Lincoln and today's politics

[Lincoln Wonk]

(03-05-2017 08:04 PM)David Lockmiller Wrote:  

(03-04-2017 08:43 PM)David Lockmiller Wrote:  I do not agree with the conclusion reached in this article:

“We should recall Lincoln's confidence in American democracy as we wade through today's political warfare. Now as then, our country on the other side of the smoke may evolve into a new national consensus that tests us while also making us stronger.”

The big difference is that Abraham Lincoln was President of the United States, then; Donald Trump is President of the United States, now. And, as Democratic vice-presidential candidate Senator Lloyd Bentsen said to Republican vice-presidential candidate Senator Dan Quayle in response to Quayle comparing himself to John F. Kennedy: “Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy.”

Here's a major test, as reported on the front page of the New York Times, today:

TOP NEWS -- THE 45TH PRESIDENT

Trump, Offering No Proof, Says Obama Tapped His Phones

F.B.I. Chief Urges Justice Dept. to Reject Wiretap Claim

By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT and MICHAEL D. SHEAR

James B. Comey asked the Justice Department to publicly reject President Trump’s unsubstantiated claim that former President Barack Obama ordered his phones to be tapped.

The department has not issued a public rebuttal, which would be a major rebuke of a sitting president.

These certainly are strange times.