Old Times Not Forgotten

During the past few weeks I have been watching Ken Burns' The Civil War on the PBS channel. I remember watching it back in Britain the first time it was aired.

This afternoon while I was having a contemplative cigarette on the back deck, I got to thinking what would Abraham Lincoln make of all the rancour and division that is abroad these days in the United States.

As an outsider, the tea party supporters put me in mind of the secessionists 150 years ago. They rant and rail against big government in pretty much the same way the secessionists were violently opposed to the union and federal government.

I just hope things do not end in tears and that wiser counsel will prevail. With the stridency of those on the far right and their willingness to see the country plunged into economic and financial chaos, more and more it seems like I am living in the Disunited States of America.

In the words of President Lincoln: "A house divided against itself cannot stand."

In these difficult times, we would do well to remember the lessons history has taught us -- the past is so often the key to the future.