Free Republic

Our nation is undergoing a "new birth of freedom," sayeth the Lincolnesque symbolic Messiah, the great Berry Hussein O'Bummer. Only this time, to ensure freedom and equality for all "our" people, we must make certain sacrifices. For example, we must sacrifice religious freedom, economic freedom, individual liberty, and our national sovereignty. That is all. Ask not what you can can do for your country. Ask what your country can do to you.

The other day, Jonah put some distance between himself and NR’s endorsement of Mitt Romney. I’d like to do the same. Romney strikes me as impressive, but also as terribly flawed. Over the next couple of days, I’ll do my best to explain. In the meantime, one observation. Endorsing Romney, the editors explained that they had decided against Fred Thompson largely because “Thompson has never run any large enterprise.” This brought to mind another Republican candidate—one whose management experience, like that of Fred Thompson, was limited to having served as a partner in a law firm. Abraham Lincoln.

As has been their tradition for decades now, neocons who are in favor of waging total war against somebody (this time it’s Iraq) have been invoking the sainted Lincoln ("Father Abraham," as the war enthusiasts at the Claremont Institute call him) as their role model. After all, there must be some kind of ideological cover for mass murder (as all wars are), and that is the role of the Lincoln Myth.As Joseph Stromberg recently noted ("Bring on the Honors List!", LRC, Aug. 28), George Will has written in the Washington Post that President Bush should look to Lincoln’s war tactics...