The
letters column of our local McHenry
County, Illinois daily paper is always a wonderland of misinformation,
sputtering outrage, and personal axes to grind with occasional sanity thrown
in. To its credit, the paper is committed
to publishing all letter submitted that conform to its strict word count limit
and are not out-and-out libel, threatening or obscenity laced. Those they reserve for the comment posted to
articles and letters on line. So that
and a large reserve army of suburban Tea
Party devotees, racists, and Christians who cannot grasp why the
country isn’t governed by the Word of
God even when they put those words into God’s mouth, guarantees a memorable
letters column almost every day.
I
used to respond to various wild claims or slurs about as often as permitted—once
every 30 days. But I’ve slacked off in
recent years as I have other outlets for my own bloviations and I came to the
conclusion that I was talking to an impervious brick wall. The letters also often solicited anonymous phone
calls, threatening unsigned letters, and at least once a rock thrown at my
front window. Not that I let that dissuade
me.
Once
in a while the letters offer up such a fat opportunity that I am compelled
against my better judgment to respond. Take
this missive from Wednesday’s rag:
To the Editor:
Imagine how much
better our country would be if we just truly understood what Abraham Lincoln
said in these three short bits of wisdom:
1. You cannot
strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
2. You cannot
bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
3. You cannot
help the wage-earner by pulling down the wage-payer.
Remember, it is
not about the 1 percent of Americans. It is not about the 99 percent of
Americans.
It is about the
100 percent of Americans.
Frank
Musial
McHenry
Some
pitches come in belt high over the center of the plate, as big and fat as a
grape fruit aching to be sent over a distant outfield wall. This is how I connected:
To the Editor:
In a recent letter Frank Musial
of McHenry served up a quote from Abraham
Lincoln, the one that begins “You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening
the strong.” It may sound familiar, but
it was never uttered or written by the 16th President. It is a total fraud.
The alleged quote actually came
from Lincoln
On Limitations a 1942 pamphlet by William
J. H. Boetcker, a Presbyterian
minister. Although the publication
contained some genuine Lincoln quotes, it also included 10 written by Boetcker
himself and passed off as the Great
Emancipator’s. Scholars have scoured
the well documented letters, speeches, and documents by old Abe and were unable to find anything
remotely like it. Boetcker was indulging
in a late attack on the New Deal and
trying to recast the first Republican president
as a conservative businessman.
Over the years many folks of all
political persuasions, right and left alike, have put words into Lincoln’s
mouth in an attempt to shore up their own positions. And being human, many of us fall hook, line,
and sinker for those which confirm our own prejudices.
But Lincoln spoke and wrote quite
plainly for himself. He was the most
gifted wordsmith among our national leaders, as well as the most beloved.
Those who try to equate the Civil War leader with the modern, far
right Republican Party have to ignore the simple fact for his day and time
Lincoln was a liberal, as was his Party. They were opposed by the conservatives of his
day, both Southern Rebels and northern Democrats—the very people who mirror
today’s Tea Party.
Patrick Murfin
Crystal Lake
Two thumbs up.
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