even for someone like Lincoln his life can be narrowed down to a few key facts. Because he is so honored (outside some of the more extreme state-rights Lincoln haters and the homosexual myth-mongers) is his legacy is battle over by both sides of the political aisle. Lincoln was a Republican so obviously there is a strong connection.

However I find it very curious that he is embraced so much on the left, especially now of the Obama Adminstration. From Lincoln to Obama news stories and so on. Wow, how history can be mixed about. Understanding and reading Lincoln would give a little clearer view of what Lincoln believed in. I don't pretend to speak for him but he was a true devotee of Natural Rights and the Declaration of Independence. Again and again in speeches he denounced those who believed in Might makes Rights. Our natural rights give us might he often said. He also believed in how people "ought" to live harking back to Socrates and Cicero and the Enlightenment. And as a railroad lawyer he also understood the need for expanded commerce and the freedom from government intervention. [granted his protective tariff stance was a product of a young industrial nation] And his firm belief in truth and justice saw him through the darkest days of the Civil War, especially when he made the wrong decisions.

So as another day in our Republic's history passes let use it to encourage a reexamination of our history (the a more accurate Lincoln) and of the better angels of our nature.