If Lincoln could say anything to Obama, it would be that "Bipartisanship with the Confederacy after the war, was my biggest mistake."
I can understand why Obama tries to emulate himself after Lincoln. Lincoln was the greatest President in American history. He led the mighty American Union to victory in the War of Southern Aggression and Rebellion. He saved and preserved this nation in its time of peril, and freed the slaves. The War of Southern Rebellion changed Lincoln and made him more progressive towards the plight of Blacks and poor Southern Whites. After the war, Lincoln was interested in reconstruction. He wanted to rebuild the South after the war, so that it can grow alongside its Northern counterpart equally. The mistake that Lincoln made was in his dealing with the treasonous confederates. He gave all Confederates "immunity," and forgave their crimes against this nation. This was the first true test of "bipartisanship." By Lincoln "forgiving" the Confederates, he effetely gave them legitimacy. He made their cause and fight justified. Even though the Confederacy lost the war, and lost it bad, the fact that Lincoln came to them for an alliance, showed the Confederacy Lincoln’s weakness, in that he still needed the Southern Confederates. This made the Confederates reborn, and gave them a new sense of purpose. They change their names and look, but deep down inside, they still hated the Union, Lincoln, and Blacks. What Lincoln should have done was prosecute those at the top. He should have put to death the entire leadership of the Confederacy and totally cut the head off from the snake. Basically, the same thing we are doing to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, Lincoln should have done to the Confederacy. Instead, he let it live and even nurtured it, until it mutated into Jim Crow laws, segregation, and police brutality. He did not come down hard on their crimes and because of this, the South was reborn and the Confederacy was stronger than it was before, and stronger in losing the War than if it had won it. Lincoln did not need the "support" of those that attacked this nation, he was wrong in that ideal. He did not need the South. The South was important nationally, but he did not need to work with the same leadership that had only years before attacked this nation. Obama is on track of making Lincoln's same mistake. Lincoln's ideal of "Reconstruction" after the War of Southern aggression and rebellion went against everything that the Confederacy was fighting for. Why would they openly support Lincoln’s "Reconstruction," if it meant "surrendering" their way of life? The Confederates, who were now Congressman and Senators did everything that they could to undermine Lincoln’s plan of "reconstruction." They formed the "Solid South," which became a Democratic dynasty until the 1960’s. The South was a greater threat in the North’s victory, than it would have been if the Confederacy had just succeeded from the Union and their had been no war. The problem is that Lincoln did not make what the Confederacy did a crime. He did not punish and isolate them like he should have. He let the Federal troops occupy the South and years later, they left and were replaced by the Klan. The Southern Democrats obstructed everything (filibusters) that the Republicans tired to pass. The Southern Democrats understood that they would have little leverage in congress, so they put their efforts on their respected states.
Now look at our situation today. Instead of the "Confederacy," we have the conservative Republican party. They have little leverage in both the House and Senate today, much as was the case back in the 1870’s. So when Obama is trying to emulate some of Lincoln’s ideology, than why not learn from his mistakes? Obama does not need the Conservatives. In fact, he should be doing everything he can to fight them and destroy their base as a party. In my opinion, a lot of them should be convicted. The past Bush administration should be tried for crimes against this nation as well. However, Obama, for what it seems so far, has done what Lincoln did and has "forgiven" the Republican party’s crimes and only wants to look ahead. By doing this, he gives the Republican party legitimacy. He gives the Republican party a platform. Now they can at least say, "well we were not that bad, because it's not like Obama every tried pressing charges on the past Republican administration." Not only that, but just like in Lincoln’s day, Obama is facing huge amounts of obstruction. Lincoln’s ideal of reconstruction was awesome. It was a stroke of progressive genius, that if it were implemented to its fullest extent, the South would have had a different history. Instead it was watered down, out of the sake of "Bipartisanship" and after his death, it was ripped to shreds by the Southern Democrats. Obama put forward a stimulus package that before the Republicans touched it, it was a stroke of Progressive genius. It had the formula of what could have made this nation great. However, like Lincoln, he wanted "Bipartisanship." The Stimulus package got watered down so much that it became hollow and lost its progressive core. The reason why the Republicans are reacting this way is because they KNOW Obama needs them. They know this because Obama has not said otherwise. The ideal that he wants to work with Republicans is as absurd as Lincoln wanting to work with the Confederates. Letting the Republicans even touch that stimulus bill was like letting a Fox guard the Rooster den. Like Lincoln, Obama’s plans will be sabotage by the conservative Republicans and they do not care who they take down. People say that the Republicans should want Obama to succeed because America will succeed. Well just like the Confederacy, they don’t care. They need America to fail. The Republicans need America sink as low as possible. Why? Because, if Obama fails, and everything goes to hell, than they can get into power and do to Obama what Reagan did to Carter. They will stamp out progressivism in America and do to the Democrats what the Confederacy would have done to the North and Lincoln had they won. This is not the time for Bipartisanship. Far from it, this is the time to hold people accountable and put them to the noose. This is the time to attack conservatism on every level and throw it out of America or at least confine it to the Deep South and rural pockets of America. This is the time to let progressivism run its course in America uninterrupted. Obama should not work with a group of people that were hell bent on sending America back to an Economic dark age. The Conservatives should be paraded to America by Obama as the liars, cheats, racist, greedy, and scum of the Earth that they are.
My plea to Obama is to learn from Lincoln’s greatest mistake and don’t "forgive" your enemy for crimes they committed against this nation, in the name of this nation. Obama, like Lincoln, must preserve the progressive zeal America was founded on; and if that means declaring an all out war on conservatism than I’m all for it. But to allow conservatism to decay the soul of this nation, by trying to work in unison, with the same people that for the past 8 years put their energy in making this nation military and economically insolvent, will be Obama's greatest downfall. I hope he understand that those on the right do not care, that they want America to bleed. They want Americans to suffer. Only than, can they snatch victory from the clutches of progressivism. He can reach out in other ways that will help the American people, but to reach out to the wolves is dangerous. Bipartisanship with the Republican party is pretty much like the Aesop fable of the Scorpion and the Frog, where the Republicans are the Scorpion, and the Democrats are the Frog. In the end, the nature of the Conservatives to destroy America is stronger than patriotism, family, and respect for the common man.