Weekend Assinment 255: Two Centuries Later

I missed out on Karen's last assignment because I was all messed up last week after our trip. Now I'm back. Before I go on to this week's assignment, I want to mention something about last week's. The assignment was do-overs and what would day would you want to re-live. This was inspired by the movie Groundhog Day. So, my thought was, I want to re-live the day I saw that movie. That way it would be some weird, endless loop that would probably destroy the universe as we know it. Cool, huh?

Okay, back to this week. Karen's assignment is as follows:

Weekend Assignment #255: Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on the same day, two hundred years ago this week. Both went on to propound ideas that had a lasting effect on the world around us. Have either of them had a particular impact on you personally?

This is pretty easy for me. See, growing up in Illinois you have no choice but be reminded about good old Abe Lincoln and how much he meant to our country. Usually this involves a filed trip to Central Illinois to see some log cabins he may have lived in at one time. Also, there is no way one can get through school without doing some kind of report on Abraham Lincoln. I don't remember when I did one, but I know I did. Heck, our slogan is "Land of Lincoln."

I wonder if anything is going to change since Obama is from Illinois. Obviously, a lot depends on how well Obama does as a president. I think it will take a lot to push Lincoln out of the minds of Illinoisans. I could be wrong though.

Now, about Darwin; I'm not saying he wasn't important to me, it's just that being in Illinois it's hard to beat out Lincoln for popularity. Darwin was very important for the scientific community, in my opinion. I know there has been some debate recently about evolution in some states. I don't get it. I don't know why some states want to go backwards in science. Don't even get me started on Creationist Museums. People living along side dinosaurs? Really? I don't want to get too deep into this right now. You can go to Phil Plait's blog and see many arguments he has on it. He's a scientist and can do much better job arguing for me.

Extra Credit: Where do you rank Lincoln on your personal list of greatest U.S. presidents?

Oh, boy. Top five, at least I never really thought about it that much.

What about you? Who is more important to you?