[Sherman Logan]

I am finding the deification of Barack Obama as the second coming of Lincoln to be an offensive reminder of Reconstruction.

You can't really blame Reconstruction on Abe. Had he not been murdered it would have certainly been much different and probably a great deal more conciliatory towards the South. This was recognized at the time by most knowledgeable southerners.

[trek]

"Had he not been murdered it would have certainly been much different and probably a great deal more conciliatory towards the South."

Fair enough. Lincoln's assassination certainly unleashed the worst impulses of the radical Republicans. But whatever he might have done had he lived it would have been small consolation for the damage inflicted during his reign on the Constitution and the rule of law.