The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : A New Birth of Pomposity

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The ghost of Abraham Lincoln looms large over the coming inauguration of Barack Obama...or so they keep telling us. This piece from Bloomberg is an interesting compendium of the supposed symmetry between the 16^th and 44^th presidents.

"Both of them were born to modest circumstances," says former Democratic New York Governor Mario Cuomo, an amateur Lincoln historian.

Obama's childhood, as the son of a single mother who sometimes relied on food stamps, is a modern analogue of Lincoln's log-cabin upbringing.

It's interesting to know that being the son of a single mother who sometimes relied on food stamps is now analogous to being reared in log cabins in the wilds of Kentucky and Indiana by an uneducated farmer.

Spectator readers will probably also get a kick out of the last paragraph:

"To the extent that he's emulating any president, Lincoln is about as good as it's going to get," Wilentz says. "If he was trying to emulate Calvin Coolidge, that would be a problem."

Anyone uncomfortable with a trillion dollar "stimulus" might be tempted to disagree.

In any case, it is worth pointing out that the portion of Lincoln's inaugural trail Obama is copying was actually altered at Allen Pinkerton's urging after rumors of plots to kill to soon to be president sprouted. In the end, Lincoln, in his own words, snuck into Washington"like a thief in the night." Hardly the arrival Obama would want to emulate. Still, it is no surprise if the president elect's advance team are unaware of this: Obama and his presidential choreographers seem to struggle with the little details of the glorious parts of U.S. history they so freely appropriate.

View all comments (33) | Leave a comment

Alexander A. K. Hoggsbuckel IV| 1.17.09 @ 6:42PM

I was born and raise by a single parent. Hence, from this date forward, please refer to me as Abraham Lincoln II.

Jeremiah| 1.17.09 @ 9:16PM

Spectator readers --

Before you begin frothing, keep in mind that it was a piece written about Obama that compared his upbringing (absurdly) to Lincoln's.

Obama did not say this of himself. I've listened to the man in dozens of interviews, and he seems pretty modest to me.

SSpartacus| 1.18.09 @ 4:07AM

Let us not forget that Lincoln's presidency started a Civil War. A nasty detail Obama forgets.

Deborah| 1.18.09 @ 4:57AM

Well, Lincoln freed the slaves. Maybe Obama will free us slaves: the taxpayer. No, don't think so.

John Frary| 1.18.09 @ 5:46AM

I hope we may be allowed to froth at the mouth a bit over the blather of the hagiographers (FROTH, FROTH).

Publia| 1.18.09 @ 7:30AM

Jeremiah, saying Obama is modest is about the same as saying that a person who surrounds himself with thieves is honest. I certainly hope Obama is in charge of his own people, and I am sure he is. The fact that he allows this talk to go on means that he cannot be modest at all, or he would stop them doing it.

Of course, I'm from Illinois and we have had years to study the guy.

Jeffrey A. Kneer| 1.18.09 @ 8:36AM

Yes an article started all this second coming of Lincoln non-sense but Obama himself has also tried extensively to emulate one of the finest leaders this country ever produced. Obama kicks off his campaign in the same area as Lincoln came from, the numerous quotes and words spoken by Obama that first appeared during Lincoln's days as our president, and now the famous rail trip to Obama's throne. I find it quite troubling when a 21st. century leader is trying so desperately to fill the shoes of a 18th century hero. All this hoopla is setting a certain new president up for a terrible failure and preparing a nation of cultists for a dangerous reckoning when all that has been promised does not materialize. I would much rather have a leader that is comfortable being himself than who seems so rapped up in becoming some one else. Which leads me to ask, who is Barrack Obama and exactly what does he stand for? STAY TUNED.......

DONAL| 1.18.09 @ 10:21AM

Doesn't anyone think it's hysterical that, out of all the presidents he might choose to emulate, he chooses the first REPUBLICAN president? What's not so hysterical is that he just wants to abolish habeas corpus the way Lincoln did. He's inching closer and closer to it by 'becoming' him. Oh, and he wants all the honor and glory Lincoln got, too... with Obama, that's a given.

ConservativeWanderer| 1.18.09 @ 10:29AM

What's really funny, Donal, is that Lincoln was routinely excoriated during his time in office--and from both sides!. The pro-slavery Copperheads attacked him for wanting to free the slaves, and the pro-abolition Republicans accused him of moving too slowly.

One wonders if Obama is ready for that sort of vitriol from both sides, and if he has the cojones to accept it as well as Lincoln did. I suspect the answer to both is "no."

JP| 1.18.09 @ 10:40AM

The President-elect loves the poses. Remember the Berlin speeches before the Victory Column? Hints of FDR, Lincoln, Bismark, Mussolini, Moses, Jesus, and Elmer Gantry.... who is this man from Illinois (or is it Hawaii?)? The Man Who's Name Shall Not Be Mentioned promised change, but when his back was put against the wall, he decided to on a Clinton Redux. There are so many Clinton holdovers in his inner circle and cabinet that I was looking to see if Monica was hidden in some cranny of the EOB. The Annointed One is suffering from an Identity Crisis. I don't think anyone knows much less Him who fills Obama suits.

Thus far, we are being assured that Obama will govern like Bush43, Clinton, FDR, and well...FDR. He is bound to continue funneling the remainder of the TARP money at our crumbling banks, and promises $850 billion on everything from fighting whores in Dayton to running fibre optic cables into the Mohave. Every interest group from corn farmers in Alaska to pornographers in Simi Valley will get a cut of the billions now being printed. And when that fails, look for Stimulus II (probably another trillion smackers) to a lobbiest near you. Hopefully $2.7 trillion will be enough to jumpstart enough job creation to save the butts of the Dems and The Maximum Leader during the November 2010 Mid-terms.

That's the Plan. After this week all eyes turn to November 2010. Let the cheerleading begin. The Plan can be reduced to getting the Dems through the mid-terms and building enough momentuem for a 4 term Obama Presidency (or is a 4 term reign?)

WendyG| 1.18.09 @ 11:50AM

Lincoln? He's more like Nero, with his most expensive inauguration ever, while we are in a "near-depression." Fiddle Obama, fiddle.

Interloper| 1.18.09 @ 2:41PM

It is good to see push bar against the far Right's contempt for President Lincoln. The neo-Confederate contingent holds him responsible for the Civil War (according to them, it had nothing to do with slavery) and the existence of the federal government. Anything they say about The Great Emancipator, including the drivel in this short piece, is tainted by their disdain.

President-elect Obama's similarities to President Lincoln include:

• Coming from modest circumstances in their respective times,

• Being excellent thinkers, writers and orators,

• Doing what my law professors called 'thinking like a lawyer,' i.e. an analytical approach that considers interests, compromises, and consequences,

• Having to deal with trying economic times, wars and a backward part of the population trying to obstruct progress on all fronts,

• Heightened security risks, and

• Being parents of young children while presidents and the special concern that brings.

To say the two do not have much in common is to be quite wrong.

Jim Treacher| 1.18.09 @ 3:21PM

"Being parents of young children while presidents and the special concern that brings."

I thought that was a drawback. That's what we were told about Palin, at least.

ConservativeWanderer| 1.18.09 @ 5:19PM

One point, Interloper... Lincoln didn't need a teleprompter to keep him from sounding like an idiot (they didn't have teleprompters in the 1860s, in case you were clueless about history).

Did Lincoln ever get confused about how many states there were? Obama seems to think it's 58 (57 plus one he hasn't visited).

If Lincoln had lived during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, would have have thought that we needed to transfer Arabic translators to Afghanistan, where they don't speak Arabic? Cause that was one of Obama's criticisms of the Iraq war, that it took translators away from Afghanistan.

If they'd had inhalators and breathalyzers during Lincoln's administration, would he have known which one was used for asthma treatments? Cause Obama did, suggesting that a young asthma patient needed a breathalyzer.

Yeah, great orator, that Obama... as long as he has his speech floating in the air in front of him.

Jeremiah| 1.18.09 @ 6:44PM

Conservative Wanderer --

Think a minute. How many years to you suppose need to pass before it will be anything but laughable for a "conservative" to mock Obama's oratory?

Where have you been for the past eight years?

Bush's failures as an orator were more than just aesthetic blemishes. In a time of war, our president could not explain why and whom we were fighting. It was a disgrace.

Although the president often meant well, his inability to complete thoughts in proper sentences drastically damaged this country.

Leadership is eloquence.

Raoul Ortega| 1.18.09 @ 8:26PM

The Big Zero! (pbuh) and His supporters can't compare Him to the Democrats of Lincoln's era now, can they? That might remind people which party was responsible for slavery, succession, segregation when they weren't Copperheads.

Interloper| 1.18.09 @ 9:18PM

Wanderer,

The teleprompter myth is one of the most laughable the far Right relies on. President-elect Obama does not use a teleprompter as often as most politicians and writes his own speeches most of the time.

He may have included territories, or his visits to places with citizens abroad when he said '57 states.' Or, maybe he just misspoke. Regardlessly, it is no biggie.

Your other claims are so obscure that only a Right Wing moonbat would be aware of them.

The fact that your 'complaints' are so lacking in substance confirms that you have nothing to complain about.

Fo0| 1.18.09 @ 9:32PM

Do not deify this charlatan until you see and understand what his agenda is. You will be shocked.

ruth| 1.18.09 @ 9:32PM

It's true that President Bush didn't deliver a lot of pretty speeches like Pres. Elect Obama; words didn't roll off his tongue as easily. But he kicked butt and took names when it came time to protect our country from terroism for the last 7 1/2 years. Let's hope that Obama is good at more than just eloquence in front of a teleprompter. I'd take substance over style anyday.

Frosty| 1.18.09 @ 9:36PM

Interloper is such a huge Obama brown-noser I don't know whether to laugh or throw up. Dude, how'd you survive before 'The One' appeared among us?

ConservativeWanderer| 1.18.09 @ 10:23PM

Interloper, you'd best meet Obama's official speechwriter.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/84756

Isn't that kind of like having a maid and then claiming you still scrub your own toilets "most of the time"?

You've reached the lunatic lefty fringe, Interloper... I think I'll start ignoring you "most of the time" (using the same definition of "most of the time" that applies to how often Obama writes his own speeches).

Patscholar| 1.18.09 @ 10:51PM

Jeremiah and Interloper - two Soros trolls on the AS blogs. Obama was raised in a priviliged home by his grandparents who spent thousands every year to put him through an exclusive college prep high school. Lincoln read at night in front of the fire after splitting rails, planting crops, etc. etc. all day long. Since when is a welfare dead beat analagos to Lincoln. There is absolutely no sewer or toilet too deep that Marxist liars don't inhabit it and suck up the swill all day long, and then spit it out all over the Marxist media. No wonder the Marxist Socialist Newspapers stink to high heaven.

ruth| 1.18.09 @ 11:14PM

Interloper lies constantly. Obama's misinformation campaign is still going strong and this tool is still on the payroll.

ConservativeWanderer| 1.19.09 @ 8:26AM

Hey, Interloper... here's more on Obama's vaunted speech-writing skills:

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/01/obama_finalizes_inaugural_spee.php

I notice an awful lot of work being done by Jon Favreau, not Obama.

Favreau delivered the first draft of the speech.

Favreau meets with Obama to discuss the speech.

Favreau then delivered the SECOND draft of the speech.

Now Favreau is doing the final editing.

Not much actual speechwriting being done there by The One True Obama, is there? To modify slightly what I said before, Obama is in the position of one who has a maid yet says that he keeps the toilet clean because he flushes.

You've been proven not only wrong, but spectacularly wrong once again. Time to disappear into your hole at DailyKOS for a while... you can pop back up in a few days like you always do.

bluecollarbytes| 1.19.09 @ 8:28AM

Obama, having no American traditions himself to draw upon, has been cloaking himself with memories of Lincoln to M L King. His distant unknown relatives get thrown in to the fill holes.

His claim that "Anything Is Possible In America" is not a reassurance but a warning. He means it.

Interloper| 1.19.09 @ 11:36AM

Wanderer,

I did not say soon to be President Barack Obama does not have a speechwriter on staff. I said that he writes many of his own speeches and is a great orator. Among the speeches Obama wrote from scratch is the one on race relations that will go down in history.

The claim of the far Right that Obama, a brilliant man, is actually stupid, is the kind of racist foolishness that one hopes to see the end of soon.

I suggest you wander over to a mainstream source and watch the pre-inauguration festivities. You need a dose of reality.

blue,

Obama's maternal ancestors have been in the U.S. at least since the 1700s. He is, in fact, related to the horrid Dick Cheney. It is doubtful that your own American ties date back that far. Most white Americans are descended from 19th and 20th century immigrants.

ruth| 1.19.09 @ 12:04PM

Interloper, you said Obama writes MOST of his own speeches, now you backtrack and say he writes many. Caught in another lie again--you are the moonbat. Frosty is right; you are an Obama brown noser. Tool.

KS| 1.19.09 @ 12:59PM

Obama's college-student mother may have been eligible for food stamps, but they were also helped by his grandmother, who worked at the Bank of Hawaii. And, of course, Obama attended elite private schools. The comparison with Lincoln's circumstances is flawed.

Interloper| 1.19.09 @ 1:15PM

President-elect Obama attended elite private schools with the help of scholarships. His grandmother was never able to afford college for herself. Obviously, persons born centuries apart will differ because their times differ, but both Lincoln and Obama faced challenges, some of them similar.