Grapevine: Obama turning his back on Lincoln?

President will not attend anniversary of Gettysburg Address

And now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine...

Liberal Stance

Australia's liberals are taking a stand ahead of a potential climate deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The Australian reports during the on-going U.N. led negotiations, the country will not agree to a deal that involves payments from rich countries to developed countries in order to lower emissions, calling the measures -- quote -- "Socialism masquerading as environmentalism."

The Liberal Party in Australia -- which mopped up in the most recent election -- is the country's center-right party, and have fans over at the conservative Heritage Foundation here in the U.S.

So where does the U.S. stand on all this?

Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern said this -–

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TODD STERN, SPECIAL ENVOY FOR CLIMATE CHANGE: The U.S. will be providing, or has provided for Fiscal Year 2013, $2.7 billion in public climate finance to support mitigation and adaptation in developing countries.

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Illini Love

President Obama's admiration of Abraham Lincoln is well documented.

He started his presidential campaign in Springfield Illinois, using Lincoln's name four times in that speech.

He was sworn in using the Lincoln bible -- twice.

And he proclaimed the 16th president as his favorite.

So, some are stunned it will be the Interior secretary -- and not the president -- who attends the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address next week.

One Pulitzer-Prize winning historian is disappointed. Quote -- "It might have been an opportunity for him to say something important, maybe enhance a tarnished image. He's going through a rough patch right now."

The White house has not given a reason for the absence.

Time for a Change

And finally, last week, Annapolis, Maryland elected a Republican mayor for the first time since 1997.

Less than seven days later, a member of the Democratic-dominated city council considered trying to remove much of the mayor's powers.

The uproar was harsh, and the backpedaling quick for the councilman who floated the idea. Quote -- "I am getting hate calls from all over the country on this...They're calling me a fascist...There are no plans to file any legislation."

The Mayor-elect and the councilman now agree the issue got blown out of proportion.