WHO SAID THIS?

"The cheek of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly, flat and dishwatery utterances of the man who has to be pointed out to intelligent foreigners as the President of the United States."

Barack Obama on George Bush? Or was it Jack Murtha? Nancy Pelosi, perhaps? Could it be Michael Moore?

No, it's a Chicago Times' editorial. From 1863. Reacting to the Gettysburg address.

Another interesting tidbit:

The Times was founded in 1854, by James W. Sheahan, with the backing of Stephen Douglas. In 1861, after the paper was purchased by Wilbur F. Storey, the Times began espousing the Copperhead point of view in supporting Southern Democrats and denounced the policies of Abraham Lincoln. General Ambrose Burnside suppressed the paper in 1863 because of its hostility to the Union cause, but Lincoln lifted the ban when he received word of it.

There you go, another similarity between Abe and Bush: both crushing dissent and stifling free speech!

(via my Spanish pal Marzo, who IMed me both link, saying: "Oh, the wonders of wandering around in Wikipedia in a lazy Saturday afternoon!" Indeed...)

UPDATE. Eric Sheie catches the ball and gets a new game rolling: Name that President! "Which administration is most hostile in history to the Bill of Rights?" Click the link and keep playin'!

UODATE II. The Dissident Frogman emails: "Love the bit about 'intelligent foreigners', particularly considering what those "intelligent foreigners" had in store for the coming century at that point..." Hmmmm. Can't think of what he's referring to...