Lincoln, Illinois, is taking the offensive, nonsensensical aspects of the Lincoln Library and Museum to the next level:

... civic boosters have proposed building an Honest Abe theme park, capped off with a towering 30-story statue of the man himself. They envision animatronic displays of Civil War history; a working model of a 19th century frontier farm; a water park; a toboggan run; miniature golf; bumper cars; and stovepipe hats aplenty.

There would be nothing degrading about this," [theme park developer] Art Schutte said. "It's a great idea. It's called edu-tainment.

"Can you just quote my laughter?" asked Richard Norton Smith, director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, which is under construction 30 miles south, in Springfield.

Don't laugh, Dr. Smith. You're running a competing edu-tainment center down the road.

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