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From: bill@sigma.UUCP (William Swan)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.misc
Subject: Re: A. LINCOLN A MAN SO MISUNDERSTOOD>
Message-ID: <729@sigma.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 22-May-86 13:39:14 EDT
Article-I.D.: sigma.729
Posted: Thu May 22 13:39:14 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 25-May-86 13:47:46 EDT
References: <135@petrus.UUCP> <13847@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> <5483@alice.uUCp> <13909@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Reply-To: bill@sigma.UUCP (William Swan)
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Keywords: Lincoln as villain
Xref: watmath net.politics:16341 net.misc:9696

citrin@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP (Wayne Citrin) writes:
>Lincoln did take a number of actions which may be considered anti-civil
>rights, but these may be explained as extraordinary measures taken during
>wartime.  Particularly, Lincoln suspended the right of habeas
>corpus and arrested the Maryland state legislature just before the 
>legislature was about to debate a secession resolution.  To do anything
>else would have been suicidal, as Maryland was likely to seceed and
>the capital would have been surrounded by enemy territory. [...]

Isn't it funny how many rights get taken away during "wartime", "emergencies",
and the like (ofttimes never to be restored). It sounds like you are arguing 
that the State inherently finds the rights of its citizens to be a threat and 
a burden, that the State will suspend those rights to "protect" itself, any
time its leaders see fit.  Whatever happened to our constitution?

Arresting them because they were "about to debate a secession resolution",
indeed! I can see it now: "Well you see, your honour, he was going to be 
thinking about burglarizing my house, so I shot him."


>Anyway, any attacks on individual liberties by Lincoln were nothing compared
>with those of succeeding administrations during the Reconstruction period.

This is a condemnation of the man, not a defense of him.