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UPDATE: Republican calls for hanging of those who oppose president...

Posted by Evan Derkacz at 2:33 PM on February 15, 2007.


Peddles fraudulent Lincoln quote in Iraq debate... won't retract...
young lincoln lie

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As the House debates whether to nominally oppose the escalation of the war on Iraq and to support the troops -- a "nonbinding" resolution -- Alaska's sole congressman Don Young rose to oppose it, quoting (video right):

congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled, or hanged.

The Republican believed (giving him the benefit of the doubt) that he was quoting Abraham Lincoln.

He was not. He was actually quoting a mistake from Insight magazine -- a publication full of half-baked claims and rumors -- funded by Rev. Moon.

That mistake, from December of 2003, has, over the course of the years, made its way into emails and the speech of a failed Republican candidacy.

Currently, it's the header to a neocon web-commentary on the other Moonie venture, the Washington Times, where, as Glenn Greenwald has noted, they refuse to take it down -- offering only to include a correction note at the bottom of his next commentary.

Miraculously, just two days later, this fraudulent, dangerous, anti-American quote finds its way into the mouth of a Republican congressman.

UPDATE:

According to Nico at ThinkProgress:

This morning, Young’s spokeswoman Meredith Kenney told ThinkProgress repeatedly that Young does not plan to take any action to correct the record or clarify his House statement.

Kenney said that Young had learned of the quote from Tuesday’s Washington Times op-ed by Frank Gaffney, and noted that the Times has not yet issued a correction or retraction. Kenney said she “couldn’t confirm or deny” that Young would correct his statement even if the Times published a correction.

Digg!

Tagged as: moon, insight, fraud, iraq, republican

Evan Derkacz is an AlterNet editor. He writes and edits PEEK, the blog of blogs.


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If there is anyone who deserves to be hung
Posted by: Ellie1 on Feb 15, 2007 2:52 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It is those who have killed thousands of our soldiers based on a lie, and their cheerleaders, like this Alaskan congressman.

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» HANGED -- but Posted by: fifthworld
» hear hear Posted by: nor cal surfer
Why are these People not called what they are?
Posted by: ianfan on Feb 15, 2007 5:08 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Why do Dems lack the spines to get up and call this guy what he is: un-American. Why? Why not directly stand up and say that this kind of sentiment is not in agreement with basic American values of democracy?

Why is it that they are unable to make the arguement that patriotism inside a monarchy and inside a democracy are two starkly different things? Our government is of by and for the people, not the other way around. The government is not our father or mother or superior, but our child and our subordinate. Patriotism in a democracy is about making sure the government and our representatives serve us and act at our descretion, it is not about serving the homeland or having strong feeling of nationalism.

People have simply had it too good for too long to understand what the true sacrifices of liberty are.

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I sent a comment to the Washinton Times
Posted by: Techubus on Feb 15, 2007 5:36 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Even though I know full well they are aware of the mistake already and seem to be happy to leave it up. I feel a barage of comments from people might just force them to correct such a blatant falsehood.

It's an insult to leave such a misquote up and attribute it to such a great leader as Lincoln, especially with President's Day nearly upon us.

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Playing Well With Others (the continuing Pie-anifesto)
Posted by: grumble-bum on Feb 15, 2007 6:06 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Something tells me this dipshit may encounter some problems down the line trying to "reach across the aisle"... ;-)

I've said it before, & I'll say it again - What this government needs is more pie-throwing!

How it works, see, is like this... They keep a buffet table well-stocked with pies of the vaudeville "cream" variety right there on the floors of the House & Senate. Then, when some hateful jackass like this guy says something outrageous, whoever feels like it, can grab a pie & let fly!

God, how cool would that be?!?

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Where
Posted by: JoshuaLudd on Feb 15, 2007 8:26 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Where he believes he got the quote from is irrelevant. It is an asinine comment on the face of it, and it goes against everything America is supposed to stand for. I wonder if his constituents are going to be so happy about his blind and frankly idiotic support for pouring more lives into a war we have fouled and fucked eight ways to sunday to begin with.

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» His constituents? Posted by: Ellie1
» RE: His constituents? Posted by: sheena2u
NAH!!!
Posted by: aussidawg on Feb 16, 2007 4:37 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This guy is so brain dead (or frozen) he's not worth the effort of any comment.

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Saab tours?
Posted by: on Feb 16, 2007 4:47 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
How do I get me one of those "Saab tours"? Are they pricey?

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» RE: Saab tours? Posted by: Realman
» RE: Saab tours? Posted by: zipper696
HANG ALL THESE NEOSCUM GOP WARMONGERING BASTARDS!
Posted by: kc10ken on Feb 16, 2007 5:02 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Hang EVERY fucking one of them.

NOT ONE had the guts to serve their country when she needed them the most during Vietnam yet these very same chickenhawks don't hesitate a second to send YOUR children to die in THEIR QUAGMIRE.

LYING, THIEVING BASTARDS.....every one of them.

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Take heed
Posted by: UncleBuck on Feb 16, 2007 5:04 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It's easy to find humor in such mindless drivel, but keep in mind that it came from an elected official. This is what OUR nation is up against.

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» RE: Take heed Posted by: Basenjis
"We are at WAR" ???
Posted by: AdamSelene40 on Feb 16, 2007 6:26 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This isn't a war. It's a robbery gone bad. (Or it is a highly successful Corporate profit generating enterprise.) Either way ... the greatest risk to American lives is whatever can be accomplished by small groups of fanatics armed with sporting arms, handguns, and light explosives.

(Yeah, terrorist sleeper cells could kill hundreds of Americans a year ... maybe a tenth the casualties inflicted by drunken drivers. Suck it up you cowardly entitlement addicts. The chance YOU're going to be hurt is just a little better than the chance of you winning the 100 Million Dollar Lottery!)

Lincoln had a WAR. With half the country in arms against the government, and the rebel army army within striking distance of the Capitol -- strong leader might be tempted to suspend habius corpus and smash a few printing presses.

Roosevelt had a WAR ... two great empires allied and actively engaged in gobbling up territory and committing atrocities on an unimaginable scale. (And we sort of want to remember that although France was occupied and England was under seige, America remained neutral until Japan actually attacked Pearl Harbor and Germany formally declared war against us.) Under the circumstances interning Citizens of Japanese 'race' might have seemed like a good idea at a time when Americans organized their thinking around racism -- to the extent they were willing to forego the services of Black Americans in combat capacities.

OK ... now this 'war'. The enemy is a pack of rival outlaw gangs with tenuous ties to nation states -- maybe. Or maybe their just "The Rebels" who like The Poor, are "always with us." When oppressive regimes that fail to make their citizens fat and happy, grow weak ... they get uprisings. Empires always have 'Brigand' problems somewhere.

Now ...


Half the country in enemy army within striking distance of the Capitol and

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» RE: "We are at WAR" ??? Posted by: sudsy49@hotmail.com
Thats right, man...
Posted by: JoshuaLudd on Feb 16, 2007 7:33 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
.. open the gates of hell... start defending the ability to kill all those who politically oppose the president in a time of war.. when there are no real checks on that president (because of the blank check he was given for this "war" on "terrorism") who may very well be pursuing a policy of eternal war... just to have all those nifty extra powers.

What a way to further expand his "unitary executive" theory... which, by the way, resembles the kind of "heroic" leadership we saw under Stalin, Mussolini, Napoleon, etc...

But W.arcriminal has done Napoleon one better.. he doesn't have people fighting and dying for a scrap of ribbon.. he has them fighting and dying for a nebulous concept ... "freedom". (nebulous as far as HIS actions demonstrate its definition)

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We apologize...
Posted by: akdave on Feb 16, 2007 9:32 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Our lone representative, Don (or as I call him, Yon Doung) - You can dress him up but you can't take him out...

He is such an embarrasment - I have no idea how he gets reelected, but we keep trying to get rid of him. Last year he had the strongest challenge he has had in years, but he's still here. Maybe next time...

Again, my apologies,

David

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» RE: We apologize... Posted by: RisaQ
» RE: We apologize... Posted by: gltirebiter
A lot of questionable things
Posted by: Basenjis on Feb 16, 2007 9:52 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
have come out of the mouths of Republicans during this "debate" on the Iraq War resolution. Most of what I have heard is getting really shopworn such as "we have to fight them there or we'll be fighting them here," and "you can't support the troops unless you support the war." When I heard the Lincoln quote, though, it roused me from my near hypnotic stupor. I know Lincoln was a Republican, but surely not THAT kind of Republican. I know the Republicans desperately need some new talking points, but they really ought to keep their presidents straight.

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» RE: A lot of questionable things Posted by: feduphoosier
Correction?
Posted by: Jeanne on Feb 16, 2007 10:14 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
You have got to be kidding. This crowd -- the liars and their gullible supporters -- never corrects. Facts are for sissies. Truth is inconvenient (apologies, Al Gore). "Move forward!" is their cry. Just keep talking (and lying). They can't afford to look around or assess. The truth might be gaining on them.

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motamanx
Posted by: motamanx on Feb 16, 2007 10:58 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Isn't hanging those who oppose the president un-American? And aren't those un-Americans regarded as enemy combatants?
Send the bastard to Gitmo!

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We need a new law
Posted by: johngary66 on Feb 16, 2007 12:31 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
that anyone serving in government has to have an I.Q. at least as high as a turnip! That would have disqualified the idiot chimp too!

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Fascist statement
Posted by: Alan8 on Feb 16, 2007 12:45 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
You can't reason with fascists. They never admit the smallest mistake, and can't tolerate ANY disagreement on any level.

This is why they all (Hitler, Stalin, Bush) like the idea of executing dissenters. They're not joking.

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Three Other Quotes from Mr. Lincoln
Posted by: djnoll on Feb 16, 2007 1:07 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I got these from a book of quotes by Abraham Lincoln, and they should be taken to heart not just by Young, but by every politician in Washington:

"The people, when they rise to mass in behalf of union and the liberty of their country, truly may it be said: the gates of Hell cannot prevail against them."

and

"Remember to keep close to the people - they are always right and will mislead no one."

and finally,

"Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up and shake off the existing government and form one that suits them better."

Good words and ones that should be remembered by those we elect, especially if they are going to quote this President in the Halls of Congress where he once served.

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And now for a few REAL quotes by Abraham Lincoln:
Posted by: feduphoosier on Feb 16, 2007 1:34 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Allow the president to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such a purpose - and you allow him to make war at pleasure.

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?

Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable - a most sacred right - a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world.

Ballots are the rightful and peaceful successors to bullets.

Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.

I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.

I don't like that man. I must get to know him better.

If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem.

My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth.

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent.

Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as a heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors.

Our safety, our liberty, depends upon preserving the Constitution of the United States as our fathers made it inviolate. The people of the United States are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.

These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people.

To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.

You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independence.

I have never had a feeling, politically, that did not spring from ... the Declaration of Independence ... that all should have an equal chance. This is the sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Independence ... I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it.

Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object.

The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise -- with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disentrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.

I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. . . . corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. -U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864 in a letter to Col. William F. Elkins: Ref: The Lincoln Encyclopedia, Archer H. Shaw (Macmillan, 1950, NY)

- Abraham Lincoln

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GOP misattributions to Lincoln are a good thing...
Posted by: lessbread on Feb 16, 2007 2:00 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
... provided that the media does it's job and points them out. The more the GOP makes up quotes and attributes them to Lincoln, the sooner the nation will solidify it's rejection of their party.

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Send Congressman Don an email
Posted by: Newsguy on Feb 17, 2007 1:12 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Go to his Web site. Send him an email.

Mine said, "Aren't you EMBARRASSED over that phony Lincoln quote calling for the execution of Democrats? How'd you get elected? Are most voters in Alaska idiots?"

(Which is, I suppose, unfair to voters in Alaska. After all, my brother-in-law is an Alaskan voter, and I am sure he is not an idiot and almost certainly did not vote for Don Young. But they did put him into office. WTF?)

http:kalamazoopride.blogspot.com

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Honesty not important to them
Posted by: mountainmama on Feb 17, 2007 11:42 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Of course it's not important to correct a mistake to these moronic neocons....they could give a rat's ass about that. They just want to make their point and they stick by the belief of that point. Lying is irrelevant to them...whatever it takes.

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bigtime
Posted by: pnut on Feb 19, 2007 5:46 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Hanging the people who do not agree with Mr. Bush & Co. is the most unbelievable thing I have ever seen. Please people wake, up this man has gone wild. If you do agree with him you should be hanged, this man has never been right about one thing in his life. The lies he tells has got us in a hell of a mess. He must be impeached and now the democrats have got no balls at all if they did the impeachment would be over by now. People wake up look at what he has done to the good people of Iraq lies is licence to kill and he has lied and lied and killed and killed, the latest count I have seen on the good people in Iraq is 650.000 he has killed, but he had help the news media that spread his lies they have the blood of 650.000 good people on their hands that just want to be let alone. We Americans need to wake up and impeach this man who lives to lie. bigtime

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Voice of the 'out back'
Posted by: Steven Wanzell on Feb 19, 2007 9:33 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It's not surprising this gent comes from relative isolation. Let's send him back.

Steven Wanzell
wanzellarts.com.ar

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