Columnist Bob Bridge
”A house divided against itself cannot stand.“
- Abraham Lincoln
Slavery was the divisive issue when Abraham Lincoln uttered this statement in 1858. Americans did not heed his warning and nearly three years later our nation was at war … with itself.
More than 600,000 soldiers died before hostilities were halted in 1865.
It was a dismal, frightening time in America.
During this lad’s trip through the turbulent teens our nation once again was mired in discord and disunity. The Vietnam War prompted protests and animosity.
“I oppose the war in Vietnam because I love America,” explained Dr. Martin Luther King. “I speak out against it, not in anger but with anxiety and sorrow in my heart, and above all with a passionate desire to see my beloved country stand as a moral example of the world.”
Now, nearly a half-century later, America’s two prominent parties are barking raw rhetoric as if they were rabid dogs.
I find myself inundated with self-centered narratives and a senseless scarcity of well-documented facts.
I’ve heard folks on both sides of the aisle proclaiming, “We’re going to lose democracy as we have known it!”
Let me inject a noteworthy nugget: this once-revered republic already has strayed far from its original foundation. And, I’m not overly optimistic we can find the trusty trail back to the land of the free and the home of the brave.
I do wholeheartedly concur with Abe. A house divided against itself cannot stand.
Bob Bridge welcomes comments at 812-276-9646 or bbbbbridge@gmail.com.
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