Obama Misquotes Lincoln

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

“[Barack Obama] didn’t get it right,” says Harry V. Jaffa, professor emeritus of Claremont McKenna College, senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, and author of two influential books on Lincoln.

Jaffa was referring to this quotation from President Obama.

“I’m a Democrat. But I believe what Republican Abraham Lincoln believed: That Government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves, and no more.”

Professor Jaffa noted that this quotation leaves out a great deal. The 93-year-old Jaffa recited the full statement from Lincoln’s speech, “The Nature and Objects of Government, with Special Reference to Slavery” (July 1, 1854) by memory:

“The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do, for themselves in their separate and individual capacities.”

Notice the difference? The emphasis is on the need to have done, not on government doing the action. “That distinction was missing from his quotation,” Jaffa explains. Yet Obama has repeatedly invoked this misleading Lincoln quotation on both the campaign trail and during his presidency.

It is for the public to ask about those infrastructure projects: do we need green jobs that cost too much and reward political cronies?

Or a $787 billion stimulus in which only 5% goes to infrastructure projects, according to the Boston Globe?

Post Continues on biggovernment.com

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http://aol.com mimi

Vote out this HATER OF AMERICA, VOTE OUT THE PARTY OF SLAVERY,WHO WANTS TO RUN OUR LIVES!!!!!!! OBUMMER MUST GOOOOOOO,WE THE PEOPLE HAVE TO SAVE OUR GREAT COUNTRY AMERICA LAND OF THE FREEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!
Rock

Picky Picky he is making much ado about nothing…….the context of the quote is right. Again, must ado about nothing but once again gets everyone the opportunity to spite out your ugy hate and ignorance.

Have at it folks…..
Chickster

I don’t believe “Rules For Radicals” has any requirement for treuth-telling.
John

So, what else is new? I can’t even stand to listen to him any more.
Rick W

I’m a frequent commenter on any media I can, liberal or conservative and why? Because the man that thinks he is king has been usurping our God and country given rights for three years now. For the life of me I cannot believe that someone has not taken this idot to task on the many illegal things that have transpired under is presidency. The most obvious thing is that American media is either to scared or to committed to a socialist regime taking over America. Scared because Obama is worse than any mafioso who ever lived. Congressman Allen West is point man for the future of this country, the problem is if you know your military history you know that the point man has the highest mortality rate of all those fighting. Right behind him is Marco Rubio of Florida but if the American people can’t get off their A S S E S and soon neither man will be electable because free elections will be history in America.
Rev Larry

WHAT WE DO NOT NEED IS FOR SOME A– HOLE TO COME HERE FROM KENYA OR ANY OTHER COUNTRY AND TELL US HOW TO RUN A ACHRISTIAN CCOUNTRY ESPECIALLY ONE WHOS GRANDFATHER GOT THE DEATH PENALTY FOR JUST WHAT HE -OBAMA IS DOING HIS EARTHLY DAD ALSO WENT TO PRISON FOR THE SAME THING AS HE IS DOING SO HOW ABOUT THE SAME TREATMENT FOR THE SON OF KENYA-ISLAM
http://www.libertysteve.com Steve Young

It’s called paraphrasing, and the real mistake was accepting the presumption that the state is capable of doing anything that we need better than we can. The only thing states can do better is exploite the use of violence, and nobody needs that.
JustAmused

Rev You are quite right. But our govt is full of whores and thieves! BHO will only get what he deserves on judgement day!
DH

Truth never got in the way of this president but his lap dogs just lap it up believeing everything that he says. Sadly, thre is no truth detector in the press. You would think that they might have something to say that he didn’t mention the national debt in his speech to the nation.