Left & Right/Confederate & Yankee

[TeresaNJ]

Does anyone else think all this talk of "the Left" and "the Right" smack of "Yankee" and "Rebel" or "Union" and "Confederate"?

 

[dumboiu]

I think our country is in a sad state right now. You don't need to go any further than the DIS to see that animosity abounds.

 

[WDSearcher]

Well ... yeah. Those two groups opposed each other because they believed in different things. Such has it been ... such shall it always be.

There's never really been a time in history when our country wasn't divided. Civil War, Vietnam, human rights, slavery, bussing, segregation, Iraq, health care, social security, NAFTA ... there will always be "two sides" (at least). From what I've been watching of the elections, they're really no more or less mean-spirited than elections ever are when there are two strong candidates. When the race is as close as this one is going to be, the mud flings far and wide. When elections fall into the "landslide" category -- Reagan, for example -- the fighting isn't as dirty.

The difference between what's happening now and "Yankee" vs. "Rebel" is that with all the arguments, insults, and rhetoric, no one is advocating that we split the country up between the right and the left and have two seperate nations. Even the folks on the DIS are responding to the overall campaign atmosphere. I predict that once the election is over and matter is settled, there will be some "I told you so's" and some talk of "the wrong man won," and then it will all go away until the next election.

 

[VampHeartless]

It's interesting to note that George Washington always publically stated that the two party system would end up tearing our union apart, (although he may have inadvertently had a hand in creating it.)

I think they act in tandem with one another...if one gets too powerful, than the country runs into trouble, but as long as they operate on equal footing we are okay.

I think there is a lot of rhetoric, but no where near along the lines of civil war. While there are a lot of ethical issues...I see none so powerful as slavery was, that is shared by an overwhelming majority on either side. The only thing I would ever worry about leading to a seperation of the union, would be a constitutional controversy over election voting procedures. If there were to be a flaw in the constitution....(which would be hard to find...it is an AWESOME document!), it is our voting procedures. Still, I have hope that the loser would have the common decency, such as Al Gore and others in his position, to lay down their challenges before they lead to a government crisis.

And if a crisis were to occur...Lord help us because I don't any of these men have the caliber of Lincoln, and even he needed a lot of backbone to hold things together.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

Today reminds me less of the civil war and more of the revolutionary... there were definitely those who wanted to remain british subjects or those (such as the people in Ringwood) who were willing to work with the highest bidder. And the "sides" were intermingled where they lived and not in separate regions...

It is my fervent wish that people will get off their "teams" and cease to sling the arrows and mud of "liberal", "bushie", democrat, republican, or "rightwingnutjob". Niether one of the candidates represents most people on this board and each of us is trying to first and foremost pick a candidate who will come closest to the words "first do no harm".

 

[JimB.]

Nah.

Yankee - Confederate (please, call me a SOUTHERNER.............) is more geographical.

Left & Right is more philosophical.

I know LOTS of Yankees. I EVEN will be seen with them sometimes

But Ya'll talk real funny up thar..............................

 

[grinningghost]

There's always been a "left" and "right" - and there always will be. But I'll admit, this particular time in history is pretty ugly.

Do you remember on 9/11, how this country came together? For once, there was no "left" or "right". Sad that all that had to end, and even sadder that it took such an immense tragedy to make it happen in the first place.

 

[Wathel R Bender]

No, I personaly do not think that. I am a yankee, and my wife is a southerner. We both share the same political and social views. I do not think it is a geographical divide. It is more of a philosophical divide, and yes, some areas of the country have a majority of one opinion or another. However, I do not think that it can be reduced to something as simple as the Mason-Dixon line.

 

[GeorgeG]

There is a division, possibly more than is healthy. I worry about where it will take us in the years to come regardless of who gets elected.

 

[DisMN]

I'm sorry.

I thought this thread was about men who "dress" left or right.




*backing slowly out of the discussion now........*

 

[Keli]

No, I don't see the correlation.