Obama Returning To Springfield Next Week To Honor Lincoln

WASHINGTON — Barack Obama is heading back to his home state for the first time as president.

The White House says he will travel to Springfield, Ill., on Feb. 12 in honor of one of his heroes, Abraham Lincoln.

Presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs said Monday that Obama will attend the commemoration of Lincoln's 200th birthday and speak at a banquet in Springfield. The spokesman says Obama is returning to Illinois for the festivities at the request of Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin.

Comments

[joebhed]

One can only hope.

The TRUTH from Honest Abe:

""I have two great enemies, the southern army in front of me and the financial institutions in the rear. Of the two, the one in my rear is the greatest foe. The Government should create, issue and circulate all the currency and credit needed to satisfy the spending power of the Government and the buying power of consumers. Money will cease to be master and become the servant of humanity. Democracy will rise superior to the money power."" - Abraham Lincoln.

If Obama decides to deal with "the financial institutions at his rear", then he will acknowledge Dennis Kucinich's call for abolishing the private federal reserve banking system in favor of a democratic­ally-contr­olled public money system, as Lincoln did with Greenbacks.

Said the Bank of England's scribes at the Times:
"" If this mischievous financial policy (issue of Lincoln Greenback notes) shall become indurated down to a fixture, then that Government will furnish its own money without cost. It will pay off its debts and be without debt. It will have all the money necessary to carry on its commerce. It will become prosperous without precedent in the history of the world. The brains and the wealth of all countries will go to North America. That government must be destroyed or it will destroy every monarchy on the globe."" - Editorial, The Times

Nuff said.

[rizvisa1]

Isnt he just a bit tad too much obsessed with Abe ?. Just waiting when he will sport Abe beard :)

[psychmaj323]

"The spokesman says Obama is returning to Illinois for the festivities at the request of Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin."

This last line is key...

[PippiLongstocking]

Come on, you know of plenty folks on here can't read.

[Catjya]

If you were a student of history,in particular American history,you would understand why Pres Obama likes Lincoln's Presidential style. Lincoln history is deep.There­'s a reason for the Lincoln Memorial tribute.
Do you know why the civil war was fought? Most think it was to free slaves,it wasn't the reason.
What connection did John Wilkes Booth have to the Reason the civil war was fought
?
I don't expect you to answer but the knowledge you get about Lincoln in finding the answers,will give you insight into Pres Obama admiration of Pres Lincoln.

[CitizenFarmer]

I'm new to this site. Here is what the farmers in Paola Kansas think about the situation with Obama and change. I travel to Paola a couple of times a week and stop off at the local coffee shop (bad thing is that I'm concerned about naming the place) to talk with the guys who have been going there forever and to get advice on my businesses. Here is what we tend to think: first, we like Obama, he was born without a silver spoon and he worked his ass of to get where he is - while we like Obama (we don't like Biden and we really don't like Rahm; he is a jerk) - contrary to the beliefs of a lot of the government, we are not racist in Kansas; Obama's grandmother was born in Kansas; the government treats us like fly-over-land not giving a crap about farmers (same with Bush, same with Obama - no politics or race stuff). The biggest crap shoot in business is being a farmer; yet, we feed the world. Obama does not have a big farm guy, or small farm guy (like me) in his administration. Anyway, as the new elite and the old elite talk about change, no change, etc. please do not forget who grows the animals and plants that feed you.

[FebM]

I hear you, but I believe there are easier channels to get to the Obama administration for a fair hearing than other administrations. Why not get together a delegation of some of these farmers to washington. Its true all Wall street can collapse but the tomatoes growing do not ask for much yet we never pay due respect to the producers.

great post

[eden4barack08]

How about the nomination of a governor from a farm state for Secretary of Agriculture? Reaction to Vilsack's nomination from agricultural groups was largely positive and included endorsements from the Corn Refiners Association, the National Grain and Feed Association, the National Farmers Union, the American Farm Bureau Federation, and the Environmental Defense Fund. How was it received there?

Anyway nice to hear that you all like President Obama, as he always says, he was raised with Kansas values. Btw, his mother was also born in KS, and grandpa too, not just grandma.

[1dogs2]

Welcome, Farmer (but will you still be here in the spring, if it ever comes?).

The comment below this one points out that O will have a high-profile "farm guy" in his administration. What kind of change do you want to see with respect to farm issues? Since you're a "small farm guy," I assume you'd like to see policies that keep family farms from being swallowed up by mega-farms. Any ideas about how to accomplish that? Send them to O at www.whitehouse.gov. He likes ideas.

[NevadaDem]

I think it is wonderful that Barack Obama is paying so much attention to the 200th Birthday of Abraham Lincoln.

It shows Barack Obama's deep respect for our former President and hopefully it sparks some interest in the American public to do some reading up on our 16th President. I got a book at the library on Lincoln myself!!!!

[Opt1musPr1me]

Just an excuse to fly on Air Force One.

[Indie2008]

I believe Air Force One is taken on flights routinely, with or without the President. At least his destination of choice isn't Iraq.

[Opt1musPr1me]

What?

[1dogs2]

Or Crawford or Dallas.

[LeeCalif]

Lincoln's dead. Enough Lincoln cr@p.

[Emlyn]

Quiet, please.

[teepeeyoyo]

16 was great 17 through 43 not so much.

[firstandlast]

Du fus Go ober

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/08/04/Mad%20cover.jpg

[Douglas1966]

I'm glad that Obama is honoring Lincoln. I only hope that he saves Lincoln's inheritance of openness and transparency at the Department of State, the Foreign Relations of the United States series: http://hnn.us/articles/60911.html.

[socalgal59]

Yet another excuse for Obama to obsess over Lincoln.

Rather than obsess over Lincoln, Obama should emulate him by actually adhering to a set of ethically standards. For example, Obama might reconsider his decision to allow the CIA to continue the appalling practice of rendition.

Truly, how can the leader of the free world support torture--especially torture by proxy?

[LeeCalif]

Thank you.

[mb32]

You should watch Rachel M's segment tonight on the renditions. I don't think things are as nefarious as the "leaks" have made them seem.

[1dogs2]

You need to address your question to Bush and learn the distinction between "rendition," as practiced by administrations going back to Reagan, and "extraordinary rendition" as practiced by the Bushies, which included torture by proxy and which has been absolutely forbidden by O by executive order.

[antaeus]

Enough with the team-of-rivals historical campiness. Fix the economy already.

[1dogs2]

You sound like the radical Republicans of Lincoln's day whose message was "fix slavery already." Easier said than done.

[JZ735]

Historians have pointed out that the only thing Obama and Lincoln share is that they were Senators from the same state...th­e comparison ends there...it is amazing that he is still trying to milk this comparison which is farfetched, off the wall and plain historically wrong...en­d it!

[Oceanicing]

Some historians (like Tom Schwartz, historian at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library) see a continuity between the 16th and 44th presidents. Others are adopting a wait-and-see approach, which seems sensible - it is in his execution of the office that we'll see how far the comparisons extend.

I'm intrigued by the Team-of-Rivals references. Those familiar with the issues around Lincoln's appointments of political expediency (e.g. Simon Cameron) and to quell rivals (e.g. S P Chase) would realise just how difficult his war cabinet was. Comparisons between the Seward and Clinton S.O.S appointments are interesting for many reasons.

Lincoln's eloquence during the Lincoln-Douglas debates brought him to national prominance and the notice of party officials and initiated the Lincoln-fo­r-Presiden­t push. Obama's eloquence at the 2004 Democratic convention brought him to national attention and eventually the candidacy. I saw similarities between Obama's inaugural address and Lincoln's final address of April 11, 1865. Each faced crowds who wanted something exultant to match the euphoric mood but felt obliged, while acknowledging the historical nature of the moment, to temper expectations and sound a sober note.

Obama may invite comparisons to Lincoln, but I don't think we should forget that he also genuinely draws inspiration from the 16th President. As Yale Lincoln scholar and author David Blight said, "Presidents always invoke history. Candidates always invoke history. But they often don't do it in a meaningful way, because they don't know how. This guy does."

[1dogs2]

I'm intrigued by the parallels between the deep national divisions of Lincoln's time and those of today. In his efforts to save the Union, Lincoln had to walk a very narrow path, trying to find common ground between groups with apparently mutually exclusive values and goals. Some regarded him as the "great Compromiser," and that was not meant kindly. The refusal of southern politicians to accept reasonable compromise resulted in the Civil War.

Today's Republicans would do well to observe that there is a limit to forbearance and a willingness to compromise. Do not mistake O's patience and openness to compromise for weakness.

[macvivo]

Abe is a giant of history. Obama is right to honor. What this means to the young, is that, if you want to be a giant like Abe, you can be. Of course, Abe is a hero for us here in IL, for many.

[kae]

yes lets keep on with all the festivities, that's what our government is best at -shallow BS-horray for us theater

To truly honor Lincoln, Obama should end the war on drugs and release the masses from Cheney's prisons on Lincoln's birthday---I'm sure our tax dollars could be used to update these prisons to being more banker-friendly.

[Indie2008]

Release the masses?...

[provgrays]

Lincoln's birthday is generally ignored while being pushed back to "President's Day", where neither Wahington or Lincoln are honored on their actual birthdays.


I hope Obama begins a trend of paying due tribute to Lincoln on February 12th. Lincoln means more then linen sales and car deals.

[jhw22]

The same exact thing could be said for Christmas. Jesus was born in June and Christmas is the busiest shopping of the year.

[IMissAmerica]

All this Lincoln stuff makes me nervous. Please Barack, just don't go to the theatre.

[TheBrizz]

You think that's funny?

[provgrays]

IMissAmerica,

I miss common decency.