A 'Cloak that Will Best Cover the Occasion'

"Actual war coming, blood grows hot, and blood is spilled. Thought is forced from old channels into confusion. Deception breeds and thrives. Confidence dies, and universal suspicion reigns. Each man feels an impulse to kill his neighbor, lest he first be killed by him. Revenge and retaliation follow. And all this, as before said, may be among honest men only. But this is not all. Every foul bird comes abroad, and every dirty reptile rises up. These add crime to confusion. Strong measures, deemed indispensabe but harsh at best, such men make worse by maladministration. Murders for old grudges, and murders for self, proceed under any cloak that will best cover the occasion."

~Abraham Lincoln, "Speeches and Writings," 2.523

Lincoln wanted to avoid war, for many reasons.

So do I.

Markedly, when we see riots and protests outside of war, what Lincoln says of war here holds true. Thos foul birds and dirty reptiles rise up. We see those outside the protest wanting to equate the honest protestors with those foul birds and dirty reptiles, thus sullying the noble and just reasons people protest.

We need to stop that, the equating and the sullying, and regard the foul birds and dirty reptiles for what they are: Opportunists, taking advantage of a situation to do ill because the see a "cloak that will best cover the occasion."

We need to recognize bad guys will use good protests to do their dirty deeds.