The Cold Civil War (Op-Ed By James V. Ferguson, MD)

“We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of Earth.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

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By James V. Ferguson, MD (contributor to the Tennessee Conservative) –

It was December 1862 and the war was not going well for President Abraham Lincoln. Elected just two years before, he was the first President of the newly formed Republican party which had an abolitionist platform. Lincoln’s election triggered secession and Civil War. 

Abraham Lincoln thought that slavery was morally wrong and hoped for its eventual abolition. However, he was a political pragmatist, and with secession, his focus was preservation of The Union. 

As the difficult war progressed, he finally decided to proceed with The Emancipation Proclamation to hamper the Confederate war effort. The Union victory of Antietam gave him the long sought opportunity to announce his proclamation. I’ve stood on the Antietam battleground in Maryland, which was the bloodiest day of war in American history with 22,727 killed, wounded or missing. It’s hard to imagine such carnage as a Union victory, but there had been few others. The famous quote above is taken from Lincoln’s annual message to Congress explaining the proclamation. 

Biographies are not my favorite genre, but it’s good to expand your horizons and read outside your preferred literary category. And Jon Meacham’s excellent biography of Abraham Lincoln, And There Was Light, is compelling. I think this book should be required reading, especially because I find stunning parallels between slavery and today’s border crisis. 

“Wait a minute, Ferguson,” you say. “Slavery was abolished with the Civil War and passage of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments by Republican lawmakers. Perhaps southern Democrats continued racism with their Jim Crow laws and KKK terrorism, but we are beyond those troubled policies and times.” Are we?

I cannot issue a proclamation. I do not have such stature. I’m just an average fish in a small pond with a voice. The Founders studied history and its lessons because time and events may change, but people remain fundamentally the same. Everyone has prejudices, and I’ll admit my own. Nonetheless, I see comparisons between slavery of the Civil War era, and the current Democrat promotion of replacement theory and demographic destiny. Biden and Democrats need a flood of illegals to replace legal immigrants, blacks, hispanics and the middle class who are abandoning the Democrat party because of the chaos they’ve created. 

Constituency is a modern term describing the people in a politician’s district or, I might say, those on a politician’s “plantation.” Arguably, constituencies are the basis of a politician’s power and in some ways analogous to the Master’s plantation slaves. 

The tide would turn for the Union in 1863. General Ulysses Grant’s forces captured Vicksburg to control the Mississippi River and cut the Confederacy in half. Then General Lee’s seemingly invincible Confederate army was defeated in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. I’ve stood on these battle fields and reflected upon the sacrifices of those who fought to preserve the nation by giving “the last full measure of devotion,” as President Lincoln eulogized in his immortal Gettysburg Address.  

Thank God we are not in the “hot” Civil War of 1861-65. But make no mistake, we are now engaged in a “cold” civil war for the soul of America. The casualties in this non-shooting war are relationships and friendships which are being torn apart. I saw this in my former church, then in the community, and now, tragically, in my neighborhood. Ideological bigotry is as real as racial bigotry, and is sundering the nation. I’ve wondered, should I abandon my principles in the pursuit of love? “What Would Jesus Do?” (WWJD). Jesus is the embodiment of love, but did not mince his words in condemning Pharisees. 

President Lincoln was savaged in his day by Democrats and even by those in the north. He was narrowly reelected in 1864. And as I write this essay, Colorado attorneys are arguing before the Supreme Court that President Trump should be removed from the 2024 ballot. A rational person would hold that WE The People should determine who we vote for rather than some bureaucrat, politician or lawyer. I watched the tapes of President Trump on January 6 as he asked people to march peacefully and respect the police. Yet, Democrats say Trump incited insurrection.  Never mind the Summer of Peace of the George Floyd riots.

As a science based guy, I believe in observable and factual reality. So I’ve been thinking, what do I really know about Donald Trump? I know his track record as President, and I know a bit about his personal life and family. But, much of what I think I know are not my direct observations, but the reports of others. It is these others – Democrats and their media mouthpieces – who have track records of dishonesty, who savage Trump. In this era of deep fake imagery, you can no longer believe what you see. Perhaps what we see and what we’re told is just political porn. 

And if you thought things couldn’t get any more confusing or worse, Democrats are now committed to the tactic of “law-fare,” using the courts to ban Republican candidates and Trump from the ballot. They are actually interfering in the election process. It’s not the Russians, it’s the Democrats. 

The media and Democrats – there is no difference – warn us that chaos will occur if Trump is reelected or even if he is allowed to be a candidate. Trump did not cause chaos in his first term. Political predictions are unreliable. Whereas track records are demonstrable. The actual chaos we are experiencing has been caused by the destructive old man in the White House, aided and abetted by his progressive Democrat minions in the media, the deep state and Congress. If you need an example, just look at Biden’s border crisis. How typical that “Mr. Chaos” blames President Trump for the disaster. 

Proclamations, Civil Wars and Constitutional Amendments cannot change the heart. Like Lincoln and C. S. Lewis, I believe in a “transcendent morality.” Unless there is an absolute moral standard, everything is relative. Einstein proved the speed of light is absolute and the standard in physics. Unless there is a standard good, then morality is relative as is the notion of slavery or anti-semetism. 

In November we must renounce chaos and vote to Make America Great Again. Voters must get beyond their emotions and select a proven leader. Their children’s future depends on it. 

About the Author: Jim is a native of Knoxville, practicing Internal Medicine for more than 40 years, prior to retiring in 2020. Along with learning to become a “gentleman farmer,” he has written essays for the conservative weekly Knoxville Focus since 2007.