Lately, I’ve spent too much time responding to negative comments and misconstrued positions – 
and, I’ve spent far too much energy trying to communicate with minds that seem closed (usually, by financial self-interest or ideology).
(The History Net.com, by Harold Holzer, orig. in Civil War Times, Feb. 2001).
Holzer tells us that, although “Lincoln never escaped the bombardment of topical humor,”
the President was wise enough to know not to respond — even to lies. When actor James
Hackett apologized to Lincoln in 1863, for making public a private letter that “provoked
howls of laughter from the press”at the President’s expense:
Lincoln replied to reassure Hackett that the affair had not upset him. “Give
yourself no uneasiness,” he counseled the actor, adding that he was not
“much shocked by the newspaper comments.” His skin had long ago grown
thick enough to withstand the satirical abuse fired at him during his 30 years
in the political trenches.
As Lincoln touchingly expressed it, the endless taunts were but “a fair
specimen of what has occurred to me through life…. I have endured a great
deal of ridicule without much malice; and have received a great deal of
kindness, not quite free from ridicule. I am used to it.“ (emphasis added)
The same ridicule/kindness quotation appears in an Associated Press article in many
newspapers today, which is captioned “Lincoln is used to sell fries, bobblehead dolls,”
in my hometown Schenectady Gazette, and “No rest for the man who saved the union,”
Washington Times (Feb. 20, 2005). The A/P story quotes Lincoln impersonator Jim Getty:
“Today, Lincoln is an empty vessel for dreamers and schemers, for
humorists and educators, trinket salesmen and appliance dealers looking
to add a bit of cachet to Presidents Day sales.”
I wonder if even Honest Abe would accept being made the Patron Saint of ATLA this year, as
the trial lawyers have done in their fight against the President’s slurs and tort reform. (see our
The Holzer article wraps up with some important insights:
America’s first humorist-president became one of its most often parodied presidents as well. But Lincoln apparently had less trouble accepting such
taunts than do modern Americans scandalized by the likes of Desmond Pfeiffer;
just as he could tell a joke, he could also take one. . . .
Perhaps Lincoln’s optimism stemmed in part from a realization that humorists
make a difference. That was true then as well as now. Purveyors of wit can
provide a troubled people an occasional laugh in the midst of great tragedy.
Besides, Americans who laughed at Lincoln could always be comforted by
the fact that the president laughed at himself.
I plan to try a lot harder to stifle the need to respond to antagonistic reviews and comments.
The nature of the weblog universe is that our ideas are out there and are magnets for those
who disagree. I respect the right for others to disagree — although I hope they do so in good
faith and with an open mind (and I will try to listen to those folks in the same spirit) — but I am
also going to start respecting my own right to let what I say stand on its own. (related post:
