Thursday, February 5, 2009

Various Musings

Well, folks, I've got a lot of things in the works. I'm going to be publishing a series of Lincoln-themed articles on Suite101*. There's this new book out (can't think of the title atm) in which the author (likewise) argues that Lincoln wasn't that opposed to slavery and that he was actually as openly racist as anyone else. In fact, Lincoln gave a speech in 1858 in Charleston, Ill., (locale of my alma mater, EIU) in which he basically admitted to racist tendencies. That honestly doesn't surprise me. Despite being a university town, Chucktown is still pretty provincial and, well, yokel-y. Speaking of Lincoln, I've been to the museum in Springfield. It's pretty cool to be that close to distant-- as well as recent-- presidential history. Lincoln may not have been the "Great Emancipator," but he did have a conscience. (Barack wrote in a 2005 TIME essay that he really can't "swallow" that notion.) Anywho, my articles will coincide with the bicentennial of Lincoln's birthday, Feb. 12, 1809. Okay, I've got to get busy on that resume for the Raw Story content editor position, plus I have to teach this afternoon.
*My latest Suite 101 offering is "Helen Herron Taft: A Woman of the People." It's about William Howard Taft's (#27) wife and her contributions and activism. WHT himself didn't do a whole lot, except for get stuck in the White House bathtub! He lost his 1912 re-election bid to then-New Jersey governor and one-time Princeton U. prez Woodrow Wilson.

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