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

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The Baseline Scenario

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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

Saturday, May 02, 2009

Jon Stewart: Our Last 100 Days

I loved this segment! Jon's initial reaction to the news of the flu -- exactly how I felt. Pretty sure this is the first time in my life that I've ever been pissed off over a flu outbreak... or maybe its the media coverage. And nobody exposes the ghouls in the corporate media quite like Jon Stewart.

Lincoln, I believe, would have loved this show. Humor, politics... and surgical satirizing of the more ridiculous elements in our society, especially our media. I didn't get around to posting this after I saw it because I was out of town... but its never too late to remedy that!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Snoutbreak '09 - The Last 100 Days

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

First 100 Days

Labels: CNN, corporate media, Fox News, Jon Stewart, mainstream media, media, pandemic, swine flu, The Daily Show

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Jon Stewart: Obama's first 100 days (of media circus)

I am so grateful to Jon Stewart: he apparently watches this mindless media drivel so that the rest of us don't have to.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

How to Judge a Guy in 100 Days

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

First 100 Days

Labels: 100 days, CNN, grading, Jon Stewart, President Obama, The Daily Show

Friday, April 10, 2009

Classic Jon Stewart

I stand applauding -- absolutely classic.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Baracknophobia - Obey

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

Labels: Barack Obama, corruption, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, GOP, Jon Stewart, President Obama, The Daily Show, tyranny

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Jon Stewart: The Cramer Take-down

And now the moment we've all been waiting for... Jon eats Cramer's lunch (after feeding him a steady diet of his own words.)

Stewart is no longer just a fake newsman and comedian; he is a national voice of conscience. I love it when he rips the corporate media for their BS.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Intro - Brawl Street: Get Ready to Buy Low! And Sell Die

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Unedited Interview Pt. 1

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Unedited Interview Pt. 2

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Unedited Interview Pt. 3

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

Take-down accomplished.

Labels: CNBC, Jim Cramer, Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

Jon Stewart: The Week in Cramer

Ah, what a week it has been! Culminating in an epic Jon Stewart take-down (I'll get to that in the next post.) But first... the week in Cramer.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

In Cramer We Trust

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Moment of Zen - Jim Cramer's Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Battle

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Basic Cable Personality Clash Skirmish '09

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

Labels: CNBC, Jim Cramer, Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Jon Stewart & Joe Nocera explain the scam

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Joe Nocera

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

Labels: AIG, bank bailout, banks, deregulation, economy, government bailout, Joe Nocera, Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Jon Stewart reviews CPAC

Think of the craziness we would miss if it weren't for Jon Stewart...

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CPAC After Party

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

Labels: CPAC, GOP, Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

Friday, February 27, 2009

Jon Stewart: About that speech...

I meant to post these last night -- good stuff.

I too was a bit distracted by the way Nancy Pelosi kept popping out of her chair after every complete sentence. My husband and I finally decided that Joe (Biden) had secretly installed an ejector cushion on her seat, and was entertaining himself during the speech by launching Nancy into the air, higher and higher, perhaps to see if she would eventually stick to the ceiling (I'm relieved to say that she did not.)

First, President Obama's speech to Congress (complete with a cameo by Jimmy Stewart)

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Optimist Prime

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

Secondly, the GOP's Mr. Roberts retorts:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Bobby Jindal's Republican Response

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

Labels: Bobby Jindal, Congress, Jon Stewart, Nancy Pelosi, President Barack Obama, speech, The Daily Show

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Jon Stewart: The Death of Hope

(No comment.)

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Clusterf#@k to the Poor House - The Death of Hope

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Funny Political News
Joke of the Day

Labels: economic stimulus package, economy, GOP, Jon Stewart, partisan, President Barack Obama, The Daily Show

Saturday, February 07, 2009

Jon pretty well sums it up

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Clusterf#@k to the Poor House - Economic Recovery Plan

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Funny Political News
Joke of the Day

Labels: economic stimulus package, economy, Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Thank you Jon

... because I too was beginning to wonder if we 'little people' were the only suckers actually paying our taxes. Tim Geithner? Tom Daschle?

Is there anyone available for Mr. Obama's cabinet that has, um, actually paid their taxes recently? Geez guys.

By the way, Tom Daschle just asked President Obama to withdraw his nomination. He probably would have made a good Secretary of Health and Human Services. Except that he screwed up on his taxes. Now everyone loses.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Elephant in the Room

Daily Show Full Episodes
Funny Political Videos

Important Things With Demetri Martin
More Funny Videos

Labels: Jon Stewart, taxes, The Daily Show, Tom Daschle

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Jon Stewart addresses the GOP Stimulus plan

(Er, what plan? OH... that's right... tax cuts again. Yawn.)

Why does the GOP hate us?

We need jobs, infrastructure, schools, jobs, health care we can afford, jobs, a green energy grid, jobs -- we the American citizens who live here on a day to day basis (not the wealthy bankers the GOP was happy to pay off for their epic failure - no strings attached and sure, buy that jet you've been wanting) need all of these things. And we pay the taxes that fund these things. We pay for this stuff -- why can't we get it?

What will it take to GET THE GOP OUT OF OUR WAY?

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Stim City

Daily Show Full Episodes
Funny Political Videos

Thursday, January 15, 2009

The Daily Show: Six Days and Seven Nights

Jon is going to milk this final week for all that it's worth. (And W is going to give him more material than he's had in months, handed on a golden platter.)

This film footage is truly amazing.

No wonder the nation is in shambles (and every portion of the world we've touched.) I found W's comments about Katrina especially galling. I suspected the man was a sociopath. Now I'm sure of it.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Six Days Seven Nights

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Labels: George W. Bush, Jon Stewart, President, The Daily Show

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Jon evicerates the media

Oh how I love the way Jon Stewart skewers the media. (Actually, they make it too easy... who could resist?)

Jon - we've missed you! Welcome back!

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Burger at 1600

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Ordinary Pupils

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Labels: Jon Stewart, mainstream media, media, The Daily Show

Sunday, November 02, 2008

The Daily Show: Community Organizers

Labels: 2008 election, Barack Obama, community organizer, John Oliver, Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

Thursday, October 30, 2008

The Daily Show: Goin' Rogue

Even Fox's Shep Smith is doing it!

Labels: Fox News, John McCain, Jon Stewart, Sarah Palin, Shep Smith, The Daily Show

Joe-the-plumber MIA

I see John is still doing those 'air quotes.' He must have missed Jon Stewart's 'air quote slapdown' earlier in the week.

Labels: 2008 election, air quotes, Joe the plumber, John McCain, Ohio, The Daily Show

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Jon Stewart: The great pundit smackdown

Labels: 2008 election, Jon Stewart, MSM, network news, political pundits, pundits, The Daily Show

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Jon Stewart nails McCain's hide to the wall

Labels: 2008 election, GOP, John McCain, Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The Daily Show: Real Americans

It was impossible to pick just one of these videos: every one was a classic.

Well I certainly watch the Daily Show, so I'm very obviously not a 'real American.' Hmm... this could have some advantages (tax advantages especially.)

Perhaps some new lyrics to that annoying 'Proud to be an American' song are in order; for all of us who have been kicked out of the Real America:

Guess I'm proud to be un-American
Sarah Palin set me free
All this time I thought I lived here too
And the word applied to me
Now I'm glad to stand up, free and clear
Much relieved to finally say
That its not my fault... its gone to hell...
And the debt's not mine to pay!

Labels: 2008 election, Alaska, GOP, John McCain, Jon Stewart, Michele Bachmann, patriotism, real America, Sarah Palin, The Daily Show, Wasilla