LETTER: Films, books laud the life of Abe Lincoln

Talk about it

To the Editor:

“Lincoln” is the award-winning movie which recently completed a lengthy run at Logan Luxury Theatres.

This movie got me close to one of my greatest heroes. As soon as the movie began in town, my wife and I went. I had to go a second time, so I took a senior friend.

Now a friend has lent me a bestseller, “Looking for Lincoln.”

The preface was written by the authors, three generations of the Krumhardt family, undoubtedly the foremost experts and authors on Abraham Lincoln. They concluded that “by the time the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated in 1922, Lincoln had surpassed George Washington in the American Pantheon and had become a symbol of freedom worldwide.”

The current hotbed of discussion and debate is the “right to keep and bear arms” as delineated in the second amendment of the Constitution. Well-meaning citizens and lawmakers on both sides of that issue are playing the blame game.

As I sat in the theater awaiting the movie, I was bombarded by five to six previews. They were all approved by the Screen Actors Guild. Some displayed excessive violence, “bang-bang you’re dead” car bombings, helicopters swooping down, etc. The movies are made by the same people that attend Obama-Biden fundraisers.

I’d like to share a couple of quotes from Lincoln. Once he posed this question: “Am I not destroying my enemies when I make them my friends?”

Then, a soul-searching observation on an oft-repeated request: “I am not concerned that God is on our side. I just hope that we are on God’s side.”

We Republicans have an annual banquet we call the Lincoln Day dinner in March-April. We hope to get as our speaker Mike Rounds, former two-term governor and present U.S. Senate candidate.

It seems that President Lincoln and his heritage are still claimed by lots of folks. Even President Obama has claimed common traits. The only parallel I see is that they are both tall attorneys from Illinois. Oh yes, they both have big ears. Most of their views are 180 degrees apart.

Tags: abe lincoln, opinion, updates, letters