It is now so clear. It turns out that our President-elect, a tall, skinny guy from Illinois with great oratory skills and a cool, detached demeanor, thinks he's got a heck of a lot in common with Abraham Lincoln, another tall, skinny guy from Illinois with great oratory skills and a cool, detached demeanor. Both came from humble beginnings, and shared the sense that their position was one of destiny to unite a divided country. And clearly, one cannot miss the irony of the fact that Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation set the course for Obama to eventually reach the pinnacle of government in a nation that once enslaved African Americans. I'm willing to bet that during the campaign when he was sarcastically referred to by the far right as the second coming of Jesus Christ, Obama thought, "No, you idiots, I'm not the Messiah, I'm the second coming of Lincoln! And I'm gonna finish what he started."
Aside from the superficial coincidences, does Obama really share similarities and philosophies with Lincoln? Healthwise, Lincoln suffered deeply from what was referred to at the time as "melancholia", and is now know as depression. Since Obama has refused to release his medical records, we do not know if he too suffers from depression, or any other condition, for that matter. And while Obama makes much ado of his belief in Lincoln's leadership skills, we know nothing of Obama's abilities in that regard, as he has never held an executive position. His intent to create a Team of Rivals in his cabinet and amongst his advisors looks more and more like a Team of His Rival's Husband's Old Buddies. Virtually everyone named thus far has a connection to the Clinton White House. Are they really rivals the likes of whom Lincoln choose for his cabinet?
Lincoln, lest we forget, was also a Republican, with very conservative philosophies regarding the notion of redistribution of income. He would never have gone for Obama's proposed tax plan. This is where Obama must believe he is finishing off what Lincoln started. Lincoln freed the slaves, and now Obama wants to pay the African American community back for those past injustices by spreading the wealth around. Since blacks have a lower median income than whites, a higher percentage of them would enjoy the benefits of such a plan. Take from the rich whites, the surrogates of slave owners of years past, and give to the poor blacks. Obama undoubtedly believes that this is for the good of the country, just as Lincoln strongly believed keeping the union whole and freeing the slaves was worth all of the blood shed during the Civil War. Of course, Lincoln repeatedly demonstrated honesty and good judgement, something which Obama clearly lacks based on his fringe element associations and the fact that he has repeatedly lied about these connections. Thankfully, Abe's good character led us through an extremely precarious time in our country's history. We now face another huge challenge. Will the character of Barack Obama be enough to get us through this difficult time?
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