Anyone who has shared time with me on these pages in the past knows that I am a staunch defender of a clear picture of truth in regard to the South. Basically, I believe the last 150 years of American history is not all it has been made out to be in our history books. I have preached long and hard about all the misinformation and propaganda that is out there in regard to who and what we are, and also, in regard to our overall history.

It has been my contention that if we are going to call something a worm based on what is found under a few rocks, perhaps other things might be called worms as well if a few more rocks were overturned.

Well, maybe, just maybe, those unturned rocks are finally revealing their dirty underside, and to be sure, some will not like what is to be seen.

Last year, I was generally lambasted for having the "audacity," as some put it, to challenge the saintly persona surrounding Abraham Lincoln here. While some have heard "the rest of the story" in regard to our 16th president, it was obvious based on the reaction to my column about him that many more have not - and even when they do, some refuse to listen.

Lo and behold, what comes along recently but a three-hour documentary on the History Channel, no less, dedicated to finally telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth in regard to the ol' railsplitter. And what did the History Channel find out? A few tidbits:

• Lincoln suffered two nervous breakdowns--so severe that both times his friends mounted suicide watches.
• Even in the White House, Lincoln frequently spoke of his fear that he might commit suicide
• Lincoln’s second nervous breakdown came after he had abruptly broken his engagement to Mary Todd, whom he later married. Historians are divided about the reasons for the breaking of the engagement, citing homosexuality, another woman and syphilis.
• Lincoln shared a bed with his intimate friend Joshua Speed for four years, and wrote a series of letters which seem like love letters to him. New evidence has recently emerged in the form of eyewitness accounts that suggest Lincoln, during his presidency, had a continuing homosexual relationship with a Captain of his Guard.
• Lincoln had a history of visiting prostitutes before his marriage, and he was convinced throughout his life he had caught syphilis from one in 1832.
• As a rising politician in Illinois, Lincoln developed a reputation for dirty tricks, for writing libelous anonymous letters (he was even challenged to a duel for one), and for the ruthless demolition of his opponents.
• Lincoln was not a practicing Christian in any way, and as a young man he published a book about his reluctance to accept the Jesus story. Though he increasingly invoked the concept of the divine in his later writings and speeches, he never referred to Jesus or made claims for the Lord’s will.