What would Lincoln do?

Let every American, every lover of liberty, every well wisher to his posterity, swear by the blood of the Revolution, never to violate in the least particular, the laws of the country; and never to tolerate their violation by others.

As the patriots of seventy-six did to the support of the Declaration of Independence, so to the support of the Constitution and Laws, let every American pledge his life, his property, and his sacred honor; let every man remember that to violate the law, is to trample on the blood of his father, and to tear the charter of his own, and his children's liberty.

Let reverence for the laws, be breathed by every American mother, to the lisping babe, that prattles on her lap; let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges; let it be written in Primers, spelling books, and in Almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation; and Let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay, of all sexes and tongues, and colors and conditions, sacrifice unceasingly upon its altars.

While ever a state of feeling, such as this, shall universally, or even, very generally prevail throughout the nation, vain will be every effort, and fruitless every attempt, to subvert our national freedom.

- Abraham Lincoln, January 27, 1838
Address Before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois

I am bound to be true - Abraham Lincoln

You are young, and I am older; You are hopeful, I am not— Enjoy life, ere it grow colder— Pluck the roses ere they rot. - Abraham Lincoln

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. - Abraham Lincoln

I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what's said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference. - Abraham Lincoln

Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true or not, I can say for one that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem. - Abraham Lincoln

I freely acknowledge myself the servant of the people, according to the bond of service - the United States Constitution; and that, as such, I am responsible to them. - Abraham Lincoln

If all men were just, there still would be some, though not so much, need of government. - Abraham Lincoln

The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the government, and to collect the duties and imposts; but beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere. - Abraham Lincoln

To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men. - Abraham Lincoln

Cost of Iraq War

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Force is all-conquering, but its victories are short-lived. - Abraham Lincoln

Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object. - Abraham Lincoln

Peace is a thing which a person must be willing to fight for. - Abraham Lincoln

I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate and aid this effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence of our National Union, and the perpetuity of popular government; and to redress wrongs already long enough endured. - Abraham Lincoln

My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth. - Abraham Lincoln

While the people retain their virtue, and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the government, in the short space of four years. - Abraham Lincoln

I will not support any candidate that promotes or condones torture. Period. This is America. We are not Nazis.

I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it. - Abraham Lincoln

The world has never had a good definition of the word liberty, and the American people, just now, are much in want of one. - Abraham Lincoln

Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. - Abraham Lincoln

There is more involved in this contest than is realized by every one. There is involved in this struggle the question whether your children and my children shall enjoy the privileges we have enjoyed. - Abraham Lincoln

My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure. - Abraham Lincoln

Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it, nothing can succeed. - Abraham Lincoln

You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. - Abraham Lincoln

Allow the president to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such a purpose - and you allow him to make war at pleasure. - Abraham Lincoln

I laugh because I must not cry. That is all. That is all. - Abraham Lincoln

I have borne a laborious, and, in some respects to myself, a painful part in the contest. Through all, I have neither assailed, nor wrestled with any part of the constitution. - Abraham Lincoln

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We must not promise what we ought not, lest we be called on to perform what we cannot. - Abraham Lincoln

Exercise your citizen oversight and speak out!

It often requires more courage to dare to do right than to fear to do wrong. - Abraham Lincoln

Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way. - Abraham Lincoln

I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts. - Abraham Lincoln

When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That is my religion. - Abraham Lincoln

Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm. - Abraham Lincoln

If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. - Abraham Lincoln

100 Awesome Blogs for History Junkies

The Abraham Lincoln Blog

The Civil War (Harper's Weekly archive)

Oxford University Press Blog

Robert Reich's Blog

The Baseline Scenario

Daily Kos

ePluribus Media

Progressive Historians

TomPaine.common Sense

Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality. - Abraham Lincoln

AM in the Morning

Common Ground Collective

Beenie Drowned in her House

Bayou Farewell

Katrina Animal Rescue

I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being. - Abraham Lincoln

I had been told I was on the road to hell, but I had no idea it was just a mile down the road with a dome on it. - Abraham Lincoln

These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people. - Abraham Lincoln

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. - Abraham Lincoln

There are no accidents in my philosophy. Every effect must have its cause. The past is the cause of the present, and the present will be the cause of the future. All these are links in the endless chain stretching from the finite to the infinite. - Abraham Lincoln

Let no feeling of discouragement prey upon you, and in the end you are sure to succeed. - Abraham Lincoln

He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help. - Abraham Lincoln

You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today. - Abraham Lincoln

I could not have slept tonight if I had left that helpless little creature to perish on the ground. - Abraham Lincoln (Reply to friends who chided him for delaying them by stopping to return a fledgling to its nest.)

The Railsplitter

You cannot help small men by tearing down big men. - Abraham Lincoln

Worse than traitors in arms are the men who pretend loyalty to the flag, feast and fatten on the misfortunes of the Nation, while patriotic blood is crimsoning the plains. . . and their countrymen moldering the dust. - Abraham Lincoln

Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable - a most sacred right - a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world. - Abraham Lincoln

Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties. - Abraham Lincoln

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. - Abraham Lincoln

No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent. - Abraham Lincoln

Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as a heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors. - Abraham Lincoln

Our safety, our liberty, depends upon preserving the Constitution of the United States as our fathers made it inviolate. The people of the United States are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution. - Abraham Lincoln

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong. - Abraham Lincoln

We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. - Abraham Lincoln

A house divided against itself cannot stand. - Abraham Lincoln

I have never had a feeling, politically, that did not spring from the Declaration of Independence, that all should have an equal chance. This is the sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Independence. I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it. - Abraham Lincoln

The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just. - Abraham Lincoln

The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise -- with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country. - Abraham Lincoln

I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice. - Abraham Lincoln

I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. Corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. - Abraham Lincoln

To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men - Abraham Lincoln

Friday, August 17, 2007

When Democrats are really Republicans

We have a serious Blue Dog problem in our state.

For some reason the Democratic Party thinks that only a conservative Democrat can win here. We believe that this idea is not only wrong but (for us) painfully wrong. It would appear that Hoosiers want to keep our Constitution intact, and that our vote for a Democrat came with expectations that campaign promises (out of Iraq, etc) would be honored. So far, they have only been obstructed.

Considering how progressive the 'liberal pockets' of Indiana really are... a better question might be why anyone would even vote for a Democrat in a 'conservative state' if they didn't actually want a real Democrat? I mean -- if people wanted conservative... wouldn't they just vote for the Republican?

Seems we need a little truth in advertising both from the Democratic Party and from the candidates.

If we vote Democrat... for God's sake, give us a Democrat. If we wanted a Bush-enabler, we could have kept the Republican incumbent we already had before the election.

Here is an excellent graph of Blue Dog voting records (and future tendencies) from Chris Bowers, over on Open Left:

Vital Statistics On The "Bush Dogs"
by: Chris Bowers Thu Aug 16, 2007 at 15:18:29 PM EDT

The two biggest defeats for House Democrats so far in 2007 have been the capitulation vote on Iraq, and the vote to allow Alberto Gonzales warrant-less wiretapping powers.

Here are some vital statistics on the 38 Democrats, the “Bush Dogs,” who voted in favor of both bills, and thus are the most likely to capitulate on important fights in the future:

Vital Stats on “Bush Dogs”

Member District PVI Term # 2006 win % New Dem Blue Dog

Altimire PA-04 R +2.6 1st 52% Yes No

Barrow GA-12 R +2 2nd 50% Yes Yes

Bean IL-18 R +5.2 2nd 51% Yes Yes

Boren OK-02 R +4.9 2nd 73% No Yes

Boswell IA-03 D +1.4 6th 52% No Yes

Boyd FL-02 R +2.2 6th 100% No Yes

Carney** PA-10 R +8.0 1st 53% Yes Yes

Chandler** KY-06 R +6.6 3rd 85% Yes Yes

Cooper TN-05 D +6.2 3rd / 9th* 69% No Yes

Costa CA-20 D +4.6 2nd 100% No Yes

Cramer AL-05 R +6.4 9th 100% No Yes

Cuellar TX-28 R +1 2nd 68% Yes No

Davis, L TN-04 R +3.2 3rd 66% No Yes

Donnelly IN-02 R +4.3 1st 54% No Yes

Edwards TX-17 R +17.7 9th 58% No No

Ellsworth IN-08 R +8.5 1st 61% No Yes

Ethridge NC-02 R +2.7 6th 66% Yes No

Gordon TN-06 R +3.8 12th 69% No Yes

Herseth** SD-AL R +10.0 3rd 69% Yes Yes

Hill IN-09 R +7.1 1st / 4th* 50% Yes Yes

Lampson TX-22 R +14.5 1st / 5th* 52% Yes Yes

Lipinski IL-03 D +10.3 2nd 77% No No

Marshall GA-08 R +8 3rd 51% No Yes

Matheson UT-02 R +16.9 4th 59% No Yes

McIntyre NC-07 R +2.8 6th 73% Yes Yes

Melancon LA-03 R +4.8 2nd 55% Yes Yes

Peterson MN-07 R +5.6 9th 70% No Yes

Pomeroy ND-AL R +13.1 8th 66% No Yes

Rodriguez** TX-23 R +4 1st / 5th* 54% No No

Ross AR-04 D +0.5 4th 75% No Yes

Salazar CO-03 R +5.6 2nd 61% No Yes

Shuler NC-11 R +7.1 1st 54% No Yes

Snyder AR-02 R +0.1 6th 61% Yes No

Space OH-18 R +6.1 1st 62% No Yes

Tanner TN-08 D +0.1 10th 73% No Yes

Taylor MS-04 R +16.3 10th 80% No Yes

Walz** MN-01 R +0.9 1st 53% No No

Wilson OH-06 D +0.4 1st 62% No Yes

Medians / Totals -- R +4 3rd 62% 13 30

Notes
PVI = Partisan Voting Index, produced by Cook Political Report
* = Non-consecutive terms in Congress
** = Received significant national blogosphere support
Also, Tim Walz did vote in favor of the McGovern amendment. All others voted nay on that amendment, and are clearly ideologically opposed to progressives in this area.

Member	District	PVI	Term #	2006 win %	New Dem	Blue Dog
Altimire	PA-04	R +2.6	1st	52%	Yes	No
Barrow	GA-12	R +2	2nd	50%	Yes	Yes
Bean	IL-18	R +5.2	2nd	51%	Yes	Yes
Boren	OK-02	R +4.9	2nd	73%	No	Yes
Boswell	IA-03	D +1.4	6th	52%	No	Yes
Boyd	FL-02	R +2.2	6th	100%	No	Yes
Carney**	PA-10	R +8.0	1st	53%	Yes	Yes
Chandler**	KY-06	R +6.6	3rd	85%	Yes	Yes
Cooper	TN-05	D +6.2	3rd / 9th*	69%	No	Yes
Costa	CA-20	D +4.6	2nd	100%	No	Yes
Cramer	AL-05	R +6.4	9th	100%	No	Yes
Cuellar	TX-28	R +1	2nd	68%	Yes	No
Davis, L	TN-04	R +3.2	3rd	66%	No	Yes
Donnelly	IN-02	R +4.3	1st	54%	No	Yes
Edwards	TX-17	R +17.7	9th	58%	No	No
Ellsworth	IN-08	R +8.5	1st	61%	No	Yes
Ethridge	NC-02	R +2.7	6th	66%	Yes	No
Gordon	TN-06	R +3.8	12th	69%	No	Yes
Herseth**	SD-AL	R +10.0	3rd	69%	Yes	Yes
Hill	IN-09	R +7.1	1st / 4th*	50%	Yes	Yes
Lampson	TX-22	R +14.5	1st / 5th*	52%	Yes	Yes
Lipinski	IL-03	D +10.3	2nd	77%	No	No
Marshall	GA-08	R +8	3rd	51%	No	Yes
Matheson	UT-02	R +16.9	4th	59%	No	Yes
McIntyre	NC-07	R +2.8	6th	73%	Yes	Yes
Melancon	LA-03	R +4.8	2nd	55%	Yes	Yes
Peterson	MN-07	R +5.6	9th	70%	No	Yes
Pomeroy	ND-AL	R +13.1	8th	66%	No	Yes
Rodriguez**	TX-23	R +4	1st / 5th*	54%	No	No
Ross	AR-04	D +0.5	4th	75%	No	Yes
Salazar	CO-03	R +5.6	2nd	61%	No	Yes
Shuler	NC-11	R +7.1	1st	54%	No	Yes
Snyder	AR-02	R +0.1	6th	61%	Yes	No
Space	OH-18	R +6.1	1st	62%	No	Yes
Tanner	TN-08	D +0.1	10th	73%	No	Yes
Taylor	MS-04	R +16.3	10th	80%	No	Yes
Walz**	MN-01	R +0.9	1st	53%	No	No
Wilson	OH-06	D +0.4	1st	62%	No	Yes
Medians / Totals	--	R +4	3rd	62%	13	30

Labels: Blue Dogs, Democratic Party

Friday, August 17, 2007

When Democrats are really Republicans

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