Republicans VII

 

Battle Hymn of the Republic

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on! 

It would be very hard to argue that Abraham Lincoln was a RINO.

When the US Constitution was adopted, a citizen supposedly asked Benjamin Franklin what kind of government he had given us . He is supposed to have replied, "A republic, if you can keep it." That is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, …where the people elect representatives to serve them. Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president, but he was also the 16th republican president. He was assassinated  serving that republic.

When the Republican party was founded, it welcomed the self-serving Whigs and bigoted Know-Nothings into their party as long as they opposed the expansion of slavery into federal territory. Unfortunately, the selfish descendants of Whigs and the bigoted descendants of Know-Nothings are ascendant at the moment in the Republican Party to the detriment of the republic. This is not the first time that this has happened. It happened during the impeachment of Andrew Johnson partly because the Republican Congress could not abide a Democrat serving as President. It happened during the Electoral Crisis of 1876 when the Republican Congress agreed to end Reconstruction to preserve their federal power. It happened when the Republican Mugwumps opposed the corruption of Republican James Blaine and resulted in the election of Democrat Grover Cleveland as president. Each time the Republican party eventually came to its senses, backed away from the cliff, and did not destroy itself and/or the republic. Let us pray to God that this another of those times.