OPINION: With malice toward none; with charity for all
In the spirit of working together to build something bigger than ourselves — a more perfect and bipartisan union — the Kootenai County Democrats are reaching across the aisle.
We are honored to host former Idaho Chief Justice and former Idaho Attorney General Jim Jones as our keynote speaker for our 2025 Annual Democracy Dinner Gala.
Justice Jones is a distinguished veteran of both Idaho politics and the Vietnam war. He brings a legacy of non-partisan service to this event.
His keynote address and our largest annual event coincide intentionally with Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. We want to draw attention to the differences between the GOP as it once was and its current grotesque state.
Abraham Lincoln, a founding member of the Republican Party, would scarcely recognize his party in its current MAGA form. Justice Jones, himself a Republican, has signaled that he plans to address Lincoln’s legacy through a modern lens.
The Annual Democracy Dinner serves as a call to reclaim Lincoln’s legacy from those who falsely lay claim to it. Anyone with a basic understanding of American history, regardless of party affiliation, can see the contrast between Lincoln’s values and those of today’s MAGA Republicans.
To no one’s surprise, the recently inaugurated 47th President of the United States is quite a contrast to the President who preserved the Union throughout the Civil War.
Anyone with a basic understanding of American history, regardless of their party affiliation, is certain to get a clear picture of that contrast.
Consider Lincoln’s principles. Lincoln earned the nickname “Honest Abe” for his integrity. By contrast, our current president has a documented pattern of dishonesty and hyperbole.
Lincoln was a thoughtful man, who respected the Constitution's guarantees. Our current President disregards the guarantee of birthright citizenship. He heartlessly separates hardworking foreign born parents from their American born children.
Following the Civil War — which left over a million Americans dead — Lincoln sought to reconstruct the Southern states and heal a divided nation. In stark contrast, the current president demands political concessions from states that voted against him before offering federal disaster relief.
Lincoln’s immortal Second Inaugural Address, delivered in 1865, made clear his belief in a just, peaceful and more perfect union.
“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan — to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations.”
Could you imagine any MAGA Republicans uttering these same words today? Today’s MAGA Republicans bear no resemblance to Abraham Lincoln.
The Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde is perhaps the closest we have to Abe Lincoln today.
Following the presidential inauguration, Bishop Budde preached about national unity and mercy.
She addressed the newly elected President’s executive orders that further isolated LGBTQ citizens and forced the deportation of undocumented foreign born people. The Bishop described the orders as forms of “persecution,” and asked the incoming President for mercy.
“Let me make one final plea, Mr. President, millions have put their trust in you, and as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy on the people in our country who are scared. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic and Republican and Independent families, some who fear for their lives."
In this same spirit of charitable bipartisan tolerance and healing, as voiced by President Abraham Lincoln and echoed by Bishop Budde, the Kootenai County Democrats invite all interested citizens to attend our 2025 Democracy Dinner Gala.
Full details are at: kootenaidemocrats.org.
Hope to see you there.
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Evan Koch is chairman of the Kootenai County Democrats.