Bush and Lincoln: The Big Differences

[question everything]

The Wall Street Journal

Bush and Lincoln: The Big Differences
September 16, 2006; Page A9

One of the differences between Newt Gingrich and Abe Lincoln is that Lincoln thought "anew" and linked his thinking, not to windy bromides, but to specific and politically costly actions ("Bush and Lincoln," editorial page, Sept. 7). Lincoln instituted a draft, he suspended habeas corpus, and in emancipating slaves he confiscated private property. What about Newt? Is he willing to support a draft? To send ground forces to Iran? To raise taxes if that's needed to win what he's calling "World War III?" "Metrics of achievement" linked to "entrepreneurial implementation" just won't cut it. Mr. Gingrich, where's the beef?

Peter Swerdloff
New York

Mr. Gingrich admits "we are today not where we wanted to be and nowhere near where we need to be." If only President Bush would make this same admission. Mr. Gingrich's list of "shoulds" make a tremendous amount of sense, but, unfortunately, along with those previously presented in the Journal editorial pages by Victor Davis Hanson and many others, they will amount to no more than just shouting into the wind. Because good advice and ideas just don't seem to stick to President Bush. Lincoln could admit mistakes and take corrective action; Mr. Bush seemingly cannot. Instead we keep getting the same old "stay the course" message.

Don Jacobson
Shoreview, Minn.

Newt Gingrich sounds a bit like Bush on steroids. The big difference is that he throws around a number of management buzzwords that Mr. Bush hasn't yet used, like "metrics-based performance," "sweeping transformation" and "entrepreneurial national security system." But Messrs. Gingrich and Bush don't use a buzzword that underlay Lincoln's approach to winning a war with existential implications: "sacrifice." The Civil War required national conscription, among other huge sacrifices by the populace at large. As long as Messrs. Bush, Gingrich and other big talkers fail to appreciate that the other side is willing to sacrifice everything, and seek to win this war on the cheap, all the talk of reorganization is akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

David E. Gumpert
Needham, Mass.

URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115836949780565215.html (subscription)

(I did not read the original Gingrich op-ed, but I found the letters telling - QE)