Furthermore, Republicans twice managed to amend the Constitution, so that it now stated that everyone born in the United States is a citizen, that all citizens should have equal protection of the law, and that the right to vote couldn’t be denied because of race. And they required Southern states to legally enact many of these ideas — at least in principle — to be readmitted to the Union.

[ VOX, How Republicans went from the party of Lincoln to the party of Trump, in 13 maps ]

Learning as I go along, the best way to keep the mind agile, question all those ideas and beliefs that have piled up, throw out the useless, unused, excuses, and get on with it, and where on earth do we go from here? With the politics becoming polarized, the centre is now a wide-open zone no one wants to go. When liberty is not for all, or, least not for you, and you, and maybe even you.

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”

Abraham Lincoln

I wonder what old Abe would be thinking of the condition of his once grand old party, now overrun by those more interested in filling their own teacups, corruption infests politics, and any chance of constitutional union …to achieve an ideal of equal liberty under which all people could govern themselves and have “a fair chance in the race of life” is endanger of being forgotten, for good.

When you see those photos of them all together one is unconsciously reminded of the godlike stature of the characters, their other-worldliness, at the summit, with that master of their own domain look in the eye.

From creation until their successor, we swear our fealty, or not.

It’s a broad stroke one needs to make, but that sketch marks a division I see in politics of late, of the alt-right/left-wing galvanized, petrified mindset needing to throw a god up the food chain, unbeknownst to them that their mind doth create perhaps a monster, and you are what you ate, so it may just be too late.

Every nation gets
the government it deserves.

Joseph de Maistre,  (1 April 1753 – 26 February 1821)
Savoyard lawyer, diplomat, writer, and philosopher.

Oh, we shall see what the future may bring.

And, not one leader over the last decade or more has been immune from this stench of god-like grandeur, whether, for their ‘perfection’ or ‘imperfection’s’, it is the gold standard of what a leader has to be to get thrown higher up the pecking order. To reach the top, that summit shot, one must be a god oneself, or in one’s own mind.

Now, for sure, Canada acquired their very own big blue-eyed smiling and goofy outfitted god, but god-like none the less; perhaps more so to some, less so to others, but that is the Canadian way. Self-deprecating as we are, no god could ever be too powerful as to forget their place, as no Canadian would stand for it. Canadians may come off as all sweetness and light, but any politician who thinks they can go all vainglorious bastard will be swiftly kicked out on their arse.

It is hard to approach Lincoln cautiously. Modern ideals and needs make him too obviously and immediately relevant. Contemporary imperatives create an unbalanced story. Today his most arresting aspect is the commitment to equality. The Lincoln of recent years is the leader of the Union, whose foremost contributions consist in having freed the slaves, overcoming constitutional obstacles, and transcending the conservative impulses of mere Union-saving as he did so. He is the idealist for equality whose words remade America. [more]

Now, to be honest, until very recently I didn’t know this or Abe’s role in the creation of the Republican party, and that they ever stood for any of this. Never crossed my mind, and being I am often deep in the most ancient past, I missed this tidbit of American history, not surprisingly I guess.