If Young Abe Lincoln Had Lived Today....

[BettyO]

LOVE this cartoon.....

[RJNorton]

I wonder if our retired state trooper would have ticketed President Lincoln for texting had he been driving. I think President Grant got a speeding ticket.

[J. Beckert]

Texting while driving is literally worse than driving drunk and it's becoming a common cause of traffice accidents and fatalities. Don't do it, folks. And no, Roger. Lincoln wouldn't have been cited. Anyone who can hold a 7 pound ax horizontally for a full minute gets a free one.

[Gene C]

Within the past 30 days, a high school senior was killed across the street from of our house in a car accident. She had already bought her dress for senior prom, but never got to wear it. Our house sits back a bit on a narrow two lane road. She was on her way to school. She was texting while driving, lost control of her vehicle, went off the road, the car flipped over, and hit a picket fence. The ambulance and police responded quickly and were on the scene before we even knew what had happened. She died within 48 hours of the accident. Very tragic and sad. She was an attractive young lady. Every day, I see the place where she lost her life.

Please, do not text and drive!

[Joe Di Cola]

Within the past 30 days, a high school senior was killed across the street from of our house in a car accident. She had already bought her dress for senior prom, but never got to wear it. Our house sits back a bit on a narrow two lane road. She was on her way to school. She was texting while driving, lost control of her vehicle, went off the road, the car flipped over, and hit a picket fence. The ambulance and police responded quickly and were on the scene before we even knew what had happened. She died within 48 hours of the accident. Very tragic and sad. She was an attractive young lady. Every day, I see the place where she lost her life.

Thank you, Gene, for this poignant reminder of the hazards of driving and texting or any other distraction.

Joe
Please, do not text and drive!

[Hess1865]

I wonder if our retired state trooper would have ticketed President Lincoln for texting had he been driving. I think President Grant got a speeding ticket.

Yes, President Grant was ticketed for speeding in his horse and carriage. The ticketing officer did not recognize Grant, but sure found out who he was when the President showed up at the stationhouse to pay the $10 fine!!!

[LincolnMan]

I had to laugh at the spelling in the cartoon. I realize that texting has it's own spelling unique to it- I wonder how many testers don't know how to actually spell correctly? Lincoln, I believe, participated in spelling bees as a young man. Am I correct on that?

[RJNorton]

Yes, very true, Bill. In fact he once helped a girl who was having trouble with the word "defied." In a spelling bee Katy Roby began spelling the word...d-e-f and then was stuck on the next letter. Was it an "i" or a "y?" Lincoln was standing nearby and pointed to his eye when the teacher (Andrew Crawford, I think) was not looking. Katy took the hint, said "i" and completed the word correctly.

[Eva Elisabeth]

I love this cartoon. Bill, I also suppose spelling skills suffer from texting and auto-correction programs. In 1864, Lincoln himself admitted spelling deficiencies: "I am sometimes puzzled to know how to spell the most common word...one word...is 'very'. I used always to spell it with two r's - verry. And then there was another word which I had been spelling wrong until I came here to the White House...It is 'opportunity'. I had always spelled it, 'oppertunity'." So - no obstacle for presidency...

[L Verge]

Several of us at Surratt House had a conversation not too long ago about how historians will make it in the next fifty or so years. Texting will have destroyed any semblance of correct spelling. To top it off, the school system is supposedly doing away with teaching handwriting (or cursive for the younger generation). Historical research has depended on translating ancient handwriting forms for so many years, but will researchers of the future know how to read and decipher things that we have taken for granted? Wait until they come up against the colonial form of the double "s" where the first "s" is transformed to appear as an "f"..... Mifses in written form.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Laurie, just yesterday I saw a report on BBC world about the decline of handwriting in US schools and couldn't believe it. I fear, one day this will happen here, too. By now,they solve the problem of spelling difficulties generations of pupils were able to deal with by spelling reforms, and the results cause eye strain...I'm a bit old-fashioned about such things, also handwriting, I consider them cultural assets.

[L Verge]

I agree with you completely, Eva. Unfortunately, our culture will soon be nothing but electronic fiddle-faddle of some sort -- no telephones except for the ones you can text on and send photos from; stage shows, movies and concerts will all be sold electronically, so no need to enjoy a live performance; books will only appear on electronic screens or on audio discs, etc. Human interaction may be reduced to arguments and law suits.

One of the fastest ways to destroy a civilization is to destroy its culture and its history. I was taught that in high school and college, and I believe that Hillary Clinton reiterated it a dozen years ago.

[LincolnMan]

I love this cartoon. Bill, I also suppose spelling skills suffer from texting and auto-correction programs. In 1864, Lincoln himself admitted spelling deficiencies: "I am sometimes puzzled to know how to spell the most common word...one word...is 'very'. I used always to spell it with two r's - verry. And then there was another word which I had been spelling wrong until I came here to the White House...It is 'opportunity'. I had always spelled it, 'oppertunity'." So - no obstacle for presidency...

Good information Eva. Unfortunately for me, I seem to spell worse as I get older- simple words too.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Bill, pleased you like it.
Laurie, you take the words right out of my mouth. To put it bluntly: IMO culture is what distincts humans from the beast, which doesn't mean the latter are less valuable cratures. I mean there's more than just eating, drinking, sleeping and (use your own imagination). All human societies and peoples seeked for and valued cultural assets, dancing, music, theatre, literature...Before I studied I had worked for some time as an assistant stage designer at the opera and for a long time also danced half professionally and I do love all kind of on-stage performances. I don't want to experience them to vanish. I know a student in her last semester of her master studies in nutritional sciences possessing just TWO books because she does everything on the computer. That's sad.

[Liz Rosenthal]

I must say I was rather shocked, too, to learn that cursive, or what I called "script" growing up, is being taught in U.S. schools less and less now.

The teenage sons of a very good friend of mine never learned cursive. However, their high school is very demanding academically. There is no deficit of reading and writing in their curriculum. And my friend's one son is a budding writer, anyway, even if he can't write in cursive. He's quite gifted and a true bookworm. My friend's other son is a talented artist. Anyway, my point is that the loss of cursive doesn't have to mean the downfall of today's youth, so long as they are learning substance and, especially, how to think critically.

Still, I wish they'd bring cursive back.