December 17, 2008

Honest Abe?

A whingeing pom gives another perspective on Abe Lincoln.

High-level corruption in the Land of Lincoln, and this US Attorney thinks we should be surprised at that -- and Lincoln would be shocked. Oh, sure. As Captain Renault was shocked to find there was gambling going on at Rick's Café.

I am not surprised to see yet more evidence that corruption is endemic in the Land of Lincoln. I'd call it highly appropriate. But then, I've known enough about Lincoln all my life to know that the sobriquet 'Honest Abe' was originally meant as irony. Lincoln was venal and greedy, and long before he was elected president in 1860, the people of Illinois knew it.

Fair use and all that. Read the whole thing.

2 comments:

TRex said...

Very cute. Except it is a lie. Was the source for this story Jefferson Davis? Or maybe the Onion?

The author obviously is counting on both the illiteracy of his audiance and the lack of a "cut and dried" history to mount an obfuscation attack on the truth.

Grumpy Old Man said...

I don't know whether the corruption stuff is accurate or not.

I do think the founding fathers seem to have thought secession was proper, the war was exremely bloody, and other places managed to end slavery without mass slaughter.

So, a second opinion is merited.