Melvin’s bogus Lincoln quotes in June, 2011

by David Safier

Now that Cap'n Al's misquote of Lincoln has gone national at Talking Points Memo, it's time to wonder, did the gubernatorial candidate read the Republic back in June, 2011, when he first tweeted the same bogus quotes which you can read at right?

At the time, the Republic ran a Fact Check on Al's misuse of the quotes, tracing their origins to William J.H. Boetcker in 1916.

So when Al, confronted by his latest misuse of the quotes, said "“That’s news to me,” and “If anything, it’s an innocent mistake on my part,” you have to wonder how soundproof and media-proof the man's bubble is. Or maybe Al figured, if the lie was good enough for a state senator, it's good enough for a candidate for governor. After all, do any of his supporters read the papers, and if they pick one up occasionally, do they take anything they disagree with seriously?