On Wed, Mar 09, 2005 at 03:12:16PM -0800, Steve Brust wrote: > I respect your hero worship; the more I learn about the Lincoln, the > more I admire him. But it seems to me that during the remainder of what > would have been Lincoln's last term, Congress did just about everything > that could have been done. I may be full of it here; I'm only just > starting to study Reconstruction. But it does seem like the real > counterrevolution didn't get going until around 1868-9; and that Grant > should get more credit for fighting the good fight it then he's usually > given. Hm...perhaps I should do more research. My "school boy" teachings say he was "Mr. Fantastic". My more modern incarnation recognizes that he presided over gross violations of the Constitution. I'm not so pleased about that. On a personal level, no "Jose Padilla" like incarnations, but that taxation thing is a bit of a pisser. If it weren't Steven (who tends to actually research and understand this crap before he opens virtually pie-hole) I wouldn't even bother trying to become more educated on the subject. [1] -Jot [1] Not strictly true. There are a number of my friends that I would accord the same honor to. I'm pretty sure though that Steven is the only person I do that with that isn't a personal friend or family member. -- Jot Powers http://www.superpowers.us <books at bofh.com> "I'm upping my standards, so up yours!" -Pat Paulsen (1927-1997), Presidential Campaign Slogan