Aftermath

Hatred for Obama and the progressive policies he would like to pursue grew so intense during the election campaign that his die-hard detractors just can't give it up.

They have started a petition campaign for secession from the union.  So far, more than 600,000 people from all 50 states have signed on.   The most fervent supporters of secession are in Texas, where there is a strong movement for Texas to become it's own sovereign nation.    One petition drive there has 116,000 signers.

On a comic note, however, is a counter-petition drive.   Someone from the city of Austin has started a petition to the U. S. government asking that, if Texas does secede, Austin be allowed to secede from Texas and remain part of the U.S.   More than 8,000 people have signed this one.

It all seems sort of comic -- until you think about it in parallel to the divided nation that Lincoln faced, and was able to hold together.   No secession movement is going to succeed in 2013.  Instead we have gridlock.

President Obama could well-use Spielberg's "Lincoln" as his model in dealing with this gridlock:  expressing a vision of great ideas but also mastering the art of politics in legislating those ideas.   It will take all the wisdom and courage of a Lincoln to overcome our gridlock and move us forward, united rather than divided.

Ralph