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The second American civil war: what it's about
townhall.com | 10/14/03 | Dennis Prager

Posted on 10/13/2003 9:41:44 PM PDT by kattracks

Whatever your politics, you have to be oblivious to reality to deny that America today is torn by ideological divisions as deep as those of the Civil War era. We are, in fact, in the midst of the Second American Civil War.

Of course, one obvious difference between the two is that this Second Civil War is (thus far) non-violent. On the other hand, there is probably more hatred between the opposing sides today than there was during the First Civil War. And I am not talking about extremists. A senior editor of the respected center-left New Republic just wrote an article titled, "The Case for Bush Hatred," an article that could have been written by writers at most major American newspapers, by most Hollywood celebrities, and almost anyone else left of center. And the conservative hatred of former President Bill Clinton was equally deep.

In general, however, the similarities are greater than the differences. Once again the North and the South are at odds (though many individuals on each side identify with the other). And once again, the fate of the nation hangs in the balance. The two sides' values and visions of America are as incompatible as they were in the 1860s.

For those Americans who do not know what side they are on or who are not certain about what the Second American Civil War is being fought over, I offer a list of the most important areas of conflict.

While the views of many, probably even most, Americans do not fall entirely on either side, the two competing camps are quite distinguishable. On one side are those on the Left -- liberals, leftists and Greens -- who tend to agree with one another on almost all major issues. On the other side are those on the Right -- conservatives, rightists and libertarians -- who agree on stopping the Left, but differ with one another more often than those on the Left do.

Here, then, is Part One of the list of the major differences that are tearing America apart:

The Left believes in removing America's Judeo-Christian identity, e.g., removing "under God" from the Pledge, "In God we trust" from the currency, the oath to God and country from the Boy Scouts Pledge, etc. The Right believes that destroying these symbols and this identity is tantamount to destroying America.

The Left regards America as morally inferior to many European societies with their abolition of the death penalty, cradle-to-grave welfare and religion-free life; and it does not believe that there are distinctive American values worth preserving. The Right regards America as the last best hope for humanity and believes that there are distinctive American values -- the unique combination of a religious (Judeo-Christian) society, a secular government, personal liberty and capitalism -- worth fighting and dying for.

The Left believes that impersonal companies, multinational and otherwise, with their insatiable drive for profits, have a profoundly destructive effect on the country. The Right believes that the legal system, particularly trial lawyers, lawsuits and judges who make laws, is the greater threat to American society.

The Left believes multiculturalism should be the ideal for American schools and for government policy. The Right believes that the Americanization of all its citizens is indispensable to the survival of the United States.

The Left believes that the Boy Scouts as currently constituted pose a moral threat to society. The Right believes the Boy Scouts continue to be one of the greatest moral institutions in the country.

The Left believes in equality more than in liberty. The Right believes more in liberty. For example, the Left believes that for the equality's sake, men's clubs must accept women. The Right believes that for liberty's sake, associations must be free to choose their own members.

The Left believes that when schools give out condoms to teenagers, they are promoting safe sex. The Right believes that when schools give out condoms, they are promoting more sex.

The Left believes that poverty, racism and psychopathology cause violent crime. The Right believes a lack of self-control, lack of religious practice and lack of good values are the primary causes of violent crime.

The Left believes that "war is not the answer." The Right believes that war is often the only answer to governmental evil.

Any one of these differences is enough to create an entirely different America. Added together, the differences suggest people who live in different worlds that are on a collision course.

And I have only listed some of the conflicting views.

Next week, in Part Two, I will discuss the other major conflicts making for the Second American Civil War.

©2003 Creators Syndicate, Inc.

Contact Dennis Prager | Read Prager's biography



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: culturewars; cwii; dennisprager; shtf; socialconflict; theleft; thomaschittum; unitedstates; violence
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To: Travis McGee
I remember posting on that thread. What a kick to see the alumni all in once place again. I'd pop a top if I had one. Cheers, anyway. I think we're going to make it through another Christmas.
141 posted on 10/14/2003 10:02:23 PM PDT by Eastbound
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To: kattracks
The level of hatred seems to keep raising, that is for sure. I am afraid that what we saw during the recent recall in California is only the tip of the iceberg.
142 posted on 10/14/2003 10:06:52 PM PDT by ladyinred (Talk about a revolution, look at California!!! We dumped Davis!!!)
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To: ladyinred
bump
143 posted on 10/14/2003 10:08:21 PM PDT by Pan_Yans Wife (You may forget the one with whom you have laughed, but never the one with whom you have wept.)
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To: Travis McGee
(Sheeple + LEOs and FLEAs)

You've probably sat around with some of yer local LEOs and gotten some idea where they stand haven't you? They've also got families to protect during any uprising. Where will their priorities be? On the homefront I would hope, with the rest of us. The FLEAs may be another matter altogether, but I've got a feeling that in the lower and middle levels of the bureaucracy, they would have similar concerns as LEOs. Pure speculation in any case.

FGS

144 posted on 10/14/2003 10:08:53 PM PDT by ForGod'sSake (ABCNNBCBS: An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly.)
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To: wardaddy
At least three......
145 posted on 10/14/2003 10:10:14 PM PDT by Squantos ("Ubi non accusator, ibi non judex.")
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To: kattracks
Funny to see this posted just a couple of days after I discovered what I have linked here. Maybe some of you have seen it before. The "John Titor" Story

johntitor.com was the link I wanted to provide, but it's on the fritz at the moment.

146 posted on 10/14/2003 10:16:53 PM PDT by squidly
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To: ForGod'sSake
Well, y'know how it is. One must write about those subjects one ''knows'' about. A niche book, to be sure.

Thanks, btw, for mentioning Travis' title -- I'll have a look at it, you may be certain.

Btw, trading profitably, whether options or stocks or futures, or ftm, 19th century bowling balls, is at bottom only a matter of understanding the game (whichever game doesn't matter), and being disciplined in the trade(s) one selects.

Again, best wishes to you, and FReegards!

147 posted on 10/14/2003 10:21:36 PM PDT by SAJ
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To: Torie
America is far more sensible, and resilient, than he posits, and far less interested in meaningless cultural wars at its critical mass, than he wants or will believe, becuase it does not suit his purposes.

And those purposes would be what, exactly? I listen to Dennis Prager every morning. And there are times when I agree with him, and there are times when I don't know where he is coming from. So, what do you see in him that I don't?

148 posted on 10/14/2003 10:22:36 PM PDT by Euro-American Scum (A poverty-stricken middle class must be a disarmed middle class)
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To: Rebelbase
Excellent point....
149 posted on 10/14/2003 10:28:25 PM PDT by Joe Hadenuf (I failed anger management class, they decided to give me a passing grade anyway)
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To: Javelina
I see it as more... maybe not urban/rural, but there's a correlation there. Citified people are more likely to want Nanny State to take care of them. Where are the liberals who are in the south... ? Exactly!

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F
150 posted on 10/14/2003 10:55:44 PM PDT by Criminal Number 18F
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To: wardaddy
Our scary military is not as useful against fighters who wear business suits and coveralls etc.

One shot and adios is hard to deter or defeat, in a nation with 15 million deer rifles.

151 posted on 10/14/2003 11:09:57 PM PDT by Travis McGee (----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
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To: ForGod'sSake
Have you read my book? I go deeply into the themes of civilian, veteran, LEO and FLEA loyalty under the ultimate stress test.
152 posted on 10/14/2003 11:11:46 PM PDT by Travis McGee (----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
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To: Eastbound
Yep, you can't keep a good post down.
153 posted on 10/14/2003 11:12:17 PM PDT by Travis McGee (----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
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To: Criminal Number 18F
I agree: city vs rural. So it will be a blend of demography and geography. Coasts will tend 'rat, as will all urban areas over 500,000 pop.

Where the cities are bunched up, they will dominate the rural landscapes between. Where one city is isolated amidst a vast rural area, the rural will tend to keep it on the right path.

I see any CW2 as beginning in a dirty war, (see my book), and gradually taking on aspects of the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s, and aspects of the Balkans in the 1990s.

154 posted on 10/14/2003 11:16:51 PM PDT by Travis McGee (----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
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To: Travis McGee
I know the man that penned that, well. During its first few years, The Resister was a constitutionalist, pretty righteous publication -- and it drove the brass nuts. Especially a couple of sergeants major -- Bone and Rambo (no, this Rambo was not that Rambo... he was a loser who came over from the Rangers, rather than a fictional character that gave rise to a million wannabees...).

Rambo thought he knew who it was, but never could pin the guy down, and the frustration probably took years off his life -- to the joy of everyone who had to serve with him.

Unfortunately, the author of this piece later turned in a direction that I found distasteful. He had always been a foe of political correctness; but after he retired he began including overtly racist content in The Resister. I asked him about it, and he told me, "that was my position all along, but I couldn't come out with that right away... you have to gradually bring people along."

I do believe that there are race-related problems, and that the PC culture makes it very difficult to discuss them. However, I don't see eliminating or exporting one of the races as much of a solution.

While the piece you reproduce here does indeed sound appealing, it no longer represents the opinion of the author -- if it did at the time. Then again, since 9/11 he has returned to work, training new SF soldiers. Perhaps he has changed his tune. (Then again, perhaps he continues to burrow underground as he suggests in his article -- but the problem with that is that the community is small and he is widely known therein),

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

155 posted on 10/14/2003 11:17:03 PM PDT by Criminal Number 18F (The essence of life, I concluded, did not lie in the material. -- Charles A. Lindbergh)
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To: Travis McGee
Have you read my book?

Not yet, but I plan to order it and Jeff's third one this week. Could you, in 25 words or less, gimme your gut feel for how you see the military's role in any such scenario?

FGS

156 posted on 10/14/2003 11:24:18 PM PDT by ForGod'sSake (ABCNNBCBS: An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly.)
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To: Travis McGee
Ever read vampire killer 2000?
157 posted on 10/14/2003 11:30:59 PM PDT by Joe Hadenuf (I failed anger management class, they decided to give me a passing grade anyway)
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To: ForGod'sSake
They would need to create new all volunteer "special anti-terrorist units" consisting of morons and lunatics who don't give a rats about the Constitution or BOR.
158 posted on 10/15/2003 12:07:08 AM PDT by Travis McGee (----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
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To: Joe Hadenuf
No, gotta link? Or a synopsis?
159 posted on 10/15/2003 12:07:41 AM PDT by Travis McGee (----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
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To: Criminal Number 18F
Your post squares with what I heard on the grapevine, and fills in some gaps. I don't think there will or can ever be any kind of a military organization, no matter how loosely based, that cannot be penetrated by the feds. Maybe I'm wrong.

I just think it's more likely that at a certain point a tipping point could be reached where lots of individuals would begin to take direct action. One way might look like my book. Word spreads, others "get the idea" and dust off the .270.

Another scenario: cities become "welfare magnets" on an even more blatent scale. Guaranteed votes for food and fun. Rural areas are left to decay, ignored or worse while the fedgov pumps resources into the cities.

Farmer Brown gets tired of seeing the free food giveaways for votes in the nearby city, while he's going broke. So he shoots some power line insulators, figuring the folks in the city should be as miserable as him. The story spreads, and soon, insulator plinking becomes a national hobby for disaffected farmers.

That type of scenario could happen, as rural and urban begin a new kind of CW. And all "leaderless" with no organization, no phone tree, no "cells". Just individuals watching the news and saying, "hey, I could do that to, easy, in my state."

160 posted on 10/15/2003 12:16:41 AM PDT by Travis McGee (----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
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