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Thursday, October 30, 2008

Praise for shinier Lincolns

Many Idahoans do not realize that a Civil War battle actually took place in these parts. Not only that, but also numerous Civil War Veterans migrated straight to Idaho, immediately following that horrific war’s end.

Because Abe Lincoln helped establish our Idaho territory, it's refreshing to read that devoted curators will be refurbishing the Boise Lincoln statue and transporting it from its obscure, foliage-hidden-area at the State Veterans Home to a more prominent spot, in time to celebrate our Great Emancipator's 200th birthday.

This move follows the spirit of Washington, D.C.'s, Lincoln Memorial, in the sense that our ancestors deliberately installed that monument in a remote area of the National Mall. Although this tied in symbolically with the remote nature of Lincoln's personality, people wishing to honor our founding Republican did not accept his inaccessibility; and have made the pilgrimage to that isolated area so much that it is has now become a "destination monument" and one of the most romantic spots to visit in Washington.

For more about what our historic sites get right or wrong, check out James W. Loewen's groundbreaking, "Lies Across America." Dr. Loewen also authored the American Book Award-winner, "Lies My Teacher Told Me."

From the book: "More than any other marker or monument on the American landscape, it continues to speak of later times, even of our time. Its fascinating history offers suggestions as to why some historic sites 'work' while others do not.”

Foot marker: Lincoln’s image will also soon adorn the dollar coin. This will place him, on three denominations at once: the five, the penny and the dollar. As this makes six dollars and one cent, some Lincoln fans will probably start playing 601 in lotteries, however others say now is a bad time; it makes no cents to gamble away our nation’s money and our founding Republican would turn over in his Illinois wheat field grave, if he saw how badly things have added up here.

As all humans have two sides, so did Lincoln. Many historians have pointed out the inner struggles he faced in his epic balancing act to lead our fractured nation. In fact, there are more biographies on Abraham Lincoln than there are on anyone else besides Napoleon Bonaparte. Jackie Jura reveals two interesting faces of Lincoln in her Orwell Today series Lincoln’s Mirror-Image Omen, and the doubly illuminating Lincoln’s premonition dream about JFK’s funeral.

I would wager that there are bloggers out there who would now talk about Lincoln’s flipside. And I welcome those comments; as frank open discussion is fundamental to the type of cohesive nation strongly envisioned by Lincoln, the slaves he helped free, and their dynamic descendants.