Take heart, Barack: Honest Abe had a rough midterm too

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 11:01:00 +0000

If you think President Obama has problems going into the midterm election, consider what Abraham Lincoln faced. In fall 1862, the nation was 18 months into Civil War. Eleven states had left the Union and four slave states still within -- Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri -- continued to cause Lincoln political problems. The elections were held at different times, with voters in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana going to the polls in October, and Illinois, Missouri, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey in November.

Entering the fall, few voters were happy with Lincoln. On Sept. 22, just prior to the elections, he issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation that pledged to free the slaves in rebel states on Jan. 1 if they did not return to the Union by then. Two days after issuing that decree, he suspended habeas corpus, which allowed wide discretion in detaining Northerners who interfered with the prosecution of the war -- a war that had bogged down, leading to additional criticism of the administration.

Springsteen can’t save us

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 11:20:00 +0000

Bruce Springsteen at the Super Bowl. It doesn't get much better than that for a self-described "attention whore" -- unless, of course, you are invited to play the president's inauguration concert. Oh yeah, he did that. Far from the 26-year-old kid who was initially embarrassed at seeing himself on the covers of Time and Newsweek in 1975 and who tore down posters put up by his record company that announced, "Finally, the world is ready for Bruce Springsteen," he seems at peace now with his role as America's rock 'n' roll prophet. Amazing what time and therapy can do. What hasn't changed, through all the success, has been his exploration of America. "My songs," he told Rolling Stone in 2007, "they're all about the American identity and your own identity and the masks behind the masks behind the masks, both for the country and for yourself." He further elaborated to "60 Minutes," "I'm interested in what it means to live in America."

Salon.com > Louis P. Masur

Take heart, Barack: Honest Abe had a rough midterm too

Springsteen can’t save us