‘Honest Obe’ Might Be a Bit of a Stretch
Lincoln kicked off his political career as a member of the Whig party in 1832, and only later did he help form the Republican Party. Similarly, Obama was a member of the Democratic Socialists of America’s New Party and used his party affiliation as a springboard to mainstream success as a Democrat.
Surprisingly, Lincoln protested vehemently against the Mexican-American War as a congressman. The intensity of his attacks on President Polk earned him the enmity of Illinois Democrats, and Lincoln elected not to run for reelection in the face of certain defeat. When exercising the duties of commander in chief, however, Lincoln was stalwart and creative. Barack Obama also had pacifist connections, fronting for the 21st-century American anti-war movement. Let’s hope he does a turnabout similar to his idol and becomes a steadfast commander.
The electoral strategies of Obama and Lincoln were similar as well. Lincoln almost completely disregarded the South on his path to victory in the presidential election of 1860. He wasn’t even on the ballot in nine southern states and he carried only two of 996 Southern counties.
Obama did campaign more in the South than Lincoln did, but the results were similar, with Honest Obe carrying just three Southern states, although the demographics for Florida and Virginia today are more akin to composition of the Northern states of Lincoln’s time.
Any comparison of Honest Abe and Honest Obe must, of course, address the rhetorical skills of both men. Lincoln, while not a great public speaker, ranks solidly as one of the greatest political rhetoricians in American history. The Lincoln-Douglas debates truly brought Lincoln’s inspiring ideas to the attention of Americans. While these powers were insufficient to defeat Stephen Douglas for the Senate seat from Illinois, they made Lincoln a star and paved the way for his run for the presidency. Obama has garnered acclaim for his rhetorical skills since his debut at the 2004 Democrat Convention. Many would argue that his superior oratory helped Honest Obe overcome a paper-thin resume and sordid Chicago associations to defeat accomplished politicians in both the 2008 Democrat primary and the general election. Clearly he can talk the talk. We are all praying that he can walk the walk.
Now about that presidential china selected by Mrs. Lincoln: Henry Ford’s magnificent collection of Americana assembled at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, includes a delightful restaurant called A Taste of History. Encased under glass at various locations around the restaurant one finds the complete set of Mary Todd Lincoln’s chosen porcelain. Of course, presidential china is highly sought after and of interest to historians, decorators, and porcelain collectors alike. This particular set of china, however, is most unique in that every single piece of china in the set, comprising over 500 pieces, has been chipped or smashed.
Many of the cups and plates and bowls are preserved with homely repairs which leaves the observer with two nagging questions: 1) Did the Lincolns continue to use this shattered china during his term in the White House, and 2) How did every piece get broken?
Let’s hope that broken china doesn’t become a metaphor for the Obama presidency.
Speaking of Honest Abe, how about “Honest” Barry?
INAUGURAL REFLECTIONS
Just some musings on the big event that is to occur in the nation’s capital on January 20th, 2009:
…..The oft-heard expression, What would Jesus have done . . . can be applied to Obama’s record-splitting, $170,000,000 inaugural festivities and based on President Obama’s abortion record alone, I’m guessing He wouldn’t show up even if He were invited. If He did grant an appearance, He may ask Obama how many poor that 170,000,000 would feed, clothe, and shelter.
…..Abraham Lincoln no doubt would have gotten an invite but honest-to-a-fault Abe, Obama’s presidential hero and model, should be the last person to be invited. As Leonard Pitts of the Miami Herald has pointed out, Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, was adamantly opposed to mixing races and believed African Americans were inferior. Maybe he could be assigned a seat in the back somewhere?
…..Obama may show the world how much he believes in change by showing up at one or more of the dozen or so inaugural balls tie-less, maybe even shirtless to show off his abs as he did on that Hawaii beach last month. The man repeatedly proclaimed he wanted a still undefined “change” so this would be a great way to get the change-ball rolling. Instead of top hat and tails, this could be Obama at the planned at the “Hip Hop Inaugural Ball” at the Harman Center:
…..Last we heard, Obama’s half-bro, George Hussein Onyango Obama, is still eking out a meager survival on $2.00 a month in his shantypad outside Kenya’s capital and will probably be a no-show in D.C. He will just have to be content with having a mention in Barack’s autobiography as a “beautiful boy with a rounded head.”
…..Rev. Jeremiah God-Damn-America Wright will be in attendance, however, since now there’s no need for the pretense that he and “Barry” have been on the outs. The charade need not be continued that Obama and family sat in the pews of Wright’s Trinity United Church of Christ for 20 years and never noticed Wright was an America-hating fruitcake. The election is over and Jeremiah is free to crawl out of his rathole and resume dissing America. . . .
(Read the rest of this article at http://genelalor.com/.)
The irony is that Obama is much, much more similar to George McClellan and the Copperheads.
The war is lost! The war is lost!
Well, it isn’t lost and it never was. Until perhaps, today. We’ll see.
Are you inferring that Mary Todd’s rather “uneven” personality had something to do with the state of the china? Good reflection.
I forgot that Michelle would also channel Mary if Obama played Lincoln. So, comparisons just keep on presenting themselves, don’t they?
I don’t know where you get the “Lincoln was not a great public speaker” thing. Contemporary accounts are nearly unanimous in attesting to how great a speaker/storyteller, etc. Lincoln was. Plus, he wrote his own speeches.
For any leader to be compared to Lincoln, the first thing he would have to do would be to display the character and moral courage to risk unpopularity and public vilification in order to do what he thought was right. Of necessity, this would mean that the leader would not be compared to Lincoln at the time that he served, but that the comparison would only come later, with the judgment of history.
There is nothing in Mr. Obama’s past that would indicate that he is willing to risk unpopularity and public vilification for any reason whatsoever. In fact, his history of voting “present” and of subtle and not-so-subtle shifts of policy positions in response to the shifting winds of public opinion seem to show the exact opposite.
I hope that events prove me wrong, but I see no reason to be optimistic in hoping that this man is going to have the courage and character to lead our country through tough times.
All of the press coverage in the past few weeks has not changed the fact that Obama is the least prepared President in the past 50 years. Good luck to us all. We’ll need it.
I read a survey this morning. Said Obama’s approval ratings nearing 80% and the Bush poll numbers now at historic lows – no matter what polls you read, according to the author. Now this was headline Yahoo News when I logged on.
I checked on the author. And the author of this ‘article’ was a CNN Interactive, whatever that means. And I thought to myself, is this what passes good analysis, good journalism, and good research anymore?
Before we crown President Obama as the 2nd coming of Mr. Lincoln, I do hope that we gain some measure. Besides some nebulous message of hope and change, with a good dose of some really hideous social policy thrown in, I haven’t a clue about our newly elected President. That is, unless cheap sound bits, having really poor choices of friends and associates, and meaningless cliche is what now passes for greatness.
I think I’ll be proven right. But I hope I’m wrong. Today as a country, we ring the bells of inauguration for our first “black” President. Something tells me that sometime tomorrow, we will wish we could wring our hands of a charlatan.
Didn’t Lincoln actually have to accomplish something before he became Lincoln?
“Honest Obe”
Love it.
Abe Lincoln believed African-Americans, if given the chance, could certainly be equal, if you have read anything about Lincoln. He personally favored having African-American friends, of which he included Frederick Douglas, who thought Lincoln was great because he never loooked down on Douglas due to his color or otherwise. Lincoln feared whites generally would not accept former slaves as equals, so he offered African-Americans land to colonize for themselves, if they wished. Lincoln was pushing the then-radical position of voting rights for African-Americans as well. In negotiations with the Confederacy, he would not drop emancipation, even when he could have had the union back as a whole. Anyone who cares to know the real HONEST record of Old Abe can actually read the record, instead of passing on unfounded mtyhs perpetuated by confederacy-lovers. In any event, Lincoln was still FAR ahead on race equality than almost anyone back then. The most immediate difference with obama is that Lincoln told the truth, regardless, something obama can not do even about basic things in his life, like his friendships with domestic terrorists, to start.
Obama may ride in a Lincoln from there the comparison ends. Start comparing him to JC I mean the president in the 70′s not the religious figure. Dow down 332 a great cheer from the business community who see the storm clouds on the horizon. I’m awaiting the REAL great one, Bobby Jindal who will clean up this mess like Reagan did.
#9 Liti-Gator – Thanks for clearing that up. I get so tired of people claiming that Lincoln was a bigot. He helped found the Republican Party which had the express purpose of abolishing slavery.
Very funny ,best laugh Ive had in a long time ,Honest Obe, I love it
The train has left the station. Next, we should all buy little tiny cars and save our world from the horrible carbon evil. Remember folks, lets all be green and carpool. Tax rebate coupons for the useful idi… er, people.
We want action, not hyperbole.
Any white folk out there, learn to do right so the red folk can wear a headband or something like that. Sheesh!
You all have your tire gauges?
thegre8 1, I do have mine. But, I am waiting for my official government job placement before I start working it.
Abraham Lincoln – Barack Obama : NO comparison!
Liti-Gator, thanks for helping those who still don’t get it.
Lincoln was for the progression of African-Americans, and took a great deal of heat for it. Barack Obama has displayed the grossest display of how race is used. This whole inauguration days-long event was put on to show how great it was America elected a non-white. After all, Obama is mixed, just like his rhetoric. His speech, seemed like a conglamoration of past speeches. Another thing I find disgusting, is how everyone is painting him as having done something great and monumental, when in reality he hasn’t done ONE thing! Lincoln was a GREAT man, Obama is just a man.
“You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time.” Abe Lincoln
Honest ‘Obe’? Hardly. The guy lied to Brokaw’s face when he’d asked Obama on a Dec 7th interview,
‘Did you stop smoking’?
‘You know I have, but what I said was (past tense regarding an interview with Barbara Wawa) you know.. that there were other times I had fallen off the wagon.’
Couldn’t the guy have said, ‘No.’ He was back pedaling, stuttering when responding to this confrontation. Oy!
I find it hard to believe that seemingly intelligent people with brain cells connected could spew such garbage from there key-boards let alone from their mouths. Shame on you all. Give the man some time. Remeber it took Pres. McStupid and his croonies not even 8 years to put this country in such a state of shame. Why in God’s name would you except any one to fix it all in a day let alone in a year. I for one am so sick of people like you. If you dislike Obama so much maybe you should live in a differant country until his term is over. Those of us that love this country will work to bring it back from the mess that McStupid left it in. If you don’t want to help then leave. You people are like a ball and chain and want nothing more then to drag the rest of us down. If you don’t love it leave it! We tried it your way and where did it get us? In other words, shut the “H” up.
Obama should be wary of bigging himself up, after all the bigger they are, the harder they fall.
#19 kgaretson You’re kidding, right? How much time did the left give Bush? When 9/11 happened 8 months after Bush took office, most of his undrsecretaries had yet to be confirmed. The people were still screaming about the “stolen election”.
As for Obama, his actions so far have been ludicrous: one bad appointment after another. He dodged the issues of foreign affairs, leaving them to Bush, but had all kinds of things to say about the economy. He’s a canny politician, but that means he’s all talk and no action; no integrity. I will not give him a break. I demand that he perform every single day.
kgaretson, so you’re saying we should give Obama benefit of the doubt. Yet, your ‘McStupid’ nauseum is good decorum?
Perhaps I should play that ‘game’ too. It’s only fair, right? Hmm, let me see. How about, ‘Uhbama’ for this is how he sounds when not reading the teleprompter.
How about ‘Bambi’, due to his big ears.
How about, ‘Obummer’ because he wants to gouge my wife and I for higher taxes for being motivated to go to school and make a good living.
A buddy of mine calls him, ‘Rogeh’ (like ‘Roger’) from the same character’s name from the 70′s show, What’s Happenin.’ He believes they look alike. Though I don’t see it.
Do you remember when he tried to relating to urban folks in N.C. and portrayed Red Foxx’s ‘Fred’ character from Sanford & Son? He departed from his prepared remarks (hey, ‘Obamabot’ is another great nickname!) He was feigning ‘Fred’s’ heart attack bit and said, ‘I’m coming Weezie!’ Of course the woman’s name is ‘Elizabeth.’ Weezie being the nickname of the character ‘Louise’ in, The Jefferson’s.
Departing from a prepared speech and he can’t even ham it up correctly. Quite an improv, Mr. President!
Then again, it’s only a name, right? Wrong. It’s the President. Both former and current should be given the utmost respect. Perhaps it’s fun, ‘daring’ to call a former CiC childish names, but it’s small. We live in the most opportunistic, forever improving country in the world. Much of this is due to our leaders, present and past, making difficult decisions for which they know there is both positive and negative repercussions.
the 1st line of your comment exudes a disgusting aire of arrogance and self importance.
BTW, to further prove your ‘superiority’ with your self proclaimed ‘brain cells’ in the future, look up ‘there’ and ‘their.’ also ‘then’ and ‘than.’ It’s ‘keyboards’, ‘cronies’, ‘different.’
Lastly, save your stump speech for Republican actors who talk with such idiocy such as Alec Baldwin had. He’d said he’d leave the U.S if Bush won the ’01 election. Sigh.. he’s still here!
I am not American. However, I have a gut feeling that the people of America have been played for fools by a very slick individual.
There is no comparison between ubama and Lincoln. Ubama has done nothing except to prevaricate on important issues. He would sign orders to kill innocent human beings without thinking because it is what his leftist cronies desire.
Abraham Lincolm was a hated man when he was the President of the USA. He was courageous and he had conviction. That is something totally missing where ubama is concerned. OOps I really meant osama – get my drift.
He makes me sick. He is never doing anything except roleplaying. It’s impossible for him to be his own man, because he literally has no identity of his own.
All of his life he has been playing to some audience or other. The problem we have now is that he’s been given the most powerful stage on earth. Even the worst singer in the world, given the most powerful microphone, can get a following (think William Hung).
He is a dangerous, dangerous man. (And, just because I haven’t thought to mention it before, Rahm Emanuel is a complete jerk–did you catch the photo of him on imaculation day? What a jerk.)
The things these people are saying and implying about others are only exposing them, day after day. Sickening.
Bambi is no Abraham Lincoln. I’m a lifelong Republican, and I will take it much further: Bambi is no LBJ. Come to think of it, LBJ would not have given him the time of day. He might have picked him up the ears and put him out, just like the beagle.
What’s wrong with emulating someone you admire and respect? He’s trying to be a good President by using our best President as example to inspire him. I think it’s great. Lincoln has always inspired me as well. I think of him often. For the past 30 years I’ve been deeply moved by this man. I admire his wisdom, his leadership, his toughness, his writings, his humbleness, his unshakable strength, and his forward thinking. Obama never said he was like Lincoln, he said Lincoln inspires him, he said he has read Lincoln’s history, his writings, and studied his administration. It’s you losers who seem to find something wrong with that.
Dear Jack:For the last several months I’ve seen a corrupt,chicago street tough and demagogue,channel Lincoln to legitimize himself, and detract attention from his lack of achievementsand his abysmal ignorance of economics,history, and geopolitics.Obama can no more emulate Lincoln,than Bush could emulate Churchill.If you believe he has studied Lincoln, I have some real estate I’d like to sell you in Cuba.The fact that he won an election doesn’t prove anything other than a bare majority of American voters are as naive as you are.
Look out Nashville and Elvis; Here comes Obama! Well bless my soul, what’s wrong with me?
deguello, if you actually think helping kids get educated, being an advocate for the lower class, giving up high paying jobs to work in the community is a “chicago street thug”, then your perception of reality is so limited that any further comments from you will be ignored. Because obviously, your brain is not up to task of conversing with adults.
I derive a great deal of pleasure from reading comments left on blogs. They are usually educational, sometimes inspiring, and quite often an interesting representation of the brain connected to the fingers tapping on the “key-board.”
To Paul Unalaska: I was nodding my head as I read your response to kgaretson until I reached the last paragraph. I am sure you meant to say “Democrat actors” rather than “Republican actors.” It’s okay – you’re allowed a gaffe or two.
To kgaretson: if I had wanted to live in a socialist regime, well… that’s where I would be right now. The old cliche “if you don’t like it here, then leave” is a lazy way to debate such an important issue.
To Ralph Alter, writer of this intriguing blog: thank you for giving all of us something interesting to mull over.
“Honest Obe” just doesn’t work for me. I am going to call him “Omnibama.” He is all things to all people – in his own mind. He has all of the answers. He knows all sorts of things. He can say all kinds of words. He has all kinds of rhetoric memorized and at the ready so that he may use bites for all occasions.
He has it all now. The Man Behind the Curtain, the Master of Smoke and Mirrors, the Great Opaque One …
I “honestly” can’t figure out how anything about him can be compared to Lincoln. So what if they both moved around a lot during their childhood. So do millions of others (the term “Army brat” comes to mind).
So they both switched parties. The name “Joe Lieberman” comes to mind.
They both voiced their opposition to a war. We know what direction Lincoln went after that. We don’t know what direction Omnibama will go, but I think most of us smart people can predict his course.
Stumping in the south or not stumping in the south is not even comparable, given the vast differences between the 1860s and now.
Lastly, let’s talk about rhetoric. This word has a couple of different meanings. The first is to be able to use language, whether in writing or speaking, to effectively persuade. A secondary meaning is this: “Language that is elaborate, pretentious, insincere, or intellectually vacuous.” – The American Heritage College Dictionary.
Omnibama falls under the second definition.
Sorry this was so long. Sometimes I get carried away by my own rhetoric.
Hey let’s give Obama some credit here;It can’t be easy to do an impersonation of Lincoln when the person he’s really trying to impersonate is Hugo Chavez!