Monday, August 21, 2006

A Damn Fine Abraham Lincoln Quote

"Stand with anybody that stands right. Stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong."
-- Abe Lincoln

Alright, I'll come clean: for reasons that have nothing to do with this blog, Star Trek or Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, I've been thinking about ol' Honest Abe a good bit lately. In fact, the more observant amongst you might have noticed that, in my rant about all the free publicity for that new Samuel Jackson movie, a Google search for Abe was the first comparison I grabbed. What can I say? I like the cut of his jib.


Abe Lincoln took no shit from fools.

Take the above quote, part of a speech given on October 16, 1854, in Peoria, IL. It's Twainsian in its simple wisdom (or wise simplicity?), with just the hint of a barb thrown in for good measure. Only now that I think about it, Lincoln came before Twain, so maybe Twain's stuff should be considered Lincolnsian? Either way, I think the closest George W. Bush equivalent is "You are either with us or against us in the fight against terror." Which is really a Bizarro of Lincoln's quote; might for right vs. might makes right, and all that.


Bush, on the other hand, is a fool who gives shit to those who will take it.

But hey, I'm not here to talk politics. If you must know, I'm a socially liberal (even libertarian), fiscally conservative non-partisan voter who doesn't think the country should bomb anyone without a real damn good reason, and usually winds up voting Democrat because Republicans are against a lot of shit that I like and/or I think is wrong to be against. But if they stopped making each other richer and declaring war on hopeless 2nd/3rd-world cultures and ran a man like Abraham Lincoln again, well. I might just find myself pulling a GOP lever come election day.

Based on the current crop of Republican leaders, though, I put those chances at slightly lower than that of the Vatican okaying abortion clinics at Catholic churches. I wouldn't bet on it is what I'm saying, and I'm thinking Abe Lincoln wouldn't, either.

1 comment:

bluesphee said...

great post my friend