Mark Steyn with another gem. Food for intellectual thought.
His columns are the kind you read slowly, because of all of the profound thoughts contained therein.
Many here on FR allude to a looming type of civil war, that society has fractured along invisible fault lines, some dealing with reality and some dealing with rabid liberalism, some along the lines of failed Socialist policies that are trying to be resurrected, even after their utter failure has been exposed.
In American history this fractionalization of political thought reminds me of 1860, when the fissures of the body politic became deep, undeniable and irreversible.
I can only pray that the election decision next year does not become a close result ala 2000, but a decisive decision by the American electorate, one way or the other.
A house divided against itself cannot stand.
Shades of 1860 indeed.
The nomination process is failing before our eyes, too many, too early, "final" choices made NINE MONTHS BEFORE the election.
There will either be a religious right third party, or a fusion "national unity" center party, or even both. The left will rally around Hillary, and the GOP nomination won't be worth a pitcher of warm spit.
The witch may very well be elected with 35% of the popular vote, with 65% of the votes split to her right.
She will of course govern as if she won in a landslide.
Game on.
Unlikely. The separation between the conservative red states and the liberal blue cities is a profound chasm; the two sides increasingly operate off different perceptions of reality and different reasoning processes. The difference is as stark as night and day: capitalism versus socialism, Judeo-Christian morals versus atheistic moral relativism, American exceptionalism versus United Nations membership, victory as annihilation of terrorists versus victory as denial of terrorists.
I don’t know that it’s even theoretically possible now to unify the two sides of this chasm. Heck, The New York Times today published an editorial declaring that high taxes yield economic competitiveness. I don’t know any Oklahomans, now enjoying the lowest tax rate in the country, who could take such a contention seriously. But New Yorkers believe it. So we need to raise taxes to resuscitate the flailing economy, or we need to maintain or lower taxes (and drill for oil) to continue the prosperous economy.
“Many here on FR allude to a looming type of civil war, that society has fractured along invisible fault lines, some dealing with reality and some dealing with rabid liberalism, some along the lines of failed Socialist policies that are trying to be resurrected, even after their utter failure has been exposed.
“In American history this fractionalization of political thought reminds me of 1860, when the fissures of the body politic became deep, undeniable and irreversible.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1882512/posts?page=24#24
1860 is the not yet by five or ten. This coming election could be a Kansas 1855.
Not me. If the dems win America as we know it is over. I really hate to paint such a bleak assessment however the left has learned alot in the last eight years will take decisive steps never to lose power again.
From what Lincoln said in the Gettysburg Address, he seemed to think that the divided house that could not stand occurred when one side left. I think the house divided that will not stand is when you have two large factions within the same country that have mutually exclusive visions for governing that country.