Lincoln was a Dictator, probably the United States first Dictator. There is a line in Steven Spielbergs much-discussed Lincoln when Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln says: clothed in immense power, too true, Dan, too true. Lincoln ordered the illegal arrest and incarceration of thousands of people who opposed his war against the South, he shut down hundreds of newspapers, censored stories, allowed and applauded mass slaughters of civilians and citizens alike, all in the name of his precious Union. He suspended the great writ of Habeas Corpus, thereby going against the Constitution he swore to defend. In an order to General John Dix on May 18, 1864 he said: You will take possession by military force, of the printing establishments of the New York World and Journal of Commerce...and prohibit any further publication thereof....you are therefore commanded forthwith to arrest and imprison...the editors, proprietors and publishers of the aforesaid newspapers. This is a violation of the Constitution of the United States. Under the highly illegal General Order Number 38 he ordered the deportation of not only a famous American citizen, but a famous American politician, two-time Representative Clement L. Vallandighan, a highly illegal act which could only have been made worse if he had done what Obama does now; killed the American citizen abroad. He invaded the South in violation of the Constitution, he arrested people who were critical of him, rigged elections in the North and ordered and supported mass killings of United States citizens, all in the name of preserving the Union. But in the end, did he do us any good? The Union was preserved geographically but philosophically it was damaged because as it is stated in the Constitution, in the Declaration of Independence and in the Articles of Confederation, the states are all free and independent.
Lincoln was a Dictator, probably the United States first Dictator. There is a line in Steven Spielbergs much-discussed Lincoln when Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln says: clothed in immense power, too true, Dan, too true. Lincoln ordered the illegal arrest and incarceration of thousands of people who opposed his war against the South, he shut down hundreds of newspapers, censored stories, allowed and applauded mass slaughters of civilians and citizens alike, all in the name of his precious Union. He suspended the great writ of Habeas Corpus, thereby going against the Constitution he swore to defend. In an order to General John Dix on May 18, 1864 he said: You will take possession by military force, of the printing establishments of the New York World and Journal of Commerce...and prohibit any further publication thereof....you are therefore commanded forthwith to arrest and imprison...the editors, proprietors and publishers of the aforesaid newspapers. This is a violation of the Constitution of the United States. Under the highly illegal General Order Number 38 he ordered the deportation of not only a famous American citizen, but a famous American politician, two-time Representative Clement L. Vallandighan, a highly illegal act which could only have been made worse if he had done what Obama does now; killed the American citizen abroad. He invaded the South in violation of the Constitution, he arrested people who were critical of him, rigged elections in the North and ordered and supported mass killings of United States citizens, all in the name of preserving the Union. But in the end, did he do us any good? The Union was preserved geographically but philosophically it was damaged because as it is stated in the Constitution, in the Declaration of Independence and in the Articles of Confederation, the states are all free and independent.