Outside of Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois, many students may not have noticed it, but one of America's most famous presidents turned 200 on Thursday: Abraham Lincoln. The bicentennial commission is nation-wide , but special celebrations occur in Kentucky (Lincoln's state of birth), Indiana (his boyhood home from age 7-21) and Illinois (age 21-51). I attended Indiana's state wide celebration with nearly one-thousand patriotic others at the capitol building in Indianapolis on February 12th.Awards to schoolchildren, choirs and displays from over 30 state historic sites surrounded keynote speeches from Indiana's popular governor and its chief justice. Gov. Mitch Daniels, who previously served as Pres. Bush's OMB Director, and some feel is a potential presidential candidate in 2012, opened the festivities with a stirring speech on "talent and character." Speaking to the hundreds of youths in attendance, he reminded them that Lincoln had both qualities, but...(Read Full Post)