I believe you are correct — both sides were looking for a fight (a quick one) that would define the country.
The point of contention throughout this entire thread is the South’s apparent inability to “let it go.”
Heck, I think Non-Sequitur gets a text alert everytime a thread goes up because he is on them like white on rice. I would just like to see some more originality in the threads. It does get boring having the same argument all the time.