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Mark Tapscott has an interesting column asking if Obama is like Pres. James Buchanan who let freedom/slavery passions erupt into civil war. At his inauguration on March 4, 1857, Buchanan stated that slavery was “of no practical importance”. Lincoln gave his House Divided speech in 1858. Tapscott doesn't mention the Dred Scott decision of March 6, 1857, but I think you have to pass through it to get from Buchanan's inaugural to Lincoln's speech. The Dred Scott decision saying that a free territory had to return a slave to his owners struck a blow not just to people's freedom but also to the sovereignty of the free territory. Seems that this is the history that Obama is trying to recreate. Today's Republican leadership doesn't come close to the communication ability of Lincoln to fight this.