Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Sid Salter: How Will, How Can Americans Put Our "House Divided" Back Together Again?

 It is easy to read current social media posts and Tweets and conclude that American political division has never been stronger, farther apart and more distant from a reasonable path forward as a united nation than exists today.

Our social media, as well as our broadcast and streaming platforms, feature the lowest forms of personal and political vitriol. Threats of violence and mayhem are common. And the things said after calamities like the Uvalde school shootings to defend the Second Amendment defy reason and logic.

 

It no longer seems enough to argue over partisan political policies or strategies. Today’s political rhetoric is more provocative and incendiary, and it’s made worse by the fact that much of it comes from anonymous sources who are too cowardly to own their words or accusations. They hide behind pseudonyms and throw their rhetorical rocks in a manner mindful of Mayberry’s Ernest T. Bass.

 

Since the American Revolution, the serious, often violent political division has existed in what would eventually become the United States. “Loyalists” who were loyal to the British Crown were at fiery political odds with “Patriots” who supported the revolution and independence from British rule.

 

Less than a century later, the nation would struggle with the evil of slavery. That bloody struggle – literally and figuratively pitting brother against brother - cost the lives of some 620,000 Americans fighting for the North and the South. But not even that mighty conflict and the bloody legacies of Gettysburg, Antietam, Shiloh and Vicksburg truly settled the issue of slavery in practice for much of the nation – and particularly in the South.

 

Before he was elected president, then Illinois U.S. Senate candidate Abraham Lincoln made a speech on June 16, 1858, on the steps of the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield in which he said:

“A house divided against itself, cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.

“Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South,” Lincoln said. As history records, Lincoln would not live to see his vision in full practice.

The adoption of the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments made national promises of fairness, equality and freedom from discrimination that the arduous process of Reconstruction and the recalcitrance of Southern state legislatures made difficult if not impossible to keep. The Civil War was over in 1865. But another century would pass before America adopted and began to enforce the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The nation’s ongoing struggle with civil rights would cross-pollinate with increasing distrust of the federal government brought on by the interminable Vietnam Conflict – that preoccupied six consecutive U.S, presidents from Harry Truman to Dwight Eisenhower to John F. Kennedy to Lyndon Johnson to Richard Nixon to Gerald Ford.

America’s young people took up the cause against Vietnam and by the Nixon Administration and the quagmire of the Watergate scandal – confidence in the U.S. federal government hit an all-time low.

Washington Post chief government correspondent Dan Balz wrote in 2022 on the 50th anniversary of Watergate: "Watergate, along with the Vietnam War, marked a dividing line between old and new, ushering in a changed landscape for politics and public life — from a period in which Americans trusted their government to a period in which that trust was broken and never truly restored.”

Today’s national partisan war of words is disheartening and dangerous, if for no other reason than some take the rhetoric seriously and are inclined to act upon it. Lost in this deluge of political bile and bombast is the fact that we are all Americans. What we ultimately leave to our children and grandchildren depends on our ability to remember that and put it into practice.


47 comments:

Anonymous said...

Once again...Thanks, Captain Obvious.

Anonymous said...

If I had this on paper instead of a screen it would be useful.

Anonymous said...

I don’t even see democrats and RINOs as people anymore. They are simply demons. And I hate to say it but the US government has truly proven itself to be The Great Satan.

Anonymous said...

I feel like the ghost of Bill Minor wrote this column- or possibly one of Miss Today's staff of 4 crack journalists.

Anonymous said...

Social media allows people to fight non-stop without facing the consequences, so naturally the fight intensifies and we become more divided. Can't put that genie back in the bottle.

Anonymous said...

You can start by stopping the attacks on 1st and 2nd amendments to the Constitution. Either stop attempting to subvert it or go through the process of changing those amendments via the process set up by the Founders. Otherwise, you are delegitimizing the very contract/rule of law that holds us all together.

Anonymous said...

8:13 If you are serious, please get some counseling from a Christian pastor as soon as possible. De-humanizing those with whom you disagree is a step towards violence even genocide which has destroyed civilized societies in the past and would do so again if we don't learn from our mistakes. You do not know why other people think the way they do until you walk a mile in their shoes which you cannot do. If large numbers of people adopt your bigoted view our country is truly lost and it should be. It would not be worth saving.

Anonymous said...

Sid Salter is one of those types who, if I had a full bladder and he were to spontaneously combust, I wouldn’t piss on him to extinguish the flames.

Sid Salter’s opinions are reminiscent of a painful boil on your posterior.

His writing is like a fresh pile of canine excrement on the sidewalk.

In short, I wish he would either retire, or get a real job and some real life experience.

Living on a college campus for several decades is not real life experience.

Anonymous said...

Sid Salter: "It no longer seems enough to argue over partisan political policies or strategies. Today’s political rhetoric is more provocative and incendiary, and it’s made worse by the fact that much of it comes from anonymous sources who are too cowardly to own their words or accusations."

3........2.........1

Anonymous poster at 8:12am: I don’t even see democrats and RINOs as people anymore. They are simply demons. And I hate to say it but the US government has truly proven itself to be The Great Satan.


Wash, rinse, repeat

Anonymous said...

Controversy sells and many are invested in keeping us divided into teams — complete with fans and cheerleaders. Divide and conquer. If we had a truthful Administration and an honest press, this could not have happened. I blame the dearth of honor on today’s political climate.

Anonymous said...

God bless the chasm between communistic lefties and conservatives. If one mangles principle and mixes with the left the result is a deranged Liz Cheney or similar depraved chimera.

Anonymous said...

I think if media of all forms went away for 1-5 years we would be better off. Just live and make choice based on what you see and experience in real ife.

Seeing the spin and outright lies about Jxn's water problems tells me any change now is impossible.

The media conglomerates and politicians will tell you want to think, and you will like it.

And the money maker of the century is racial division so it wont end and weak minded will drink it all day.

Anonymous said...

and it’s made worse by the fact that much of it comes from anonymous sources who are too cowardly to own their words

Because the cultural marxists have weaponized their rhetoric to the point that they can financially ruin any opposition speech.

Kingfish himself is absolutely terrified to allow free speech here because if someone in a protected demographic gets their feelings get hurt, he could be deplatformed.

Anonymous said...

Division is part of the smoke and mirrors program for the voting morons. While street level idiots argue about newborns deciding if they’re transgender, toilet paper is racist, Orange Man Bad!, FJB, and thinking busing migrants to liberal utopias is some right wing political sham or sticking it to the Dems, your elected masters are lining their pockets.

Anonymous said...

A good start would be to heavily invest in mental health care so that people like @8:13 can get the help they clearly need. The internet and mental illness are not a good mix.

Anonymous said...

This is nothing to worry about. We have the unifier-in-chief in the Whitehouse accusing half of the country of embracing semi-fascism, what could go wrong?

Anonymous said...

8:13am,
If you are serious, I sincerely pray that you get some help. That's no way to live, and it's certainly not a reflection of reality.

Anonymous said...

How could we be anything but divided?
Decades ago, the American news media decided their role would change. Instead of reporting fairly on the game, they decided to suit up and go play for one of the teams...while claiming they were not doing that.
Something similar has happened to the political establishment. Instead of seeing their office as a privilege and a responsibility to do the right thing by all people and our Constitution, and to pursue and defend truth in all matters, politicians have entered a place where they will abandon truth, reason, and common sense in the pursuit of ideological goals.
They lavishly reward and defend those who deserve neither, while targeting and punishing those who do not agree with them.

Anonymous said...

Sid is making the point for the great divorce.

This would be a peaceful division of the country. Left gets X and the right gets Y. The leftists get to create their utopia and we on the right can do the same.

We no longer have to tolerate them and they are free from us.

Anonymous said...

8:25 yep. back in the day if you spouted that stuff you had to do it verbally and you'd get immediately "fact checked" on it :) I fact checked quite a few back in the day

violence does in fact solve many things

Anonymous said...

@8:13 is just like Roddy Piper in the film, They Live while the rest of you are Keith David refusing to put the glasses on. But just like Keith David, once you’ve seen it for yourself, you will absolutely agree with @8:13 just like I do. These people are serving The Fallen for literal scraps of power.

Serving The Fallen is nothing but a path to Hell.

Anonymous said...

Mass secession followed by ???. Capitalism and socialism are never going to coexist peacefully in the same country and I don't see any hope at all for large Dem controlled socialistic cities.

Anonymous said...

8:58 AM, tell us who offers more free speech in Mississippi than Kingfish?

Anonymous said...

@8:44 AM
This is 8:13.
I am a Christian pastor and I have heard God’s word.
He didn’t tolerate Sodom and Gomorrah, either.
So Repent now.

Anonymous said...

@8:13 AM you are right on. Stay the course and don't let the lefties on here discourage you.

Anonymous said...

At this point Cultural Marxism is a tumor that has metastasized and the only way to save this country is to eliminate the cancer that is killing the nation. There is no such thing as a bloodless surgery. And when it is done, we must remain vigilant and never allow Cultural Marxism to take root in our media, academics, judiciary, technology, and financial sector, ever again.

This is something that has had to be done in the past. Unfortunately this experiment of the last few centuries has proven that you can’t have freedom and liberty cohabiting with Cultural Marxism. The Cultural Marxists always subvert the republic by perverting the ideals of liberty and freedom.

Anonymous said...

Hey 8:13

"I don’t even see democrats and RINOs as people anymore. They are simply demons. And I hate to say it but the US government has truly proven itself to be The Great Satan".

Guess what we see---Republicans wearing hoods and horns and Maga hats and confederate flags and Trump flags threatening to hang the Vice President as they attack the Capitol of the United States of America. Perhaps if you are looking for demons and the great Satan your mirror would be a great place to start !!!!

Anonymous said...

The biggest thing that would unite America would be if the Main Stream Media types, and their cousins like Sid Salter, would all retire and replace them with real journalists who have some ethics.

Anonymous said...

9:20 - Your opinion is probably shared by several others. However, there are millions who believe that you people need help (and it's available) for Trump Derangement Disorder. Now THAT is true mental illness. I believe 8:13 is hitting the bullseye.

No longer should we view Democrat Socialists as simply 'the other side of the aisle'. They are individually and collectively the enemy (of America), plain and simple. They cannot be worked with, enjoyed, buddied up to or reasoned with. You don't attempt those things with the enemy unless you're stark raving mad.

The left, democrat socialists, is hell bent on destruction of this nation. No ifs, ands or buts. Can't reason with the enemy. He/it must be DEALT with. And if 'we' don't do that soon, this nation is lost forever.

Anonymous said...

I don't know if there is a lot of hope, unless:

1. people/politicians/corporations stop paying attention to social media
2. the media somehow checks itself and stops being so partisan
3. the move to censorship (of anyone who doesn't believe what you believe) is stopped

I doubt any of these will happen, so what's next for the country? On a micro level, most of the people of all races and creeds I meet in my normal day-to-day life seem to be pleasant and happy.

Anonymous said...

Free speech is a joke. Remember the old ACLU axiom? "I may not agree with what you say, but I will fight to the death to defend your right to say it."

That ethos has been torched. Offer your opinion now and the left will try to get you fired, and they often succeed.

Anonymous said...

@10:20 AM
For every Q anon MAGA-tard on Jan6, there were 5 federal agents grooming and provoking them. Even the Michigan governor Whitmer kidnapping conspiracy has been revealed to be a group of Feds grooming and entrapping 2 idiots. It’s been this way since the years after 9/11. If they can’t find a terrorist to justify their existence, they will become the terrorists and radicalize low IQ loners. Fake it until they make it.

Krusatyr said...


None of the communistic leftist's agenda crap works but Sid Salter believes in misery equity, resulting in a toast to Lumumba's Public Service:
Raise Choke-Water by the glass,
Ignore the endless crime,
Drive on streets of bump-ass,
Lined with trash and grime.

Anonymous said...

Seen on WLBT earlier today:
"However, some residents tell us they’ve been dealing with water woes in Jackson for decades.
“This has been an issue for me since I came down here to Tougaloo College in 1991, I was always told not to drink that water,” said Danyelle Holmes, who’s a national social justice organizer and a Jackson resident. She believes politics are being placed over people, which is contributing to this current problem.

She also believes Governor Tate Reeves should’ve acted sooner to help fix this issue.

“If we were talking about Madison County or if we were talking about Rankin County, we would not see these issues,” Holmes said. “The extreme racist politics that are being played, placing politics before people, it has to stop, and it has to stop today. We have 175,000 residents or more who are impacted and lives are at jeopardy.”

As long as we blame others and constantly bring race into ANY issue, this division will continue.

Anonymous said...

In this next "civil war" who will be the Uninted States and who will be the rebels? All you "partiots" anwser that if you can. When the dust settles, besides a 3rd world country what will we be?

Anonymous said...

to 10:40...thats not an ACLU quip........its a quote from voltaire.
im sure you never heard of him. he was french. look him up.
you are a product of mississippi education. god help you.
dont ever leave mississippi.
you couldn't make it anywhere else.
you will never get further than being one of the beautiful people of the SEC....... but first you better get to a dentist.

Anonymous said...

I'm a conservative and a Christian 8:13 a.m. and I cannot defend anyone who sees other men as inhuman. I want to be on God's side whatever I do and that ain't it. I don't think I would want to live in a country you envision.

Anonymous said...

If the marxists would just keep their word and go to Canada whenever the republicans have taken over, then we wouldn’t have these problems. But they never do it.

Anonymous said...

@12:02
Conservative Christian you say?
Your concern trolling is easily recognized.
I can tell that you are not obeying God’s word.
Go read Matthew 18:6 and pray for forgiveness for your “conservative tolerance” that is the opposite of virtuous.

Anonymous said...

12:01 Reading comprehension is a good thing. I never attributed the quote to anyone. I simply said it was once an axiom of the ACLU.

Beyond your poor reading skills lies a biggest problem; free speech is dying and people like you are unconcerned.

Kingfish said...

The Portable Voltaire, especially the Letters to the English, is good reading.

Anonymous said...

My 2 cents worth: honesty and restraint are the core values that have gone missing. When a president and congress can force through an “inflation reduction act” that everyone knows (and laughs) will only exacerbate inflation, you have the perfect example of dishonesty and lack of restraint.

When big business goes “green” to attract federal subsidies that cannot and will never prevent weather cycles, you have an absence of honesty and restraint.

When a municipal government fails to maintain water infrastructure despite ample funding (undermined by a failure to collect water bills) and claims “inequity” and other nonsense as the reason there is no water service, you have a lack of honesty and restraint.

When you have Republicans who spend money we don’t have and then complain that Democrats do this, you have a lack of basic honesty and restraint.

Honesty and restraint have gone missing. Until adults reintroduce these core principles into the public discussion, things will continue to degrade.

Anonymous said...

12:25 There is nothing in Matthew or the rest of the Holy Gospels which justify regarding other children of God as "non-human". If you find such doctrine in God's word you might need to concern yourself with which god you serve.

Anonymous said...

Evelyn Beatrice Hall actually wrote the "defend to the death" line as an illustration of Voltaire's belief.

Anonymous said...

@1:06 you really need to educate yourself before you start claiming to be a Christian.

I know KF isn’t fond of a lot of scripture. But it’s crystal clear. Full stop.

1 Corinthians 10:21
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.

It speaks for itself and I won’t bother with any more scriptures.

Anonymous said...

Lets keep this simple.
We have too many crooks in the leadership of our country. The media is left leaning. We let the crooks in power lie to the people and the news media backed them up and actually encouraged them to tell more lies. Some people were dumb enough to take the word of the news media. Others were making up even more lies to leak.

The news media post a lot of dishonest things. Even when they are shown to be lies there is nothing that can be done to them. They just pick and choose what they want the common people to know.

Anonymous said...

Blaming the media for the division in America is a cop out. The media simply provides news and opinions. It cannot force a human being to accept one view or another. In a democracy, different opinions are to be expected and respected. But the viciousness on display now is new, courtesy of Donald Trump.


Recent Comments

Search Jackson Jambalaya

Subscribe to JJ's Youtube channel

Archives

Trollfest '09

Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

Wrestling returns, except this time it will be a Battle Royal with Othor Cain, Ben Allen, Kim Wade, Haley Fisackerly, Alan Lange, and “Big Cat” Donna Ladd all in the ring at the same time. The Battle Royal will be in a steel cage, no time limit, no referee, and the losers must leave town. Marshand Crisler will be the honorary referee (as it gives him a title without actually having to do anything).


Meet KIM Waaaaaade at the Entergy Tent. For five pesos, Kim will sell you a chance to win a deed to a crack house on Ridgeway Street stuffed in the Howard Industries pinata. Don't worry if the pinata is beaten to shreds, as Mr. Wade has Jose, Emmanuel, and Carlos, all illegal immigrants, available as replacements for the it. Upon leaving the Entergy tent, fig leaves will be available in case Entergy literally takes everything you have as part of its Trollfest ticket price adjustment charge.

Donna Ladd of The Jackson Free Press will give several classes on learning how to write. Smearing, writing without factchecking, and reporting only one side of a story will be covered. A donation to pay their taxes will be accepted and she will be signing copies of their former federal tax liens. Ms. Ladd will give a dramatic reading of her two award-winning essays (They received The Jackson Free Press "Best Of" awards.) "Why everything is always about me" and "Why I cover murders better than anyone else in Jackson".

In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


In order to help clean up the legal profession, Adam Kilgore of the Mississippi Bar will be giving away free, round-trip plane tickets to the North Pole where they keep their bar complaint forms (which are NOT available online). If you don't want to go to the North Pole, you can enjoy Brant Brantley's (of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance) free guided tours of the quicksand field over by High Street where all complaints against judges disappear. If for some reason you are unable to control yourself, never fear; Judge Houston Patton will operate his jail where no lawyers are needed or allowed as you just sit there for minutes... hours.... months...years until he decides he is tired of you sitting in his jail. Do not think Judge Patton is a bad judge however as he plans to serve free Mad Dog 20/20 to all inmates.

Trollfest '09 is a pet-friendly event as well. Feel free to bring your dog with you and do not worry if your pet gets hungry, as employees of the Jackson Zoo will be on hand to provide some of their animals as food when it gets to be feeding time for your little loved one.

Relax at the Fox News Tent. Since there are only three blonde reporters in Jackson (being blonde is a requirement for working at Fox News), Megan and Kathryn from WAPT and Wendy from WLBT will be on loan to Fox. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both and a torn-up Obama yard sign will entitle you to free drinks served by Megan, Wendy, and Kathryn. Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required. Just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '09 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.


Note: Security provided by INS.

Trollfest '07

Jackson Jambalaya is the home of Trollfest '07. Catch this great event which promises to leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Sonjay Poontang and his band headline the night with a special steel cage, no time limit "loser must leave town" bout between Alan Lange and "Big Cat"Donna Ladd following afterwards. Kamikaze will perform his new song F*** Bush, he's still a _____. Did I mention there was no referee? Dr. Heddy Matthias and Lori Gregory will face off in the undercard dueling with dangling participles and other um, devices. Robbie Bell will perform Her two latest songs: My Best Friends are in the Media and Mama's, Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to be George Bell. Sid Salter of The Clarion-Ledger will host "Pin the Tail on the Trial Lawyer", sponsored by State Farm.

There will be a hugging booth where in exchange for your young son, Frank Melton will give you a loooong hug. Trollfest will have a dunking booth where Muhammed the terrorist will curse you to Allah as you try to hit a target that will drop him into a vat of pig grease. However, in the true spirit of Separate But Equal, Don Imus and someone from NE Jackson will also sit in the dunking booth for an equal amount of time. Tom Head will give a reading for two hours on why he can't figure out who the hell he is. Cliff Cargill will give lessons with his .80 caliber desert eagle, using Frank Melton photos as targets. Tackleberry will be on hand for an autograph session. KIM Waaaaaade will be passing out free titles and deeds to crackhouses formerly owned by The Wood Street Players.

If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.

Note: Security provided by INS
.