The Great Divide



The Great Divide - 2000

by John Galt

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." --Thomas Jefferson

 I have been spending a lot of time on the message boards at www.foxnews.com, then on Delphi when Fox dropped their boards. It started back when the election was being held hostage by algor and company. It is now a place I go to let off a little steam and to marvel at the words of wisdom from the various liberals that go there to spew their venom at having lost the election.

Another fun place to visit there are the threads involving abortion. Whew! There are some real doozies there I will tell you. On both sides! There is just no middle ground on that subject. In my younger day I was pro-choice actually pro-abortion, lets call it what it really is. Then thru life experiences and watching the never ending expansion of what constitutes an abortion I became Anti-abortion or Pro-life. I have discussed this issue with friends and coworkers but never have I seen the venom with which those of both sides go after one another in these forums.

The reason I bring this up is because it illustrates the depth of the cultural division in our country. I guess I always knew it was there, I just didn't know until the election crisis, how wide it was. One of the great liberals, Studs Terkel, wrote a book, The Great Divide: Second Thoughts on the American Dream, published in 1988. This came about at the height of the 80's boom and portrayed through as series of interviews how the "working man" was not sharing in the American Dream. It has been many years since I read the book and it is now enshrined in a cardboard box somewhere in my garage.

I think if Mr. Terkel were to write that book today it would be a carbon copy, only the names would change. Why? Because since the liberals took over the government in '92 not much has changed for the "masses" they are still looking for a hand out rather than a hand up.

It is my hope that President Bush will be able to unite the country but I am not really confident that it can happen. Look at the map of the states that went Republican vs. those that went Democrat. The whole "left coast" went Democrat, as did the major population centers of the northeast. Everything in-between with the exception of the upper Midwest and New Mexico went Republican.

The common denominator? Small town, rural America vs. Big city urban centers. People with a much different outlook on life and that is what makes me wonder if President Bush can bring "us" all together.


Installment #2  That Which Divides
Editorials
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