Just Like Lincoln

Yesterday at a fundraiser (I think he had about five of them scheduled for Friday) President Obama said that the GOP candidates--who have been campaigning in Illinois for the upcoming primary on Tuesday--should be more like Lincoln, you know, just like Obama.  In case you haven't heard, Obama likes to compare himself to Lincoln from time to time.  Here is Obama's message:

“My message to the candidates is:  Welcome to the land of Lincoln, because I’m thinking maybe some Lincoln will rub off on them while they are here,” Obama said.

[...]

“Lincoln, the first Republican president, knew that if we as a nation through our federal government didn’t act to facilitate these things, then they likely wouldn’t happen,” Obama said, adding that he hoped the candidates visiting his adopted hometown “reflect on this great man.”  (He did not identify Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum by name.)

Well...there was also this thing called the Civil War that was going at the time.  And after the Civil War, it was the only time in history that the federal government shrunk in size and scope.  See Allen Guelzo's essay on this and other common misunderstandings and myths about the Lincoln Administration.  

And it is always important to point out that Lincoln's political philosophy was based on the natural right and natural rights principles of the American Founding.   Those principles are an anathema to modern liberalism which contends that we "can't force our values on anyone else" and that diversity of opinion is the end, not the beginning of the road to knowledge.