According to the Washington Post's Michael Ruane and Nikita Stewart, President-elect Barack Obama's gimmick of tracing part of Abraham Lincoln's route to his 1861 inauguration is merely a sign of how much he esteems the 16th president:
Barack Obama has evoked Abraham Lincoln ever since launching his campaign at the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill.
Now he plans to arrive in Washington the same way that Lincoln did in 1861, with a train trip that will include stops, speeches and crowds along the way.
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"He's replicating the last leg of Lincoln's inaugural journey to Washington," said historian Harold Holzer, author of "Lincoln President Elect: Abraham Lincoln and the Great Secession Winter 1860-1861." "This guy's reverence for Lincoln has no bounds."
At no point did the notion that Obama's ego, not his selfless admiration of Lincoln, might be the real motive for Obama's riding the rails through Baltimore to the nation's capital.
But wait, it gets better.
Stewart and Ruane closed their December 16 Metro section front-pager with an enthusiastic note about a triumphal Obama entry into Washington from Yale historian David Blight. Blight's $1,800 in Obama donations since March 2007 were left unmentioned:
Yale historian David Blight, who suggested last month that Obama retrace Lincoln's inaugural train trip, said: "I think it's a great idea. . . . I'm amazed they're going to do it."
He noted that American history is filled with images of whistle-stop presidential candidates speaking from the back of train cars.
"In Lincoln's case, he had to sneak into Washington," Blight said. "In this case, Obama can come in triumph, one would assume."
The Post staffers also left out that Holzer, who serves as the senior VP of external affairs for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, is a big fan of Obama's Secretary of State-designee. According to OpenSecrets.org, Holzer gave $900 to Sen. Clinton (D-N.Y.) since September 2007.
The media's obsession with Lincoln/Obama comparisons is hardly new, but has really picked up steam since his November 4 victory.
In a November 19 CNN.com article entitled, "Can Lincoln's playbook help Obama in the years ahead," writer Ed Hornick put the question to Holzer, who essentially answered with a qualified "yes":
Harold Holzer, one of the country's leading authorities on Lincoln and the Civil War, said the state of the nation today may be a major barrier to putting in place Lincoln's playbook.
"Sen. Obama could have never contemplated a state leaving the country in reaction to his election, which was pretty rough. Lincoln could have never imagined nuclear war, the kind of foreign challenges that occur," Holzer said.
Holzer's new book, "Lincoln President-Elect: Abraham Lincoln and the Great Secession Winter 1860-1861," examines the period between his election and inauguration.
But Holzer said that although the nation's challenges may be different, "leadership comes not from experience alone or sometimes not from experience at all. It comes from a gravitas and self-deprecation and understanding of other people. It's going to be a very interesting period."
—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Train trip
December 16, 2008 - 12:44 ET by east tennessee johnHopefully, it won't be via Amtrack or the annointed one might not get there until the 2013 inauguration. His reverence for himself, in comparison to Lincoln is really more like it. Ths SOB HASN'T DONE SQUAT AND THE MSM COMPARES HIM TO LINCOLN. Can we have any more of a cult of the personality? Instead of Big Brother we get stuck with Brotha Barack. What a deal Apparently, the President-elect's grasp does not exceed his reach.
The only
December 16, 2008 - 12:47 ET by littlemissmuffinThe only way "That One" can be compared to Lincoln is when he's as dead as Lincoln.
"If we conservatives moved to those seven non-existent States, the government couldn’t find us and tax us to death!"
1 day isn't good enough
December 17, 2008 - 07:15 ET by DontFeedTheTrollsOh yeah, Lincoln said "Leave the Yukon SUV's at home and let's take the train.".
Right. Just more grandstanding by The Mutt In Chief. Did you know his coronation. . . . errr, inauguration is going to be a 4 day affair??
President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration will be a four-day affair
D
Keep the ILLEGALS out, join NumbersUSA to send free faxes to your reps.
Lincoln freed the slaves, was a republican
December 16, 2008 - 12:47 ET by upcountrywater(Obama is a democrat, )
AND HE WANTS NO PART IN THIS:
FREEDOM
1984
Will that be a coal fired train just like Lincoln's
It's a smashing
December 16, 2008 - 12:54 ET by motherbeltIt's a smashing idea!!
Because it's not about him, you understand.... it's all about the people! He's just "riding the wave."
He has to stop along the way.....he's doing this to honor them by giving them a chance to see him.
For a guy who constantly says it's not about him, he has spent more money creating settings and stagings with which to honor himself than anyone I can remember.
But he does it for the little people, you understand...to make them part of something grand....HIM.
Yes, the Allmighty
December 16, 2008 - 13:45 ET by Scuba DudeYes, the Allmighty Shahinshah coke-head Obama needs to create spectacle to distract the unwashed masses from the rot that is encroaching on this country. The Zero is doing a little smoke and mirrors to hide his ineptness by trying to resurrect the ghost of Abe Lincoln.
It's only money/and is it Green?
December 16, 2008 - 12:51 ET by CaringwhiteguySo what do you suppose the extra costs are for this little boondoggle for such things as security? Is the campaign (which still has about a gazillion dollars in the drawer) going to be paying for the secret service, local cops, temporary dislocation & closing down of local businesses, etc., or will this cost be absorbed by taxpayers like you and me?
And folks, unless the Chosen One is taking 1/2 of Chicago with him on the train how green will it be to pull him all the way from Illinois to DC?
Obama, master of self-deprecation
December 16, 2008 - 12:56 ET by SickofLibs"[Experience] comes from a gravitas and self-deprecation and understanding of other people."
Yeah, this sick parody of Lincoln's whistle stop tour is a another perfect example of Obama's "self-deprecation".
I can't wait to see what Obama's little squad of graphic artists are going to come up with for this.
A seal on the caboose
December 16, 2008 - 12:59 ET by Mica the Magnificent"choo-choo of the president elect"
mica -I like it
December 16, 2008 - 13:05 ET by SickofLibsmaybe needs a bit more gravitas:
Official Choo Choo of The Office Of The President Elect.
Sound Effects!
December 16, 2008 - 14:50 ET by heldmywPerhaps some SFX can cause the moving train make a sound like:
"Change n hope n change n hope n change n hope n change n hope n change n hope n change n hope n change n hope n change "
Obama had applied--
December 16, 2008 - 13:00 ET by misterbillObama had applied-- for a job as a redcap and just wanted to see how it would have been.
ego
December 16, 2008 - 13:02 ET by katainkentI can only imagine the conversation in which this idea was formed.
Are they going to place markers at all the trainstops next to the ones they have for Lincoln?
"part of what I'm hoping to introduce as the next president is a new ethic of [government enforced] responsibility" - B. Obama
How do you say,
December 16, 2008 - 13:37 ET by NorthCoasterHe's just jumped the shark?
→ Jump the shark
December 16, 2008 - 13:46 ET by Cool ArrowThat's nothing!
Bill Clinton jumped a Beluga Whale.
Wait....
December 16, 2008 - 13:56 ET by BlondeWasn't it Michelle O who jumped the beluga caviar train? You know...the one pulled by lobsters?
Can dems donors be called lobbyists too?
December 16, 2008 - 13:43 ET by szampO bet the MSM will call them investors.
Whistle-stop tours
December 16, 2008 - 13:56 ET by CobraManPresidents, President-Elects, candidates, and the various other political figures of the day made "whistle-stop" tours because that was the only time real people go to SEE the men who governed. There was no TV, there was no radio, photography was expensive, and rare, so these tours were necessary for the politicians to 'connect" to the people who supported them. In Lincoln's day, people traveled for days to see the President and President -Elect and trains were the only means available for the President-Elect to travel effectively.
Nowadays, such tours are no longer necessary as everyone sees Obama day in and day out, thanks to the constant barrage by the MSM, so this "tour" is just a publicity stunt, nothing more and nothing else.
Obama, you are just a media whore, a narcissist who revels in the adulation of others, and this blatant publicity stunt proves this beyond a shadow of a doubt!
Obama: My job is above my pay grade
MY TRASH MAN IS RUNNING!
December 16, 2008 - 13:57 ET by reelman46MY TRASH MAN IS RUNNING!
After
looking at the recent surge of incompetent unproven arrogant democrats
(Franken- C. Kennedy-Obama) seeking the presidency and congress its
obvious…the qualifications bar is now on the ground!
As Klinton lowered the personal morality bar to the floor for any
future president the democrats are once again trying to put forth as
many low-achievers as possible (while trashing governors Palin and
Romney, go figure)…such a great strategy…find a sock puppet (like
Obama) and without any real achievements…they have soooo little to
undergo scrutiny then seal all their records since grade school, what a
great advantage. Less CYA for the diaper-changing lib-media too. Its a
2-fer.
It takes the modern liberal democrat to raise low-achievement to high honor status qualifying you for national office.
Its pathetic, its terrifying, its modern secular socialist thinking. I repeat myself.
Doug Schexnayder, Ph.D. (theconservativecrawfish)
I suppose what we will
December 16, 2008 - 14:07 ET by ConservativeRexI suppose what we will be watching, is a literal and actual train wreck of an administration.
Pour the coal to her!!
the "change" Train
December 16, 2008 - 14:09 ET by east tennessee johnThe first with his own plane embellum the first with his own "office of the President-elect" signs, maybe the first to be impeached before taking the oath if Blago really sing a holiday tune. Please Santa .
i wonder
December 16, 2008 - 14:50 ET by larry on LIwill he go back the way lincoln did? my bad
Obama will be bringing lots of stuff with him
December 16, 2008 - 14:53 ET by c5thenHe'll be bringing lots of expectations, lots of pomp, lots of imagery...
In fact there are only two things he won't be bringing with him...
Experience and Constitutional legitimacy.
Hey, I got the wrong "CHANGE"!
Alan Keyes / Sarah Palin - 2012
Lincoln?
December 16, 2008 - 15:00 ET by A Typical PatriotNot if he lived to a hundred would Hussein ever be another Lincoln. He has already reached the distinction of being another H Chavez though.
Enviro-friendly??
December 16, 2008 - 15:13 ET by Hardknox503I wonder what all the Greens will say about this train tour and its impact on the environment? Most likely nothing. You won't hear a peep from them because they can't dare question the Messiah. Plus, its for "the good of the people" so its ok.
Kind of like how Al Gore gets a pass for having a carbon footprint the size of Rhode Island. He needs that Gulfstream IV to "raise awareness" about the state of the environment. After all its "for the good of the people", right?
I think I just threw up in my mouth.........
December 16, 2008 - 15:28 ET by true_texanThere's no comparison between the two. This is getting really old, really quick.
With Obamessiah, it's all about SPECTACLE!!!
December 16, 2008 - 15:45 ET by PrairieSkyGeez, this man LOVES spectacle, doesn't he?
I don't like grandstanders...I never have. I don't like publicity hounds or spotlight seekers...With types like this, it's always all about them. Unfortunately, we are about to have a president who lives for SPECTACLE.
First, we had the Obama "presidential seal." Then we had the "I love me" fest spectacle in Berlin. Next came the ridiculously overdone acceptance speech spectacle at the DNC. And let's not forget the "Obama oval office" campaign speech spectacle right before the election. On election night, we were treated to yet another spectacle with the "congratulations to me" victory speech in Grant Park.
And yesterday, we were told the plans for the "Inauguration Train" spectacle, which will bring "The One" to Washington for his coronation/inauguration. Obamessiah has, from the beginning of his campaign, had an outrageous affinity for attaching and comparing himself to President Lincoln and his legacy.
This phony pretender wants the whole world to see him as he obviously sees himself...As a 21st century black Lincoln.
As if...
"...peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever." President Ronald Reagan~ January 20, 1981
Yeah, he's making the Roman
December 16, 2008 - 15:51 ET by SickofLibsYeah, he's making the Roman emperors look like shrinking violets.
SoL..."Roman emperors..." Kinda makes a person believe in...
December 16, 2008 - 16:16 ET by PrairieSkyreincarnation, doesn't he???
"...peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever." President Ronald Reagan~ January 20, 1981
No, no, Prairie....you
December 16, 2008 - 15:51 ET by motherbeltNo, no, Prairie....you misunderstand....He always says "it's not about me!" No, it's about the "little people" you know.
The spectacle is all for them...so they can be a part of something big! And what's that something big? HIM, of course!
He can't deny his subjects their desire to pay him homage!!
It's all for the little people....it's not about him.....
I seriously think I'm gonna hurl.....
Hey, mb...
December 16, 2008 - 16:12 ET by PrairieSky"I seriously think I'm gonna hurl..."
Perfect. And grab another bucket for me...and for all the other "little people," too. It's gonna be a looonngg four years, and me thinks that we're going to need 'em.
Brother...
"...peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever." President Ronald Reagan~ January 20, 1981
Comparing BARRKY to President Lincoln is INSULTING to any
December 16, 2008 - 16:18 ET by Jaykestudent of history. For one BARRKY is an ILLEGAL ALIEN. I know its only a tabloid but didn't the Enquirer "break" the John Edwards scandal? Look at the Globe Magazine front page:
http://www.globemaga...
ILLEGAL ALIEN. ILLEGAL PRESIDENT.
OMG...barf-bag
December 16, 2008 - 16:31 ET by bigtimerOMG...barf-bag time...again.
I will not listen to one second of this empty-suit, sock-puppet, show-boating enemy within...
...and we thought Clinton was bad.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
bt..."...and we thought Clinton was bad..."
December 16, 2008 - 16:39 ET by PrairieSkyExactly...As bad a publicity and camera hog as Clinton was, Obama looks to have him beat...Big time.
I have already made the decision not to watch, if at all possible, any of this attention-getting gimmicky stunt. That goes for the inauguration speech, too. I am already sick to death of Obama, and he hasn't even been sworn in yet.
Geez...
"...peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever." President Ronald Reagan~ January 20, 1981
Hi Sky... Same
December 16, 2008 - 16:53 ET by bigtimerHi Sky...
Same here...
...by the way, speaking of being sworn in, that in-itself is going to be a tragedy as far as I am concerned, he isn't a legal citizen..and nobody cares...why it's immaterial as I heard one talking head say not long ago...the other said what does it matter? This was in response to a caller on C-SPAN that managed to get through the usual dim-witted nuts that call on the usual phone bank, and believe me, the majority that call in are just that, dim-witted.
For me the Washington Journal had dumbed down itself, purposely...a show I used to hate to miss, I would be sure and get up early in the morning for over 15 years, not anymore, not for the last two years or more...I catch what I can, when I want, if at all.
I just shake my head.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
Hi bt...I've been wondering...
December 16, 2008 - 17:09 ET by PrairieSkyif I was the only one who thought that Washington Journal had indeed dumbed down in recent years...I'm glad to know I'm not.
And you're right about the dim bulbs that have been calling in. It's clear based on the callers that have made it on-air of late, that I'd say the average IQ is definitely suffering. Some of the stuff that I heard during the election just stunned me. After hearing some of the ill and/or un-informed garbage that many "out there" seemed to believe, I knew it didn't bode well for the results of this election.
"...peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever." President Ronald Reagan~ January 20, 1981
maybe that's the whole point after all..
December 16, 2008 - 16:53 ET by UndercoverConservative"we thought Clinton was bad"...so after 4 years of BO, the country won't have a problem with another Clinton.
Just like how fascism and dictatorship often come after the government has allowed corruption and social decay, the people grasp at *anything* to stop the rot and bring the trains on time.
The American people will be practically *begging* for Clinton before this is over...
"to call an illegal immigrant an "undocumented alien" is the same as calling a streetcorner drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist".
"You spend your money anyway you want and respect other's rights to do the same"
UC..."The American people..."
December 16, 2008 - 17:14 ET by PrairieSky"...will be practically *begging* for a Clinton before this is over..."
Bite your tongue...
"...peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever." President Ronald Reagan~ January 20, 1981
I wonder what he thinks of this quote?
December 16, 2008 - 17:13 ET by Dragonsbreath"I will say
then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in
anyway the social and political equality of the white and black races -
that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of
negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with
white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a
physical difference between the white and black races which I believe
will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social
and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they
do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior,
and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior
position assigned to the white race. I say upon this occasion I do not
perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position
the negro should be denied everything." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln
edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, "Fourth Debate with Stephen A.
Douglas at Charleston, Illinois" (September 18, 1858), pp. 145-146.
Dragon
December 16, 2008 - 19:17 ET by littlemissmuffinWOW!! Where did you ever find this quote?
Brilliant!
"If we conservatives moved to those seven non-existent States, the government couldn’t find us and tax us to death!"
Dragonsbreath...It is...
December 16, 2008 - 20:23 ET by PrairieSkya fact, likely unknown to some, that as wonderful a president as Lincoln was, he was not always a champion of equality for blacks.
Fortunately, his views did change, and he went on to become "The Great Emancipator."
"...peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever." President Ronald Reagan~ January 20, 1981
Db... Hey, I just got
December 16, 2008 - 20:36 ET by bigtimerDb...
Hey, I just got done watching a documentary about four or five months ago somewhere that had these exact words, along with quite a few others...it was a well done show.
Thanks for the reminder.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
Is this a reenactment of
December 16, 2008 - 21:45 ET by Dan DiegoIs this a reenactment of Lincoln's trip or a repeat of the OJ chase?
Whenever the greatness of
December 17, 2008 - 01:10 ET by maggieqpublicWhenever the greatness of the Lincoln Presidency is brought up, my spouse of 34 years demands to know why such a great President was unable to preserve the Union and prevent the bloodbath known as the Civil War. (There have been some great debates at our place over the years.)
But there is something so phony about this Lincoln/Obama thing. What exactly are the alleged virtues common to both men?
Evening maggieq... ...and
December 17, 2008 - 01:17 ET by bigtimerEvening maggieq...
...and my answer is Zilch.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh