A Disturbing Civil War Parallel

By Thomas Krehbiel

Tom · Krehbiel Commentary · Issues/Immigration, Issues/Abortion, Politics · Tuesday, Aug 3, 2010, 7:03 PM · 142 words · from atomapi · shorturl · 2 comments

We were watching Ken Burns’ Civil War documentary the other day, and I commented that I used to think it was impossible to imagine a civil war in America, but lately it seems more and more plausible.

Then the documentary mentioned that after Lincoln was elected in 1860, opposition protesters would burn him in effigy.  I thought, “Well, at least we haven’t gotten to that point yet.”

Then I saw this come through my email from Congress.org:  Protesters hang Graham in effigy.  Uh oh.  Suddenly it’s pretty easy to imagine hardcore conservatives burning Obama in effigy.  (And/or hardcore liberals burning whoever the next Republican president is in effigy.)

Said hanging was over the topic of abortion, by the way, which is one of my top two potential reasons for the next American civil war.  (The other being immigration.)

Reader Comments

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1. KDeb said,

Hey there, Tom. I have to admit, I don't think there is anywhere near enough of a base for a civil war in the U.S. over abortion, that is if you mean pro-lifers against abortion. First of all, if you started divvying up the group, you'd lose the pacifists right off. Second, you'd lose (most of) the patriots. Third, you'd lose the peaceful protesters, and from there the whole thing would fall apart ;)

Like all groups there are kooks and fringe whackos. But i find it hard to imagine a civil war over the issue. At one time there was a well received book which concluded that *if we believe that a child in the womb represents a life and *if we believe abortion takes that life, then *we must find the government guilty of allowing murder. But I think that manner of thinking has fallen by the wayside.

Now, the immigration issue might be another matter, since it hits the pocket book and the xenophobia so nicely. o_O

Thursday, Sep 16, 2010, 5:46 AM

2. GregK said,

As I recall, lots of politicians were burned in effigy during the first few political campaigns in this country's history. It's not a polite thing to do, but it certainly isn't a prequel to war.

Tuesday, Oct 19, 2010, 12:44 PM

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