Who needs truth when you can make up your own?

"Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled, or hanged." — President Abraham Lincoln.

Problem: Lincoln never said that.

This quote is sometimes used by Iraq war supporters like Diana Irey in her campaign against John Murtha last fall. (To her credit, after learning Lincoln did not say that, Irey retracted the quote and apologized.)

But what's the excuse for the latest abuse of Lincoln and what he did not say by Washington Times columnist, Frank Gaffney, Jr. as pointed out by Keith Olbermann on "Countdown" last night?

Perhaps, to quote Abraham Lincoln again, "Persons who willfully take actions during wartime to discredit those in opposition to war by suggesting they are saboteurs of the effort should be arrested, exiled, or hanged."

NOTE: No, Lincoln did not say that either. Dada just said that. Point being, I admit it here, unlike conservative J. Michael Waller who originated the original misquote but, like the attitude so pervasive in the nation today, is not responsible. As Waller likes to tell us, the quotation marks attributing his quote to Lincoln are the fault of his editor who failed to remove them.