Lincoln 1860

Lincoln 1860

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Justice Scalia Compares Himself To Lincoln


I've added a few posts to this blog in recent days and weeks about how politicians are falling all over themselves trying to claim that they are just like Abraham Lincoln. Now we have Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia joining the rush to be Abe.

In remarks made earlier this week at the Centennial Celebration of the Illinois Supreme Court Building Gala, Scalia claimed that his strict constructionist views of the U.S. Constitution aren't that "far removed'' from those of Abraham Lincoln.

Well, perhaps Justice Scalia is correct. I am not a lawyer and I confess to not knowing a good deal about Lincoln's legal views. But this much I do know: Justice Scalia consistently rules against the rights of ordinary people in favor of the government and big business every chance he gets. No doubt he is an absolutely brilliant lawyer and justice, but he is also heartless when stomping on the rights of the people. Somehow that does not seem very "Lincolnesque" to me.

Can we please have today's political leaders, elected and otherwise, quit comparing themselves to Abraham Lincoln? The more they try, the sillier they appear.

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