Obama SOTU: The Opposite of Lincoln at Gettysburg

[Bruce Donnelly]

"Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure." - Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg address, November 19, 1863

If there was ever any doubt about it, President Obama is no Lincoln.  His State of the Union today is another forgettable piece of ideological, populist, partisan political demagoguery.

"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here ..."

The world will soon forget what Obama said today, and hopefully his tenure will also become an obscure chapter of our history someday. 

It us up to us to defend and advance the cause for which so many Americans before us have fought and died.

They had to fight many wars.  We just have to pay attention as voters, and hold our elected officials more accountable for defending Aneruca, rather than tearing it apart to advance their own partisan ambitions for more power over us.

As Lincoln concluded, "that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

As we celebrate Lincoln's birthday, Obama continues to try to divide and conqueer America.  He is using wedge issues to try to drive Americans apart, neighbor against neighbor.  He is promoting envy, hatred, class warfare, and partisan ideological fights at every opportunity.

The state of the union is depressing, and getting worse.

For more, see my article about the State of the Union today. 

Download: "State of Delusion"    StateOfDelusion.pdf

Obama is the opposite of Lincoln, who was trying desperately to defend the unity of the United States, not to grow the power of the central government in Washington DC, but rather to defend the founding principles of our society as in the oath he made to uphold and defend our Constitution.  It wasn't all about Lincoln's political power or party.

Indeed, he was representing a new Republican party after the Whigs tore themselves apart over how to respond to the pro-slavery Democrats.  He was standing up for basic principles, as in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution.  He concentrated on what united Americans, rather than what was dividing them politically for the short-term political objectives of politicians who are now long forgotten.. 

Lincoln's legacy has endured as one of the greatest Presidents in American history.  Countless books have been written about him.  Movies continue to be made about him 150 years later.  Republicans continue to hold Lincoln Day events, and proclaim proudly that they are the "party of Lincoln"..  We used to celebrate his birthday, and celebrate the principles for which he stood firm when many politicians wanted to compromise, until the progressives decided to have a "President's Day" holiday as though Lincoln was nothing special worth remembering and honoring.

So, as pointed out in the linked article, what are we to do about this threat to the future of our republic?

This is our civil war, fought not on battlefields with guns, but through dedicated political activism and elections.

This is our battle, "testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure."

We have many valuable allies in this fight.  We may operate separately in different ways, but we are on the same side.

There are groups like the Heritage Foundation which bring conservative ideas to the policy debates in Washington.

There are activist networks like Heritage Action for America or Tea Party Patriots and others which track the voting records of members of Congress on many issues and organize lobbying efforts among voters to stand up for conservative principles as applied to specific current issues.

There are single-issue advocacy groups which focus on specific policies...

There are many social networking groups among conservative activists to better inform, engage, and empower voters to hold their elected officials more accountable, and help to elect more conservative candidates at all levels of government, from the local to state and federal offices.

The point, however, is that we need to work together to defeat the progressive agenda, which is clearly contrary to the fundamental principles and values on which this country was founded, as enumerated in our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution.  Over the last century, we have tolerated the expansion of government beyond all reason until it has become too intrusive and too costly.  It is past time to push back, and roll back the size and cost of government at all levels.

Real progress doesn't come from politicians, and you can't simply vote to get everything you want in life at somebody else's expense.  America remains a competitive society in a dangerous world, where we have to earn our success as a country and as individuals through hard work in smart, effective, innovative, and efficient ways.

Government is not the source or driver of progress.  It exists to support the progress that is driven by private sector savings, investment, innovation, collaboration, and charity.  America did not become great because of great rulers who planned every aspect of our society.  America was strongest when government was an honorable public service rather than a path to power and control over all Americans and their collective wealth.  We drove our own progress and prosperity, and successful people invested in government as we also invested in charity.

Today, the growth of government spending, debt, and taxes leaves little for charity or for most Americans to even maintain their standard of living, much less improve it from one generation to the next as we have done historically.

This is a fight for the future of our families.  It's not a fight for political power in Washington.  It's a fight to reduce that power and control over our lives, and the burden it imposes on every American.  This is our fight for America.

In the 2010 election, Joe Walsh captured the spirit of the Tea Party movement when he declared, "I feel like I'm losing my country."

In the 2012 election, we came much closer to losing it.

We must act to save the future of America from those in government who think they should rule over us.  We ekect them to work for us temporarily, as public servants, with a limiited scope of responsibilty and limited tax resources,

We do not elect them to do as they please.  Obama's agenda suggests that he still doesn't understand that, so we will have to work hard to hold our members of Congress accountable for their actions, and replace many of them in 2014.

At Awaken America, we're going to focus on turning Illinois around, which is no small challenge.

It is work worthy of the party of Lincoln, but Republican Party leaders aren't doing it.

This is our turning point.  This is our Gettysburg moment as Americans.

http://awakenamerica.ning.com/page/our-work 

As President Reagan said in his remarks to a Kiwanis Interenational meeting on July 6, 1987  (VIDEO)

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. It has to be fought for and defended by each generation."

We must not be the first generation to abandon our freedom.  The fight goes on for the future of all Americans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bruce Donnelly]

Dick Morris posted a response to the SOTU speech

http://www.dickmorris.com/obamas-state-of-the-union-the-real-rebutt...

[Bruce Donnelly]

The Lid responds to the SOTU

http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com/2013/02/snarky-annotated-transcript-... 

[Bruce Donnelly]

American Thinker response to SOTU

http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/02/tragedy_and_comedy_at_the_so...

[Bruce Donnelly]

Former Rep. Joe Walsh responded on his new website

http://walshfreedom.com/?p=137 

[Bruce Donnelly]

Newt Gingrich response to the State of the Union

http://www.gingrichproductions.com/2013/02/obama-rubio-false-vs-def...