One Tenth of Honest Abe

We live in a time not unlike the period leading up to the Presidency of my tenth cousin Abraham Lincoln. Our nation is split along partisan and socioeconomic lines. The level of vitriol and venom from both sides of the aisle is disturbing. In the time of Lincoln, we were headed toward a bloody civil war over the questions of slavery and states' rights. Today, while we are unlikely to see another civil war, the level of contentiousness in the national debate rivals that of the mid 19th century. The splits are very different though.

In the time of Lincoln, things were somewhat more clear cut. The split was between North and South, slave states and free states; the debate was over whether new states would allow slavery and how strong the Federal Government would be. Today, we see a much more blurred line, yet the intensity of the debate on both sides is similar. The battle today is not between North and South, or even between "red states" and "blue states." In fact, "red states" and "blue states" are really a myth. The true split is between urban and rural (and to a lesser extent suburban) populations. If you look at a map, you'll notice that in the blue states there are still large red areas and in the red states there are pockets of blue, usually centered around large cities. In other words, red state or blue state is really defined most by whether the number of people in urban areas outnumber those in rural areas, or vice versa.

We have a two party system where the true difference between parties is very small, yet the level of rhetoric would suggest that there is a huge chasm between what the two sides stand for. That rhetoric is slowly tearing this nation apart. Politics has turned personal; no longer is the debate about what someone stands for, or how well (or poorly) they might govern. Instead, it's about what mistakes they've made in the past or present, what dirt can we dredge and up how we can paint the picture or frame the debate to make our opponent look bad. I believe the reason for this is quite simple; it serves as a distraction. It keeps people fired up and it keeps the party base energized, in a time when neither party is doing a particularly good job of governance, nor is it all that easy to distinguish between the practices of the two. It's true, the party platforms have major idealogical differences in them, but if we look closely at the reality of government, we'll see that nothing much ever changes.

It is in this climate that I begin my foray into political analysis and commentary. I'm 25 years old and soon I will be starting a career in the United States Air Force. I graduated college almost 4 years ago with a degree in political science, and I've always been fascinated by the political process. God blessed me with a keen intellect and a very open mind. Unfortunately, as a result, I've had a hard time over the years coming to concrete conclusions of my own on major issues or choosing to fully support one political party over another. However, it has given me to ability to see the logic and reason in all sides of almost any issue. I believe that this gift has allowed me to see the world a little more clearly. My opinions are not usually colored by unshakeable views, religious or otherwise. Instead, I'm able to open my mind, see all sides of an issue and attempt to draw a conclusion.

Abraham Lincoln is my tenth cousin and while I don't pretend to be as insightful or gifted as he was, I hope that by attaching his name to this blog, I can someday live up to at least a tenth of his legacy. I will try in this blog to offer my opinions and conclusions on political issues of the day and the political process. But, mostly I hope to provide sound analysis of happenings in the political arena and leave an opening for my readers to draw their own conclusions.