Excellent work from Eric Foner of the Nation (via Alternet) in which Foner smacks down the GOP’s recent use of Lincoln quotes on the subject of treason. (Lincoln thought those who don’t support the military should be “exiled or hanged,” the Right claims, incorrectly.) I’ve always thought that any invocation of Lincoln by the Republicans was disingenuous history-twisting at its worst. After all, we’re talking about the man who perhaps did more for African-Americans than any other American being used as a talking point by a party that viciously fought the civil rights movement and to this day uses minority vote-suppression to win elections in close races. “Party of Lincoln,” my rear end. Lincoln technically belonged to the same party as these guys, but that’s where the similarities end.
Anyway, Foner looks at Lincoln’s congressional record pre-presidency and it turns out he was strongly anti-war. He led Congress in protest of James Polk’s war with Mexico, which was sold on false pretenses and was largely “pre-emptive.” There is no doubt that Lincoln would have fought harder than most against the war in Iraq.
