The OLD Philosopher – John M. Miller
In 2012, William J. Cooper wrote a book called We Have the War Upon Us. Its subtitle is “The Onset of the Civil War, November 1860-April 1861.” It describes in great detail the events from the presidential election of 1860 through the firing of the Confederate cannons on Ft. Sumter in Charleston Harbor on April 12 and 13.
When Lincoln was elected president of the USA, several southern states were threatening to secede from the Union. By the time he was inaugurated, the secession had begun. The political rivals Lincoln deliberately chose as his cabinet were not of one mind about what should be done. Some strongly supported an armed conflict with the secessionist states, others wanted to use diplomacy to try to save the Union, while still others were willing to allow the states of the Deep South to secede while at the same time avoiding war at all costs. Ultimately Lincoln steered the cabinet to a consensus on policy, but it took immense skill and tenacity.
The members who remained in the United States Congress were also not of one mind in how to proceed. In the midst of fierce disagreements on what policy to adopt, it became clear that Ft. Sumter was likely to be the unfortunate flashpoint for war.
The fort was constructed on a small man-made island in the middle of the harbor. (Parenthetically, think about the Chinese man-made islands in the South China Sea.) The fortress was surrounded by Confederate guns. The fort’s commander, Major Robert Anderson, was given many conflicting orders by the president and War Department in the several weeks leading up to the bombardment. It became obvious that his supplies would hold out only until April 15. A Navy supply ship arrived shortly before the firing began, but it was anchored helplessly out of the line of fire. In the end, the brave and resourceful Major Anderson was forced to surrender. With that, the bloodiest war in American history was suddenly thrust upon both of the contending armies.
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In mid-January of 2020, the US had its first reported case of COVID-19. A glaring
constitutional weakness leaves it unclear who is the commander-in-chief, if any, against this virus. Is it the president, or is it the governors or mayors of the various fifty states or thousands of municipalities? In point of fact, just like the Lincoln cabinet and the US Congress leading up to the start of the Civil War, there have been innumerable conflicting opinions about how the war against the coronavirus should be waged, and who should direct the waging thereof.
Various expert health officials have also given widely conflicting advice on how best to fight the virus, and many politicians have offered widely disparate opinions on what should be done. It is the same old story in many respects as it was in the events prior to the Civil War.
There is one enormous difference in the current scenario, though. In April of 1861 President Lincoln was expending every ounce of his energy to attain a strong consensus and then to turn that into a policy. In April of 2020 President Trump is wildly leaping all over the political map, saying one thing one day and completely reversing it the next day. Mr. Trump has claimed absolute authority for directing the national battle against COVID-19, but he has also pointedly renounced such a position. Sometimes he echoes the positions taken by most of the health experts, while other times he clumsily tries, without success, to undercut their recommendations.
In the estimation of many, Abraham Lincoln has gone down in history as the greatest of our presidents, because he somehow managed to bring order out of the chaos of a severely divided nation in a time of war. In the estimation of many, Donald Trump shall go down in history as one of the most divisive and least effective presidents we have ever had. Until and unless he removes himself from the War Against The Virus, we shall continue to have no one to unify the raging opposition groups who cannot and apparently will not agree on what to do. In the meantime, with Donald J. Trump, we get the appalling same old same old. There is nothing new under the sun.
John Miller is Pastor of The Chapel Without Walls on Hilton Head Island, SC. More of his writings may be viewed at www.chapelwithoutwalls.org.