[Gondring]

Lincoln out-fought and out-thought the lot of you, including your beloved Lee and Davis, and you know what? Good. Very good, indeed.

Quite laughable commentary.

One could point to military victories of the empires of Napoleon, Hitler, etc., and claim superiority...yet Lincoln's destruction of the Constitution by was unsurpassed, regardless of military outcomes of his regime.

BTW, over Thanksgiving, I visited the graves of a few of my ancestors who fought in blue. Their commanders weren't the greatest, placing them in a position exposed on three sides and leading to an 80% casualty rate for their regiment.

Slavery was bad, but that wasn't really so high on Lincoln's mind til it served him. Lincoln's initial response to adversity--ordering one state to attack another--was not only horrific, but rather "anti-union" in itself!

[Rembrandt_fan]

You wrote, 'Quite laughable commentary."

At least what I wrote was intelligible. Have you bothered to read your own writing, lately?

You wrote, "Slavery was bad, but that wasn't really so high on Lincoln's mind til it served him."

Served him how, exactly? I assume you're referring to the timing of the Emancipation Proclamation, which helped to forestall European recognition of the South and possible direct intervention on its behalf. You're saying that was a bad thing?

Slavery was always the central issue, neo-confederate apologia to the contrary.

[attiladhun2]

Once the states came together to form a union, they gave up their right to secede from that union. To do so would constitute an act of rebellion. Lincoln did not "destroy" the Constitution in the process of preserving the Union. He freed 3.5 millions of people from bondage and also kept this country from further disintegration. How long do you think the CSA would have hung together had they won the war? The Union would have been more prone to fracture along regional lines following a defeat, as well. America today above the Rio Grande might look more like Latin America during its hayday of military juntas and coups d'tate.

[thiscouldbemoreconfusing]

I too visited graves of kin lost in that war, men who wore the grey and fought to preserve our way of life. 800,000 dead pale at the loss of two articles of our Constitution.

I am sorry for your loss.

I met a Yankee preacher in Kentucky during Thanksgiving. Wish to God there were more like him.