Publisher's Notebook
A house divided cannot stand
Publisher Bruce Trogdon
On June 16, 1858, Abraham Lincoln was accepting the Illinois Republican Party's nomination as that state's United States senator. He gave a famous acceptance speech in which he said "A house divided against itself cannot stand."
Honest Abe was talking about the issue of slavery. The rest of the quote from Lincoln is "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."
I love that part of the speech. Let's decide and however it comes down, let's pull together. That is how a republic is supposed to work. If you don't like the election results, you don't tear the whole house apart.
Actually, Lincoln didn't invent the house divided phrase, he got it from the King James Bible. "If a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand." - Mark 3:24. "And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand." - Mark 3:25.
Interestingly, the "House Divided Speech" was unsuccessful as Lincoln lost the race for senator to the Democratic incumbent Stephen Douglas. This campaign would climax with the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858. The two ended up running against each other for president two years later with a different outcome. Someday I will write a separate column about those debates because they really touch on the whole democracy versus republic issue. True to his party affiliation, Lincoln believed that our country was a republic.
So do I. The tyranny of the majority is just as scary as a tyranny of a minority. That is why I agree with Lincoln that our country must stand for bigger principles and include respect for the rule of law, of the Constitution.
Douglas ran for president on a platform of letting the people in each state decide for themselves about slavery while Lincoln believed that a house divided cannot stand. Fortunately for America, Lincoln won. Another very interesting footnote of history is that despite his campaign rhetoric Douglas, when civil war came in April 1861, rallied his supporters with all his energies to support the Union.
On Tuesday of this week, we decided to put up this question for the week's online reader poll: The attorneys general of Maryland and D.C., both Democrats, are suing President Trump over his businesses. What kind of precedent does this set for the country? I asked my Editor David Sickels to make the choices be about the general question of partisanship. He used, "This is taking partisan politics too far and will encourage this trend to continue with future presidents." Or, "If they are legitimately concerned there's nothing wrong with it."
Almost on cue as I began writing my column Wednesday morning, news about the shooting of Republican congressmen while practicing for a baseball game against Democrats began to break. The shooter, who was shot and killed by police, apparently was an avid Bernie Sanders supporter. At the time of this writing, it was being reported that he asked which party was out there practicing before deciding to start shooting his rifle.
House Speaker Paul Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called for unity after the incident in speeches on the House floor. Hopefully they are both sincere and emulating Douglas. Maybe this tragic incident will be the tipping point to bring all of us Americans back to our senses. Without having to fight a Civil War.
United we stand, divided we fall. There are disagreements in any family. But you pull together for the good of all members.
Last week's poll question showed was "Is the U.S. better off after withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement?" Naturally, 49.7 percent said yes and 50.3 percent said no. A house divided. Evenly.
Honest Abe was talking about the issue of slavery. The rest of the quote from Lincoln is "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."
I love that part of the speech. Let's decide and however it comes down, let's pull together. That is how a republic is supposed to work. If you don't like the election results, you don't tear the whole house apart.
Actually, Lincoln didn't invent the house divided phrase, he got it from the King James Bible. "If a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand." - Mark 3:24. "And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand." - Mark 3:25.
Interestingly, the "House Divided Speech" was unsuccessful as Lincoln lost the race for senator to the Democratic incumbent Stephen Douglas. This campaign would climax with the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858. The two ended up running against each other for president two years later with a different outcome. Someday I will write a separate column about those debates because they really touch on the whole democracy versus republic issue. True to his party affiliation, Lincoln believed that our country was a republic.
So do I. The tyranny of the majority is just as scary as a tyranny of a minority. That is why I agree with Lincoln that our country must stand for bigger principles and include respect for the rule of law, of the Constitution.
Douglas ran for president on a platform of letting the people in each state decide for themselves about slavery while Lincoln believed that a house divided cannot stand. Fortunately for America, Lincoln won. Another very interesting footnote of history is that despite his campaign rhetoric Douglas, when civil war came in April 1861, rallied his supporters with all his energies to support the Union.
On Tuesday of this week, we decided to put up this question for the week's online reader poll: The attorneys general of Maryland and D.C., both Democrats, are suing President Trump over his businesses. What kind of precedent does this set for the country? I asked my Editor David Sickels to make the choices be about the general question of partisanship. He used, "This is taking partisan politics too far and will encourage this trend to continue with future presidents." Or, "If they are legitimately concerned there's nothing wrong with it."
Almost on cue as I began writing my column Wednesday morning, news about the shooting of Republican congressmen while practicing for a baseball game against Democrats began to break. The shooter, who was shot and killed by police, apparently was an avid Bernie Sanders supporter. At the time of this writing, it was being reported that he asked which party was out there practicing before deciding to start shooting his rifle.
House Speaker Paul Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called for unity after the incident in speeches on the House floor. Hopefully they are both sincere and emulating Douglas. Maybe this tragic incident will be the tipping point to bring all of us Americans back to our senses. Without having to fight a Civil War.
United we stand, divided we fall. There are disagreements in any family. But you pull together for the good of all members.
Last week's poll question showed was "Is the U.S. better off after withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement?" Naturally, 49.7 percent said yes and 50.3 percent said no. A house divided. Evenly.