Honoring Abraham Lincoln

It’s amazing how the media -- reporters, correspondents, talk show hosts and others -- can use their own opinions to shape ours. And this has been going on for generations. Take, for example, one reporter’s opinion that appeared in the Chicago Times, that the president should be ashamed of himself.

He wrote, “The cheek of every American must tingle with shame after that silly, flat and dishwatery utterance of the man who has to be pointed out to intelligent foreigners as the president of the United States.”

A New York reporter said, “Shallow, baseless and ignorant is the only way to describe both the speech and the man who delivered it.”

A Baltimore journalist said, “I can’t imagine anyone being less qualified for the office, or less capable of holding someone’s attention for more than five minutes.”

There was more. A Cincinnati newspaper wrote, “When the president finally stood up to speak, it was clear that his mind had sat down.”

The media has always been critical of politicians - especially presidents, even though millions of Americans believe the press should just report the news and let the people make their own conclusions.

By the way -- it was Abraham Lincoln they were speaking of, who many history books claim to be one of our greatest presidents. And they were speaking specifically of Lincoln’s Gettysburg address -- one of the greatest, most meaningful speeches ever delivered -- except for a lot of the reporters who were there the day Lincoln gave it.

Lincoln’s speech was so short, the official photographer wasn’t even ready to take a picture of the president giving the speech. The only pictures of the event are fuzzy and from a distance. There’s even controversy exactly who in the picture is the president.

Today is the 205th (1809) anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln.