ABRAHAM LINCOLN: HONEST ABE

On February 12th, we celebrated the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln, one of our most beloved presidents and the first Republican president. President Lincoln is best remembered for two things: his immortal Gettysburg Address and his emancipation of blacks from slavery. Common to these events is the core ideal of our nation that was "conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." This core principal was at the heart of the Civil War which defined Lincoln's presidency. As a war president, Lincoln combined extra-ordinary decency with high purpose. He was a man of faith, a devoted father and a man of great sympathy who took time to write heartfelt letters comforting total strangers. And Lincoln didn't flinch under the horrible strain of his position, bravely executing some of the most difficult decisions ever made by an American.

Lincoln's gravest decision was to fight the Civil War to resolve the conflict between the South and the nation over the abolition of slavery, the foundation of the South's economy. Sadly, it was the Democratic Party that led the fight to keep blacks in slavery. For every five slaves freed in the Civil War, one white soldier gave his life. Many more suffered maimings, trauma, and financial ruin. Black freedom in this country was emphatically not free. It was bought and paid for by brave warriors. The huge cost of war in lives was the reason that Lincoln agonized over his decision to wage war. His deeply felt agony was reflected in one of his speeches where he said: "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union and is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do that. If I could save it by freeing all slaves, I would do that. If I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would do that also. What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps save the Union."

As modern observers, we should keep two things in mind when reading Lincoln's words. First, Lincoln did not necessarily believe that blacks were inferior to whites, as some scholars contend. Rather, Lincoln's words reflect that he understood that his first job as president was to preserve the Union. And as a man of faith, Lincoln also understood that freedom was God's gift to man. This understanding led to Lincoln's final decision to both fight the wickedness of slavery and defend the unity of the nation. In evaluating Abraham Lincoln, we should focus on his love of God and country, as well as his desire to end the economic system that relied upon human bondage, an affront to God's will.

Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. But the last slaves did not get the word until June 19, 1865 when Union General Gordon Granger brought word of their freedom to the slaves in Galveston, Texas where the Juneteenth Celebrations began and are now held in black communities all across the country.

In addition to wanting our country to be the land of the free, Lincoln also wanted our nation to be a land of prosperity. This desire is reflected in Lincoln's words that still ring true today:

"You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away
A man's incentive and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them
What they could and should do themselves."

Click below to read Lincoln's "House Divided" Speech that was delivered in Springfield, Illinois on June 16, 1858.

http://www.historyplace.com/lincoln/divided.htm

Condi did not authorize torture.

The Secretary of State did not authorize torture. Condi did not authorize torture.

Did you not understand the above Philip Zelikow videos I posted above? When she was Secretary of State 2005 - 2009 Condoleezza Rice was working from within to try to stop torture which was doing the US reputation no good in international circles.

The latest fuss dragging Condi into it arises it seems from the time before Condi was made Secretary of State, from 2001 to 2005 Condi was National Security Advisor and was involved in senior staff discussions related to "enhanced interrogation techniques" a.k.a. "torture".

However, it is not possible legally to authorize something which is illegal or unconstitutional so it looks like Condi correctly referred the CIA who wanted to "torture" (although they did not call it "torture") to go ask the lawyers to see if it was legal.

Condi's only duty was to advise as to the National Security implications of torturing a prisoner - which are minimal if any I guess.

Torturing a few top Al Qaeda leaders may be illegal, it may be unconstitutional, it may be immoral, it may be a complete waste of time because frankly if you have to waterboard someone 183 times over four weeks, the chances are any "ticking bombs" have long since stopped ticking and gone off and the enemy has changed their military deployment to make any intelligence the prisoner had out of date and worthless, but despite all that, a wee bit of torturing on the side doesn't harm the national security immediately - it doesn't help national security either but doesn't harm it particularly - so Condi was right to wash her hands of it and pass it off to those who a) thought it was a good idea - the CIA and b) those who could advise if it was legal - the lawyers.

Condi was sold the policy, like others in the US administration, including President Bush, Condi was fed a lot of false claims from the CIA about effectiveness of "enhanced interrogation techniques" and since her expertise was not in interrogation, she could not authoritatively tell the CIA they were wrong about whether their techniques would work or not - she was not an expert in the law either, so she just fullfilled her duties as National Security Advisor and passed the final decision to those who claimed expertise in interrogation and the law.

Interrogations and the law were not Condi's "baby" so it was not her place to give a final "yea" or "nay" to it so people are wrong to try to blame Condi and put the responsibility for it on her.

Later on when she was Secretary of State, she had a different lawyer who gave her different legal advice which fitted better with her Secretary of State duties - after all a lot of countries had huge concerns about the whole torturing thing, details of which were leaking out and so Condi was right to put her lawyer on trying to turn the policy and practice back to something decent - against torture, no ifs, no buts, which the international community would respect as worthy of the compassionate America we all love so much.

Condi is being smeared as a "torturer" for partisan political reasons because the Dems are still looking for any old way they can to sink Condi's political chances because the Dems still fear Condi as a candidate for the presidency in 2012, IMO.

You would think the Democrats would have better things to do like actually getting on with governing the country but I guess not.

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On the Perspectives forum I replied to Alex Mundi as follows Quote: It all boils down to one simple sentence. "Rice was present and knew about torture." The fact that Condoleezza Rice knew and kept cool and continued to give the best national security advice she could which was to lead the Bush administration from within, while being allied with those in Congress and the courts who were leading the nation from outside the Bush administration, in a direction away from "enhanced interrogation" (a.k.a. "torture") which was born of frustration and poorly organised intelligence and towards the needed reorganised and improved intelligence gathering in order to defeat Al Qaeda and to win the war on terror, is a testimony to her strength of character. In order to win wars you need a strong character like Condi at the heart of government to keep her head while all about her are losing theirs. So we owe Condi everything for staying in there and continuing to fight the good fight. IF you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise: Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And - which is more - you’ll be a National Security Advisor, my dear! (Kipling-Dow 2009.)

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