On 17 Dec 2005 17:35:23 -0800, wrote:

A lot of bandwith raken up and what does it fufill? Nothing! Time does
not stand still. This is ancient history.

Bleat, bleat go two sheep....


http://www.bradleyreport.net/editorial/Lincoln.htm
As the saying goes,

‘Those that ignore history are doomed to repeat it.’

When Abraham Lincoln first went to the U.S. Congress in 1847, as a
freshman representative from Illinois, he was a member of the Whig
Party, which had strongly opposed the recently ended Mexican War.

Rep. Lincoln unfailingly voted for all the U.S. Army supply bills that
passed through Congress, but he stood with the Whigs in condemning the
Mexican War itself. The Whig position had more than a little substance
to it, for the Mexican War clearly seemed to suit the desires and
needs of the southern states, and Mr. Lincoln’s well thought out
criticism of a type of imperialistic expansionism was certainly
appropriate, and in all events was what is expected in the give and
take of political arguments within a democracy, especially among the
people elected to make such decisions on the behalf of the voters.

Yet his remarks were twisted by the opposing party, which had so
strongly pushed for and supported the war effort, and Lincoln was
portrayed as unpatriotic and, worse, someone who did not support the
American troops, particularly those who volunteered from his own state
of Illinois, despite the fact he had proven his own bravery many
times.

In his acclaimed work, ‘The Civil War,’ Shelby Foote explains that the
Mexican War "was being spoken of, by northern Whigs at least, as
‘infamous and wicked,’ an imperialist attempt to extend the slavery
realm."

"This got (Lincoln) in trouble back home," Foote reports, "where the
Democratic papers began calling him a latter-day Benedict Arnold and
the people read and noted all he did as a slur against the volunteers
of his state."

The negative campaign that was waged against Lincoln paid quick
dividends. "When Congress convened for its second session," Foote
explains, "Lincoln was the only Whig from Illinois…he came home with
no chance for reelection, and did not try."

All that is needed to perceive the current situation is to remember
that the Democratic Party of Lincoln’s day is now the Republican
Party. This is perhaps the greatest irony of American politics,
particularly since Lincoln was the first and greatest Republican
president.

Yet it is true. Today’s Republican Party has switched identities with
the Democratic Party; today the GOP is the party of the south, and
embodies virtually all of the south’s goals and ideals, many of which
seem little changed since Lincoln’s time.

And the tactics are the same today as they were in Lincoln’s day.

Anyone who criticizes the Iraq War is immediately suspected of being
less than patriotic, someone who is soft on terrorism and who doesn’t
appreciate the value and sacrifices of the American soldiers.

These ugly tactics, masking imperial goals and political aims, are
identical to what Lincoln endured, and ultimately the uncompromising,
strong-willed, religiously righteous, imperial-minded and southern
dominated Democratic Party led the nation into the Civil War, one of
the bloodiest struggles ever recorded.

Now the Republican Party, uncompromising, strong-willed, southern
dominated and imperial-minded while simultaneously brimming with
religious zealotry, is leading the nation upon a similar path.

Ignorance of history does not always bring bliss.