07.15
Lincoln’s Fascism On Display
There was just a fascinating back and forth over at LRC about the symbol of the fasces as it appears on various Lincoln iconography. Here’s a catchup for those that missed it:
From the cover of a two-volume set, Abraham Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life by William Herndon and Jesse Weik. Published in 1892 and reprinted in 1913, both editions had the same cover. The seminary library where I currently work had both editions, but we have gotten rid of both editions. Not necessary to the mission of a seminary library today. But someone thought it was once…
To which David Kramer replied:
Charles—You didn’t need to find some obscure book that honors Lincoln with the symbol of Fascism. Under both his left and right hands of the Lincoln Memorial sculpture you can see the Fascist symbol sans ax head.
Tom Dilorenzo then pointed out:
Charles, it is relevant that the co-author of the book on Lincoln from your library which displays the fasces, the symbol of fascism, on the cover, was Lincoln’s longtime law partner, William Herndon. He knew Lincoln as well as anyone, even better than Lincoln’s wife. And yes, as David points out, the fasces is right there on Dishonest Abe’s armchair on which he sits in his memorial in D.C. (As Clyde Wilson once said, the symbol of America has been transformed from George Washington on his white horse to a corporate lawyer/lobbyist in an armchair).
Dating from the Roman Empire, the fasces stood for Government Power and Unity. Dictatorial government that crushes all dissenters, in other words. “Unity” is coerced unity that comes from governmental military “power,” not persuasion. This is the kind of “unity” that existed in the Soviet Union, and Germany and Italy during the 1930s and early 40s. Totalitarianism, in a word.
It’s disgusting that so many Americans have been duped by court historians into mock worship of politicians. Lincoln presided over the slaugther of 620,000 American lives. More than any other war in U.S. history. He deserves scorn and judgement. Not, a monument to his fascism. How is that any different than Lenin’s tomb?
