Bill Kristol is an idiot. On February 11, remarking on Senator Obama’s announcement speech in Springfield, IL., he said:
We’re electing a war president in 2008. If I can go back to Obama and Lincoln for just one second, Lincoln’s “house divided” speech in 1858 was a speech saying we cannot live as a house divided on slavery. And he implicitly says we’ll have to fight a civil war if necessary on this.
Obama’s speech is a “can’t we get along” speech — sort of the opposite of Lincoln. He would have been with Stephen Douglas in 1858. Let’s paper over these differences, rise above politics and all get along. That’s not Giuliani’s mode. And I think in a war context, social conservatives want to win the war against Islamic jihadism.
Apparently Kristol flunked US History in high school. The House Divided speech was about the importance of preserving the union. Lincoln never remotely advocated fighting a civil war over slavery. Yes, he spoke greatly about his fear of the spread of slavery. But he never advocated war.
You can read Lincoln’s House Divided speech here.
