Lincoln's Wrath

[Notrump]

Lincoln’s Wrath by Jeffrey Manber and Neil Dahlstrom paints our 16th President as having been somewhat less saintly than he has been generally depicted after his martyrdom. The book focuses on one particular Copperhead Pennsylvania newspaper publisher whose business property was confiscated by the Federal government. No specific charges were made against him following Lincoln’s repeal of the Constitutional guarantee of the right of habeas corpus. Eventually the publisher had his day in court and won damages from the government. Many other publishers of pro-Democratic party newspapers in the North were imprisoned without charges after editorializing that there was no law against a state seceding or other opinions in sympathy with the Southern cause. Congressmen and state legislators were similarly jailed without charges, most notably the secessionist minded members of the Maryland General Assembly. The authors try to convince us that the heavy-handed actions of the administration during the Civil War permanently centralized Federal power, particularly that of the President, in a way unimagined by our founding fathers. Although we are left to judge for ourselves whether the methods of the President, his cabinet, his marshals and fellow party members in Congress were warranted. The book required ten years of research. The result is well worth our attention, since similarly tough decisions could again confront our elected officials. For more info on the book, click: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1402203985/curtrenz-20

 

[skysquared]

Changing Politicans Thinking

Checked out the book and am reading it now. Interestingly, the Chicago Tribune has a book review on Lincoln's Wrath today, in which the reviewer raises the issue of how Bush should/can handle the constitutional issues confronting us in this time of crisis, vs. how Lincoln handled them in his day. Funny enough, the major papers during Lincoln's time supported the White House when they shut the anti-war newspapers. My favorite in the book is a quote from the New York Times, that said "Speech should only be free when loyal." Strange to know that these things repeat themselves in our nation's history. Good reading.

 

[hgc]

This is an excellent object lesson about how our freedoms are not actually guaranteed by the constitution. Rather, they are won and lost through the political process. Let's hope that the political machinery of today can stand up to the assault on our liberties being wrought by the current "war president."