Across the Great Divide

The chasm that divides this nation widens as the elections approach.Old friends who differ politically are getting testy, and in some cases friendships are even fracturing, or being put on hold. On a video last night I heard a retired general use the word rebellion. The word was not used as a threat, but as a fear.It's as if people are being driven into confrontation against their will. And so they are.

What began as a somewhat standard political divide between two large amorphous parties, has seen those groups themselves divide into hardened sections, impatient with their own leadership.The contentiousness within both parties has raised the emotional quotient in inter-party dealings as well; as the president moves to soothe his far left, he further agitates Republicans and affiliated groups who no longer trust him, and are once again questioning his legitimacy---an incendiary subject.

The facts, in so far as I know them, show that Lt.Col.Lakin,an army doctor,who refused to deploy until he was given proof that the order came from a legitimate/eligible President,asked for court martial and is coming to trial in early October.

In a preliminary hearing, this officer was just denied access to witnesses and documentary material involving President Obama's records by the Army judge, who gave as her reason that the accessed material would be embarrassing for President Obama,and that only the Congress can bring impeachment against a sitting President.

What? And this happened on the Labor Day holiday?

We now have a direct conflict between our president's wish/need to conceal major elements of his past--passport, college records and financing et al,(as well as that famous birth certificate), and a military officer's right to a defense in a court of law.Previous lawsuits, all denied, did not involve this vital factor. Lakin's attorney says the trial will continue .

This does not bode well for the coming pre-election weeks, as emotions strengthen and the chasm deepens.Tomorrow those election efforts begin in earnest.Not that they haven't been building over the past weeks, but the pace will quicken into near frenzy from here on.