Quote for the day

One Man Great Enough, by John Waugh, seemed appropriate given Obama's election and the real end of the Civil War. As expected, some great stuff:

Lincoln was on the circuit (as a circuit court judge) when news of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise reached Illinois... "I tell you," he said, "this nation cannot exist half-slave and half-free...
By 1 July 1854, Lincoln was marshaling his thoughts, writing several pages of 'fragments' on the issue.
"Although volume upon volume is written to prove slavery a very good thing," one of these fragments said, "we never hear of the man who wishes to take the good of it by becoming a slave himself."

Rico says it reminds him of a story about Winston Churchill, who was at a 'country weekend' when the Dunkirk retreat occurred. He's reported to have said, when asked over breakfast what England would do in the event of an invasion, that they would "fight them on the beaches and on the landing fields", then stopped, said, "That's rather good!" and rushed upstairs to write his famous speech in 1940.

But, wait, there's more:

"As a nation, we began by declaring that 'all men are created equal'. We now practically read it 'all men are created equal, except negroes'. When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics'.
When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretence of loving liberty— to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocracy."