Sunday, January 24, 2021

Bill Crawford: Can We Bridge our Schism?

 When is the last time you used the word “schism?”  Oh, it’s not in your daily vocabulary. Well, since we’re living in one it should be.

The Macmillan online dictionary provides this etymology: “The noun schism comes ultimately from a Greek word meaning ‘rent’ or ‘cleft’. It came into Middle English in the 14th century, originally referring to division in the Christian church. The more general meaning came later in the 15th century….Schism is more commonly used nowadays to refer to political splits. A corpus search shows that schisms are frequently said to be ‘precipitated’ or ‘provoked’ by a particular event. They are frequently 'widened' or ‘deepened’ but sometimes they can be ‘mended’, ‘bridged’, or ‘healed’.”

We have been living in an ever widening and deepening schism personified by the vitriol between the left and the right, exemplified by the growing gaps between the rich and the middle class and poor, and impelled by the predators who profit from division. Are we doomed to continue riding this destructive spiral into anarchy, or does one of those rare “sometimes” loom to mend, bridge, and heal?

The inauguration events last week proffered hope for healing. There were Vice President Mike Pence, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other Republican leaders attending church with incoming President Joe Biden, incoming Vice President Kamala Harris, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Shumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and other Democratic leaders. There were former Presidents George W. Bush, Barrack Obama, and Bill Clinton calling for unity. There were hints of the same as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy made gift presentations to incoming President Joe Biden.

And there was Biden’s propitiatory inaugural address in which he said, “To restore the soul and secure the future of America requires so much more than words, it requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy, unity.” Noting that “politics doesn't have to be a raging fire,” he said, “Let’s begin to listen to one another again, hear one another, see one another, show respect to one another.”

Such respect was demonstrated by Pence by attending the inauguration, applauding during Biden’s speech, and his and wife Karen’s graciousness with new Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff.

The iconic American tradition set forth in our Constitution for the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next sets the stage for such behavior. But will it last? We’ve had glimpses of such American camaraderie in the past, but they did not long survive. It will depend upon the courage of political leaders to seek unity in the face of demands for domination and dissent by the extremists of their parties.

“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension ... is itself a frightful despotism,” said our first and greatest President George Washington in his farewell address.

Can we overcome bitter dissention to bridge our schism? The warm and joyful relationship we saw between George Bush and Michelle Obama suggested we can.

The ya-ya started back the next day.

“Love your enemies, do good to them” – Luke 6:35.

Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Jackson.

 

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

Obama won fair and square. Republicans had a sucky candidate...twice. We didn’t like it but peacefully endured it for 8 years. Biden won by illegal means that were not thoroughly investigated before he was throned. Knowing what Democrats will do to “transform” America is not something, I can agree with. You can’t hide in your basement for months and expect to win the Presidency unless you know the fix is in. The only way to accomplish a peaceful transition is through secession. Sorry, that’s blasphemy to some, but we’re there.

Anonymous said...

Name one executive order signed by Biden that would promote unity.

Anonymous said...

No

Anonymous said...

I'll let Mr. Betteridge answer this one.

Anonymous said...

Trump brainwashed this nation (like an abused wife) so badly that the only way to heal the division is to prosecute Trump for high treason and use cult deprogramming methods on his followers. Trump supporters are still promoting baseless conspiracy theories while plotting sedition and secession even today.

11:52 is a perfect example of this dangerous delusion.

Anonymous said...

5:37 So says.... you?

Where have you been throughout time?

Anonymous said...

Gas prices are rising. Thanks a whole fucking lot Biden voters.

Anonymous said...

People understand the power of the vote, despite their efforts to suppress the votes in Georgia and Texas, by 2026 Redumblicans goose will be cooked, they can already forget about ever winning Arizona again.

Anonymous said...

@6:44- Turn on your TV. Trump and his supporters are exposed daily as extremist enemies of American Democracy. Where have you been?

@11:52- You people didn’t accept President Obama’s legitimacy either. Trump famously peddled conspiracy theories about President Obama’s verified Birth Records as well.

Anonymous said...

@7:04- Invest in a green EV car and you won’t have to worry about gas prices. And Tesla’s new semi-trucks will be more economical when diesel is $5+ a gallon.

The Green New Deal is coming. Nothing you luddite chuds can do to stop it now that progressives are in total control.

Thomas Gentry said...

How will highway/ bridge construction and maintenance be funded when EV rule the highways?
Please, no "No" answer







Anonymous said...

7:04,
If you are unwilling to join the fight against Climate Change then you deserve to pay more. Just like a cigarette smoker who refuses to quit smoking or an alcoholic who can’t stop drinking. We aren’t going to subsidize your destruction of the planet. There is nothing stopping you from buying an EV from an American automobile manufacturer and participating in the future. By the end of this decade, Ford and GM won’t even offer Internal Combustion powered vehicles unless the customer pays for the extra cost of carbon credits added to the MSRP.

Eventually EV will be cheaper than ICE due to the additional taxes.

Anonymous said...

7:39, 7:48 & 8:03 (same person)

I think 6:44 meant that you must be the answer to all our problems... and.. we just didn't know you.... yet.

Anonymous said...

@Thomas Gentry
The answer to your question is simple. The same way they are paid for right now.... Taxes.

NEXT!

Anonymous said...

8:51 is absolutely correct. The legislature will find a way to collect taxes if they lose an old source. Just watch them. And just try to order online from China based Aliexpress and even they will collect sales taxes for the State of Mississippi.

Mbrookes said...

5:37, you frighten me. You really would put your fellow Americans in re-education camps because we don't agree with you. That flies in the face of all that America is supposed to stand for.

Anonymous said...

@10:02
There are no constitutional protections for domestic terrorism.

You don't get to hoard weapons and ammo, form antigovernment militias, voice seditious proclomations, and then expect the government to protect your "right" to terrorize the American people.

Thomas Gentry said...

@8:51
How would you collect "fuel taxes?" on EVs?
Toll collections on roads and bridges funded Gov. Huey P.
Long's 1930s highway system.

Anonymous said...

comments give me hope! lol.


Thomas Gentry said...

@8:51 & 9:06
Not an argument against the coming of EV transportation but that it is not just a matter of "turning a switch" on a battery charger for an energy source.
The only way is an on site toll booth revenue collection system that Governor Long deployed in Louisiana in the 1930s. He had the revolutionary idea to hire a private company out of North Carolina to design and construct a highway and bridge transportation system to be funded by toll booth collections. When the total toll collections recovered reached the production costs, plus a ten percent bonus to the contractor,then the highway system was turned over to the State. More likely funded by a New Deal RFC ptoject





Anonymous said...

@Thomas Gentry
They wont collect fuel taxes on EV, you hapless catamite of an oil executive. The legislature will find some other brilliant method of collecting taxes for roads and bridges.

Anonymous said...

10:59, you tell em comrade.

Anonymous said...

After all, electricity is free. Right?

Anonymous said...

I am lol’ing at the thought of thousands of Church School GED types googling “catamite” and doubly so when they learn about Ganymede.

Anonymous said...

Somewhat surprised at the lack of insight here regarding future taxation for EVs as this is usually an up-to-speed crowd.

EVs are going to be taxed for miles driven.
EVs will self-report miles driven directly to taxing authority(ies).
EVs with arrears taxes due will be remotely disabled until tax bill is paid.

When Govt gets done, EVs will be taxed more heavily than ICEs. Only a matter of time and legislation. The technology is already there.

PS Insurance companies are also going to get the information plus other data about driving habits, etc..

Driving is a privilege and the Govt is about to drive that notion deeply into your skull as they exert total control over anything resembling what you've come to regard as a driving freedom. EVs are going to be another total control mechanism for the Govt.

Anonymous said...

11:52am You can prove to yourself that the Election was "fair and square" if you have the guts.

Do you think the election was fair in Mississippi?

I expect you do. Read the election laws in Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania. You'll see they are as tough or tougher.

Pay particular attention to how to register to vote in those States.

You have forgotten what it takes to register.

Now call your county clerk and ask him or her to tell you how they verify voter registration before elections. Also ask how recounts are done and verified.

Of course, the obvious is that in Michigan in particular, the elaborate fraud conspiracy you suspect would require those engaged being very smart at the Presidential level and then stupid at the State and local level.

Just because you want to believe something, doesn't make it true.
You can't make 1+1=4 no matter how many times you say it.

Anonymous said...

"The only way to accomplish a peaceful transition is through secession. Sorry, that’s blasphemy to some, but we’re there."

no, we're not there. you're acting like a child who's mom didn't buy him the candy bar at the store. Stop acting shocked that the most disliked politician in a generation could possibly just lose an election. I think you are wildly underestimating how much people did not like the man, even if they voted for him.

Anonymous said...

Thomas Gentry
When you open your next electric bill, please note you pay for electric plants and maintenance and usage tax.

The taxes that disappear from your gasoline pump will be re-allocated somewhere else. Perhaps your driver's license will absorb a dollar.

Where did the taxes for wagons and wagon wheel manufacturing go?

Anonymous said...

Don’t forget about price increases to everything you purchase. The Dems idea to reduce taxes on groceries won’t nearly cover the cost increases caused by higher costs of fuels.
The post office will need a bigger bail out when they continue to deliver Amazon’s products at a even bigger loss. Who the fuck needs to have a cheap Chinese made toilet bowl brush delivered on a Sunday anyway?

Anonymous said...

Read the election laws in Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania. You'll see they are as tough or tougher.

Link? Put up.

Anonymous said...

This editorial was about schism in the US, a few of you touched on it with the Q anon theories. EVs are coming, the oil companies don’t want the oil for petroleum anymore. It’s more profitable to make plastic and other chemicals.

Anonymous said...

Crawford: Can We Bridge Our Schism?

Nope.

...Next!

Anonymous said...

" Just like a cigarette smoker who refuses to quit smoking or an alcoholic who can’t stop drinking."

Does this logic also apply to the marijuana smokers ?

But back to Billy Crawford.

If this guy can give us a lesson on the definition of the word “schism” from 14th & 15th century Christian
theology debates, I can't wait to read his expert opinion on the most important papal bulls throughout history.

An no, I ain't talking about the Pope's cattle farms in Northern Italy.


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