Uncivil Warring, Again

THE GREAT AMERICAN political divide, or cultural divide, or whatever, seems either to be getting worse, by which is meant more extreme, or, at the very least, failing to get better. A young extremist conservative, trying to organize conservative college students to "fight back" against a perceived liberal dominance and tyrannical oppression of all conservative thought and speech, with evident sincerity expressed his wish that our little domestic dispute never turns violent, and, to ensure it doesn't, he invoked god's name. He did not sound confident in the result. America's institutions of higher education are dominated by liberals, as is well known, both professorially, and among the young scholars. its a massive liberal conspiracy has seized control by overthrowing legitimate authority in an insidious coup, as conservatives suspect, or, colleges and universities are merely, as they have always been, place where smart people hang out, and the smart people tend to lean left. take your pick. hence, fifty eight percent of republicans consider American higher education to be harmful to America. they do not specify whether the harm comes from math, chemistry, computer studies, or football. Again, take your pick. We can comfort ourselves by reflecting that the country has been more divided than it is now several times, especially during the civil War, that Lincoln was a far more divisive republican than Trump, and last, but not least, trump is not the only dumb ass narcissistic bully to ever lead the republic. that honor goes to Andrew Johnson, a barely literate pro union politician from Tennessee whom Lincoln chose as his running mate to gain support in border states. Johnson, admirably, taught himself to read, but, regrettably, not well enough. he gave speeches in which is indulged in self pity, self aggrandizement, and he incessantly berated his political enemies. sound familiar? it should. As Mark Twain may have but might as well have said: history does not repeat itself, but it sure as hell rhymes.