Obama To Place His Hand On Lincoln's Bible

With all the controversy surrounding the Rick Warren choice for the inauguration, the soon-to-be Obama Administration sought to put out some good news today. Good news would mean not bringing up the homophobic pastor. So, for Obama, this is definitely a welcome change in the events leading up to the big day next month.

From Bloomberg News:

Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- President-elect Barack Obama will take the oath of office on the same Bible that President Abraham Lincoln used when he was inaugurated in 1861.

“The president-elect is committed to holding an inauguration that celebrates America’s unity, and the use of this historic Bible will provide a powerful connection to our common past and common heritage,” said Emmett Beliveau, executive director of the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

Obama, who will be sworn in as the 44th president on Jan. 20, will be the first to use Lincoln’s Bible at his inauguration. The Bible is part of the collection of the Library of Congress, the inaugural committee said in a release.

Not only does this small detail convey a powerful message relating the 44th President to the 16th, it deflects from the Warren fiasco. Whether that is good or bad overall is still up for debate, especially in the GLBT community. Nevertheless, the special bible ties into his message of unity and as long as he keeps up that theme...and eventually shuns Warren's anti-gay message with a powerful push for equality in our country....then he'll have a large contingent of support when he is ready to take the helm officially in four weeks from now.

Imagine If George Stephanopolous Was Alive In 1860

It is a scary thought, at least for the people that lived back then. The tumultuous political and societal landscape of that era was vitally important and every event was critical to the fate of the nation. The Lincoln-Douglas debates signified the seriousness of the moment and the eloquence of each candidate was nothing short of extraordinary. Now imagine if George Stephanopolous and Charlie Gibson moderated that debate, how terrible would it have turned out?

From Obsidian Wings:

LINCOLN: Thank you very much, Charlie and George, and thanks to all in the audience and who are out there. I appear before you today for the purpose of discussing the leading political topics which now agitate the public mind.

We are now far into the fifth year since a policy was initiated with the avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only not ceased, but has constantly augmented.

STEPHANOPOULOS: I’m sorry to interrupt, but do you think Mr. Douglas loves America as much you do?

LINCOLN: Sure I do.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But who loves America more?

LINCOLN: I’d prefer to get on with my opening statement George.

STEPHANOPOULOS: If your love for America were eight apples, how many apples would Senator Douglas’s love be?

LINCOLN: Eight.

Yeah that sounds about right, circa 1860 style. Now if only we could get back to the level of debate we had back then for today's debate, how much more informed Americans would be about the candidates instead of what The National Enquirer ABC thinks America cares about.

GOoPer Slanders Abe Lincoln

To further his argument that we must stay in this illegitimate war, Rep. Don Young (R-AK) slandered our 16th President on the floor of the House yesterday. This speech is a sham:



To set the record straight, here is what Lincoln actually said regarding the U.S. war with Mexico in 1848. It is a disgrace to argue for this immoral war, it is even worse to mangle the words of one of our greatest Presidents.

George W. Bush: The New Lincoln?

In the run up to last night's speech by the President his supporting pundits went out into media land and tried to compare Bush to Abraham Lincoln. Their reasoning? Bush has been firing generals until hefinds one that wants to win the war. Oy, well at least it wasn't for their orator skills. I've never read transcripts of Lincoln's works that contained 'um' and 'durrr' so that one is off the table.

The Daily Show sums the spin up perfectly, check it out here from Crooks and Liars.