WSJ's Alan Murray: Election Isn't Likely To End the Battles Dividing Ameri

[question everything]

POLITICAL CAPITAL
By ALAN MURRAY

Election Isn't Likely To End the Battles Dividing Americans

November 2, 2004; Page A4

(snip)

Either way, the fissures deepen. They transcend President Bush and Sen. Kerry, and they run deeper than disagreements over the Iraq war. They represent a fundamental difference in visions of the country's future, and they are fueled by the intense emotions of religion.

(snip)

I say this as a member of the radical center. I believe in free markets but care about social justice. I attend church and fly the flag and get tears in my eyes over corny country music, but I can't see the point in banning stem-cell research or allowing people to own assault weapons or eliminating inheritance taxes when the nation's finances are about to be assaulted by the baby boomers' retirement. In the past four elections, I've voted twice for the Democratic presidential candidate, and twice for the Republican. That's not out of confusion; it's out of a belief that the government tends to work best when it is seeking bipartisan compromise, and it tends to work worst when either party feels free to follow the dictates of its "base" -- be they trial lawyers and tree huggers or the National Rifle Association and the Christian right.

(snip)

It's not just the political world that's being shaken by this conflict; it's the business world as well. Witness the success of the American Family Association -- a group that promotes traditional family values in the media -- in persuading big companies like Lowe's Cos. and Tyson Foods Inc. to yank their support from the hottest new television series of the fall season, ABC's "Desperate Housewives." The group mobilized thousands of people to send e-mails under the banner of "One Million Moms" and "One Million Dads." Meanwhile, James Dobson's group "Focus on the Family" is calling on members to boycott Tide soap and Crest toothpaste because of Procter & Gamble Co.'s efforts to help combat discrimination against homosexuals -- giving what Mr. Dobson calls "tacit approval" to gay marriage.

(snip)

Historian Eric Foner says in some respects, the current turbulence resembles the period before the Civil War when evangelical Christianity was surging, the media was intensely partisan, and civil institutions were breaking down. The arguments then weren't just over slavery, but also over separation of church and state and whether the mail should be delivered on Sunday. And, of course, it ultimately took a war to reconcile them. Let's hope it doesn't take a war this time. But it will take extraordinary leadership. A house this divided cannot stand.

Write to Alan Murray at [e-mail]

URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109935695900961831,00.html

[Shadder]

1. I've been feeling this way for some time now

No matter who wins this election, and it sure looks and feels like Kerry will right now, there is a long way to go bring the two sides back together to a point where we can both work together.

[ixion]

2. indeed, but it's a difficult problem to solve

what needs to happen is the government needs to stop enforcing morality, on all counts. And they're not going to stop that any time soon. :-(