Lincoln? . . . Nah!

"So I said to him, 'Barack, I know Abe Lincoln,and you ain't him.'"

Hat Tip: Lucianne.com

Jesus Came In Second

From the Associated Press:

Americans named President Obama as their No. 1 hero, followed by Jesus Christ and Martin Luther King, in a new Harris poll.
Others in the top 10, in descending order, were Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Abraham Lincoln, John McCain, John F. Kennedy, Chesley Sullenberger and Mother Teresa.
People were asked whom they admired enough to call their heroes. Those surveyed were not shown a list of people to choose from. The Harris Poll was conducted online among a sample of 2,634 U.S. adults by Harris Interactive.
This question was first asked in a Harris Poll in 2001. In that survey Jesus Christ was the hero mentioned most often, followed by Martin Luther King, Colin Powell, John F. Kennedy and Mother Teresa.
The biggest changes upwards on this list into the top 10 since 2001, apart from Barack Obama, were:
— George W. Bush was rated only 19th in July 2001, when he had been president for six months, and is now number 5 on the list.
— John McCain, who was not in the top 20 in 2001, is now number 7.
— Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot who landed his jet safely in the Hudson River, is ranked number 9.
Heroes who were in the top 10 in 2001 who have fallen sharply this year include:
— Colin Powell, who was number 3 and is now number 16.
— John Wayne, who was number 8 and has dropped out of the top 20.
— Michael Jordan, who was number 9 and is no longer in the top 20.
— Mother Teresa, who was number 5 and is now number 10.

Why We Revere Lincoln

From Professor Walter Berns in the Wall Street Journal:

Our extraordinary interest in him, and esteem for him, has to do with what he said and how he said it. And much of this had to do with the Union -- what it was and why it was worth the saving. . . .

It is not by chance that his best and most celebrated speech was delivered on a battlefield, on the occasion of dedicating a cemetery filled with the graves of patriots. I speak, of course, of the Gettysburg Address.
It is brief, a mere 272 words, and could not have taken much more than five minutes to deliver. In its central passage, Lincoln says, "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here." Well, what little do we remember?
We remember he said that this nation was founded in 1776 with the Declaration of Independence and its principles. We remember this because of the unusual way he said it. Not 87 years ago, but "four score and seven." His Bible-reading audience assembled there (and afterwards) would surely have remembered what he said because in what he said they would have heard echoes of the 90th Psalm, where the psalmist says, "three score and ten," our years on this earth. They might also have thought -- as they probably were expected to think -- that our founding, if not sacred, was surely not profane.
This, too, we remember: Lincoln goes on to say that the brave men, living and dead, who struggled on this ground, this battlefield, had "consecrated" it better than he or anyone else could. Consecrated? Had made it sacred, a battlefield? As if they -- presumably the Union soldiers -- were fighting for the Lord? No, but their cause was great and noble.
We also remember Lincoln saying that their work was "unfinished," and that we, the living, should highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain and that this nation, "under God, shall have a new birth of freedom," and that government of, by and for the people shall not perish from the earth.
What little do we remember? In a word, and despite what he said, we remember everything he said. And we remember it because he took great pains to say it beautifully. . . .

We say that a man can be known by the company he keeps. So I say that a nation, a people, can be known and be judged by its heroes, by whom it honors above all others. We pay ourselves the greatest compliment when we say that Abraham Lincoln is that man for us.

Great Phrases In History

"Give me liberty or give me death." - Patrick Henry
"Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from
the Earth." -Abraham Lincoln
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." - Franklin D. Roosevelt
"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." -John F, Kennedy
"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" - Ronald Reagan
"Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice
will be done." -George W. Bush
"I can no more disown him than I can my
white grandmother." -Obama