Institutionalized Lies

"Define irony."
--Garland Greene (Con Air)

Paul Craig Roberts demonstrates the extent to which lies can be institutionalized in history books, movements, and causes by considering the myth of Abraham Lincoln as a civil rights hero.

Drawing from the work of Thomas DiLorenzo, much of which has been discussed on these pages, Roberts presents the case of Lincoln as a racist dictator who issued the Emancipation Proclamation out of desperation to save an empire that was in danger of losing a war. Roberts posits that Lincoln, had he not been assassinated, would likely have championed plans to deport blacks.

Yet, today Lincoln is hailed as a civil rights champion. That Martin Luther King chose the Lincoln Memorial as the site for delivering his "I Have a Dream" speech signifies how far off the rails the Lincoln story has gone.

Shelving history books that perpetuate such departures from the truth in the 'non-fiction' section of libraries cements the irony.