Nine score and 19 years ago (199 years) one of our nation’s great leaders was born in Hodgenville, Kentucky. Abraham Lincoln would serve as America’s 16th president, and America’s first Republican President, during one of our nation’s darkest hours.
The Republican Party was founded in large part because of commitment to moral principle — specifically, opposition to slavery. As this history of the Republican Party makes clear, the principles of freedom and equality contributed to Republican support for women’s suffrage.
Lincoln’s Gettysburg address is a stirring reminder of the principles of our nation, and of the beliefs of the first Republican President. As Republicans continue to vote tonight on their 2008 presidential nominee, take a moment on Lincoln’s 199th birthday to gather the kids and be reminded of what we stand for.
Len,
Your analysis only works if you believe the Civil War was about slavery. The war wasn’t about slavery. The war was about state rights vs. federal rights.
And, of course, the Republican party, generally, has actually upheld state rights over federal rights.
The mantra, “Local government is the best arbiter of what needs to be dealt with locally” is a Republican slogan.
Taking your line on the Republican Party as the party for freedom, many Republicans have argued for the pro-choice position. I don’t agree with them, however, I do understand how they might come to this conclusion.
However, if you argue that the argument against Slavery was really a ‘pro-life’ argument (which comes through the movie, Amazing Grace, which I watched last evening), then I think you can make an apriori case for the abolition of slavery and anti-abortion coming from the same root.
Just some thoughts.