When the Bush administration hired Armstrong Williams, they not only found a second-rate pundit who’d sell his integrity for $240,000, they also managed to find one of the rare syndicated columnists who hasn’t learned to use Google.
In a column published yesterday, Williams wrote:
The government cannot raise our kids. As Abraham Lincoln observed 130 years ago: “You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man’s initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.”
I herewith propose that these words receive more attention.
And I herewith propose that Armstrong Williams do a little research before writing his columns. As Roger Ailes noted over the weekend, Lincoln never said any of these things.
These sentiments were created by the Rev. William J. H. Boetcker, who lectured around the United States about industrial relations at the turn of the twentieth century. There is no evidence linking them to Lincoln as the author.
At one time President Ronald Reagan used them in a speech, wrongly attributing them to Lincoln. Those who are familiar with Lincoln’s writings, recognize that these statements do not reflect Lincoln’s “voice,” nor can they be found in any authentic Lincoln literature.
And in case you thought this couldn’t get any worse, 130 years ago, Lincoln had already been dead for over 10 years.