Iraq Debate: Things Abe Lincoln Did and Did Not Say

If President Lincoln said the following:

Congressmen who willfully take action during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs, and should be arrested, exiled or hanged

We should demand his portrait be removed for the $5 bill. But that’s why the face of J. Michael Waller is not in my wallet. Poor Congressman Don Young – C-Span runs how he was suckered by rightwingers such as Frank Gaffney.

But this is interesting:

Whigs in both the North and South generally opposed the war, while Democrats mostly supported it. Whig Abraham Lincoln contested the causes for the war and demanded to know the exact spot on which Thornton had been attacked and U.S. blood had been shed. He was quoted as saying “Show me the spot.”

Hat tip to Mark Kleiman for the post “Don Young: Let’s Hang Abraham Lincoln”.

We should also remember that Republicans – including John McCain – felt free to oppose the decisions of the Commander-in-Chief when the President’s name was Bill Clinton.