George Dubya vs. Honest Abe!

when most people think about Abe Lincoln, they imagine and honest and good man, who "freed the slaves". on the other hand, when people think of George W. Bush, they see an ignorant and ill-tempered man, who's impetuous actions led to the downfall of the current American economy. if someone who was uneducated on the two men compared them, there would be an obvious bias; that Abe Lincoln was a better president. in reality, the two men were alike in some ways in their rash and hurtful decisions to America during times of war.
both of these presidents have taken money from our own pockets to do things that inevitably hurt our economy. Abe took money from the treasury to fund the war and for his own expenses without recieving an appropriations bill. this is said to be illegal in Article 1 section 9 of the Constitution, which states "no money shall be dreawn from the trasury, but in consewuence of Appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time". this was not followed. George Bush is also in favor of taking money from America. he has signed the "Bail Out Bill", which will pay off the banks and Wallstreet, which will greatly effect anyone who pays taxes.
this is the only comparison that I can find about George Bush and Abe Lincoln. though he has done other things, this was the only prominent one. Abe Lincoln, however, did many other shady things to America when he was in office, as suprising as it seems. he suspended Habeus Corpus, which is the right to know why you're being arrested. at one point he just started having people sent to jail without telling them why. this is also illegal, and it says in the Constitution in Article 1 Section 9 that "the pricelegde of the writ of habeus corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it." the only reason he was arresting people was because of the bad press they were putting out against him. he was not seen as a good president, because most of his actions (like the Emancipation Proclaimation) were unefective, and they starting publishing negative things about him. because of this, he would have them thrown in jail.
another bad thing that he did was that he drafted and built up an army without having this action approved. he was so focused on the war, and avenging his lost friend that he completely abandoned the rules. he was a reckless president, and by drafting, he put many people's lives in danger. it was an irrespondible thing to do, and the powers to draft an army are left in and completely up to the congress.
so next time you think about Abraham Lincoln being a wholesome and "honest" man, think about all of the illegal things he did to the country. who's to say that he's any better that George W. Bush? looking back at what I learned in class, Abe was about the same level as Bush, it's just the media's input on things. becasue Lincoln controlled the press, they could not write bad things about him. Bush can not do this, and it is easier for people who read newspapers and other articles about him to come to immediate conclusions. it all depends on the facts.