1/ It's telling Tony cherry-picks "political legerdemain" to conclude that Lincoln was simply "dishonest." The whole point of McPherson's article is that Lincoln's ostensibly racist rhetoric was calculated to forward an anti-racist agenda.

[And please trads spare me the lecture about consequentialism. After having supported Trump over abortion and gay marriage, it's as obvious as ever the bishops themselves are consequentialists. Too bad we have to live with the consequences.)

Certainly Frederick Douglass has as much credibility as any person to weigh in on Lincoln's alleged racism: