Should Abraham Lincoln Be President Obama's Idol?

I found this interesting take on President Obama's fascination with Abraham Lincoln.Although he is credited with freeing the slaves,some have ascertained that Abraham Lincoln was a racist at heart!In fact,they use the quote in this video to illustrate just how President Lincoln really felt about black equality.It is ironic that President Obama idolizes a man who stated that he didn't believe that blacks should have social or political equality.Here's more on the true Abraham Lincoln from USA Today:

"Born 200 years ago Thursday in a log cabin on the Kentucky frontier, Abraham Lincoln today sits deified in a marble temple on the National Mall in Washington. Americans are still trying to figure out how he came such a long way, and what kind of man made the trip.
Having saved the Union, freed the slaves and redefined freedom, Lincoln was struck down in his hour of triumph. He is the most compelling figure in U.S. history, the subject of about 16,000 books in English, more than anyone except Jesus and Shakespeare."

On President Obama's fascination with Abraham Lincoln:

"President Obama repeatedly invoked Lincoln during the campaign, praising his wisdom and humility, and then followed his fellow Illinoisan's example by picking a "team of rivals" for his Cabinet.

The inauguration's theme was "A New Birth of Freedom," echoing the words of the Gettysburg Address, and the oath was administered on the Bible that Lincoln used 148 years earlier. On Thursday, Obama will speak in Springfield, Ill., where Lincoln is buried.

In an interview last month with USA TODAY, Obama said that when he sits down to write a speech, "I'm hearing certain voices in my head. … Lincoln's one of them."

And on the race issue:

"• Lincoln the "racist": Did the man who freed the slaves really believe they were equal?

Lincoln's racial attitudes kept evolving, but he harbored some of the prejudices of his time, according to Harold Holzer, co-chairman of the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.

Lincoln, lauded for generations as "The Great Emancipator," freed the slaves primarily to cripple the South's wartime economy, Holzer says. The Emancipation Proclamation of Jan. 1, 1863, did not even apply to all slaves — just those in the Confederacy.

Although Lincoln opposed slavery, he favored only gradual abolition, with the government compensating slaveholders and encouraging former slaves to immigrate to other countries, lest they stay in the USA as second-class citizens, says Tom Schwartz, the Illinois state historian.

When he was younger, Lincoln, like many of his contemporaries, told "darkie" jokes and used the "N" word to describe the race issue, Holzer says.

With the rise of the civil rights movement, African-Americans — who'd revered Lincoln for a century — began to examine this less admirable side of "Father Abraham." Some came to believe, as Ebony magazine editor Lerone Bennett Jr. put it in a 2000 book, that Lincoln was "forced into glory" by wartime demands.

Now, there has been a backlash against the backlash. Clinton, for instance, says she found in researching her book that Lincoln took his son Tad to the home of a black family in Washington for "a play date." Burlingame says he found a lost speech by abolitionist Frederick Douglass — who'd once called Lincoln a "slave hound" — praising him shortly after his death as "the black man's president."

"No doubt he was a racist, but if you look at him in the context of his time, he's so far ahead of other politicians," says Vernon Burton, a retired University of Illinois historian. "Look at Stephen Douglas (Lincoln's Democratic opponent for U.S. Senate in 1858 and president in 1860). His whole platform boiled down to white supremacy. Lincoln changed and grew, especially as president."(END OF EXCERPT)Read the entire article here.

NPR's Audience Has Grown Disgusted With Fox Contributer,Juan Williams!

Juan Williams is the black guy who is in agreement with the host of any Fox News show that he contributes to.He never seems to present his own valid viewpoint on anything.So,I have come to the conclusion that he is just there to make the Fox panels more diverse,even though his opinions never differ from any of the commentators,like Bill O'Reilly.The funny thing is that he works for a liberal news organization,NPR, as well.And their audience feels like Juan Williams shouldn't be associated with NPR when he appears on Fox.Here's more from Politico:

"It's gotten to the point that according to Shepard, "NPR's Vice President of News, Ellen Weiss, has asked Williams to ask that Fox remove his NPR identification whenever he is on O'Reilly."

Last year, 378 listeners emailed me complaints and frustrations about things Williams said on Fox. The listener themes are similar: Williams "dishonors NPR." He's an "embarrassment to NPR." "NPR should severe their relationship with him."

The latest flap involves Williams' comment on Fox about First Lady Michelle Obama. To date, I've received 56 angry emails. For comparison, this year so far, listeners sent 13 emails about Steve Inskeep, 8 about Mara Liasson and 6 about Cokie Roberts -- other NPR personalities who I often get emails about.

Here's what Williams said on Jan. 26, but the transcript doesn't convey the same impact as the video, posted on YouTube. Williams is explaining that Vice President Joe Biden could be a liability for President Obama. But so could his wife.

"Michelle Obama, you know, she's got this Stokely Carmichael in a designer dress thing going," said Williams. "If she starts talking, as Mary Katharine [Ham, a conservative blogger] is suggesting, her instinct is to start with this blame America, you know, I'm the victim. If that stuff starts coming out, people will go bananas and she'll go from being the new Jackie O to being something of an albatross."(END OF EXCERPT)Read the article in it's entirety here.

Look at Juan Williams in action in this video.He is in agreement with Sean Hannity about Barack Obama playing the race card during the campaign.Once again,Juan Williams presents the conservative argument that blacks "blame America".According to folks like him,most blacks prefer to play the victim.Don't you just love when people try to revise history? Juan Williams ought to be ashamed of himself.

Did Leona Lewis Cause The Fight Between Chris Brown & Rihanna?

Domestic violence is an issue that a lot of folks are dealing with.So,I don't want to obsess over Chris Brown & Rihanna's troubles.Besides,it's really all just speculation.But,I just ran across an interesting aspect to this story that I hadn't heard before.Here's more from the Telegraph:

"The alleged assault on Rihanna that led to her being taken to hospital started after her boyfriend Chris Brown was seen flirting with Leona Lewis, it has been reported. Brown was seen speaking to Lewis at a pre-Grammy awards party in Los Angeles hours before the attack The Daily Mirror claims.

A source told the newspaper: "Rihanna saw Chris flirting. He and Leona were laughing and Rihanna saw his hand on the small of her back.

"It was totally innocent but it set Rihanna off."

The couple later left the party at LA's Beverly Hills Hilton and drove off in Brown's Lamborghini.

The unnamed source added: "Leona is very happy with her boyfriend Lou and it was totally innocent on her behalf. She wasn't flirting."

American website TMZ.com has reported that the couple argued over a text message Brown received from a mystery woman."(END OF EXCERPT)Read the rest here.