The last President to view half of Americans as the enemy was Jefferson Davis

[Tom Rinaldo]

Trump doesn't just think that way, he acts that way. It's not mere macho posturing to rebrand the Department of Defense the Department of War,. He plans to conquer his domestic opposition. We are barely 9 months into his four year term of office. At some point Martial Law is a virtual certainty.

Can the media please stop characterizing Trump's rule as "norms not being observed." There's been nothing remotely like this since the Civil War.

[Kingofalldems]

1. Yes and he was a traitor.

[kentuck]

2. We should not play that game.

It is easy to get caught up in the Democrat vs Republican battles. But, we should speak to all of America, in my opinion. We defeat division by uniting. Neither side has the majority they think they have.

[Tom Rinaldo]

4. Of course we shouldn't, and we don't, even though Trump wants us to

Speaking clearly about what Trump is doing and why is not playing any game.This is deadly serious.

[enough]

7. It's not a game when Trump refers to the enemy within and wants to deploy our military on our streets.

[Keepthesoulalive]

8. How do you unite with people

Who enjoy cruelty and rejoice in other people suffering. There is no constitution, no Jesus teachings only hate and it’s coming from one side of the aisle. How about we work to defeat them at the ballot box and stop trying to redeem them.

[paleotn]

9. Exactly. You cannot redeem the unredeemable.

You can only wait for them to die out.

[kentuck]

14. More to the point, we need a unifying message because...

...we cannot assume that everyone who is not a Democrat is the "enemy". Their power is in their ability to divide. We must have a countering and opposite message, in my opinion.

[Keepthesoulalive]

15. I am so damn tired of people hoping America comes to her senses

There is no message that can reach people when their heads are stuck up Fox News and right wing bullshit. Look at what is happening in Chicago and Portland and a lot of Americans are alright with it or indifferent. There is no aisle to reach across, congress is not in session to protect a pedophile. People who did not learn the first time will have to feel. Black children brutalized, Hispanic people being sent to god knows where and you want a unifying message. I am long past that.

[Gimpyknee]

11. I don't see any reuniting in the foreseeable future.

I fear the divide is too wide. There are no longer any moderates in the Republican Party.

[Gore1FL]

3. He was never president, though.

He was a pretend president of a pretend country that never actually ever existed legally.

[Tom Rinaldo]

6. History codifies our version of reality

At one point he had very real authority over vast areas of our nation. However, he lost and with that defeat any claim of legality ceased.

[paleotn]

10. A lot of dead guys on both sides say they weren't pretending.

Had we lost our revolution, a distinct possibility - one could say the most likely outcome, would the Continental Congress have not existed?

[Gore1FL]

13. I'm pretty sure Jefferson Davis was never president of the United States in anyone's interpretations of history. nt

[Tom Rinaldo]

17. Never said he was. Just said he was the last President who viewed half of Americans as the enemy

It was called the Civil War because citizens on both sides thought of themselves as American, Had the South been successful there would have been two counties claiming to be "America", as it is with Korea now and had been with Germany and Vietnam for decades.

[Gore1FL]

18. I think it's easier to say the initial statement leaves a lot to be desired in accuracy and interpretation. nt

[dalton99a]

5. Lincoln should have had him hanged.

[GoCubsGo]

12. It's actually more than half of us.

Those who approve of his behavior is in the 30's, which means he considers a majority of us the enemy. I have no doubt that his puppeteers (Miller, Vought, Wiles, etc.) consider the remainder to be the enemy, as well.

[Greybnk48]

16. For those of us of a certain age, Richard Nixon was a close 2nd to Jefferson Davis. n/t