Lincoln Said - Because I say So

"You can fool some Republicans named Don Young (R-Alaska) with false quotes all of time. You can fool all Republicans named Don Young (R-Alaska) with false quotes some of the time, but well, you end up proving a fool of all Republicans named Don Young (R-Alaska) all of the time."

As the The Editors pointed out:

On Wednesday, E&P and some political blogs pointed out that conservative Frank Gaffney, Jr., opened his latest column on Tuesday morning with this: "Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled, or hanged." — President Abraham Lincoln.

He continued: "It is, of course, unimaginable that the penalties proposed by one of our most admired presidents for the crime of dividing America in the face of the enemy would be contemplated — let alone applied — today. Still, as the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate engage in interminable debate about resolutions whose effects can only be to 'damage morale and undermine the military' while emboldening our enemies, it is time to reflect on what constitutes inappropriate behavior in time of war."

One problem: Lincoln never said it. But that hasn't stopped the newspaper, and Gaffney, from refusing to correct the record -- as of Friday morning -- or remove the quote from the top of his column.

And so it goes:

That's one reason Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) cited the quote on the floor of the House on Thursday in the debate over the Iraq war "surge." He took it to be true, apparently. Rep. Young added, referring to Lincoln: "He had the same problem this President has, with an unpopular war. The same problem with people trying to redirect the commander in chief."

Whatever. Here's a more true Lincoln Quote:

'Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.