Fort Sumter Moments

In our school history classes, we were taught that the first shots of the US Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter in 1861. South Carolina had seceded from the Union the previous year and demanded that Union troops surrender the fort at the entrance to Charleston harbor.  The demand was refused, and in response, the secessionist forces began shelling the fort with cannon fire.

The firing of weapons is usually said to be the first phase of such conflicts, but in truth, the seeds had been planted and were germinating underground for a long time before these first sprouts appeared above it. The first Civil War, it could be argued, was well underway already. And for all intents and purposes, so is the second.

This one has already had its Fort Sumter moment, known as January 6. And we have had more than our share of smaller Fort Sumters, carried out at shopping malls, schools, and synagogues by those who were armed with what are considered weapons of war.

Some pundits have characterized Donald Trump’s appearance on the CNN “town hall” in New Hampshire as a wake-up call. I know that most are blaming CNN for the way it handled that event, but what came out of Trump’s mouth was not entertainment, even though the audience reacted that way. At least some of it could be in our future. We do need to stay awake. I believe we should be at least mentally on a war footing right now.

This doesn’t mean that everyone needs a gun. As voters, we all have a weapon at our disposal already. Each election is a battle, and the battlefield is the ballot box. The weapons issued to us have “bullets” in them, so to speak: our votes. This ammunition is way more powerful than anything in an AR-15.

It may be harder to fire that electoral weapon in some places than in others, but It is still capable of bringing about true change. If we want to employ heavier weapons, at least some of us have to run for office ourselves or support someone we believe in who is.

The current President and some historians are telling us that the upcoming state and national elections represent fights for the soul of America. If we were NOT cheering and laughing along with the town hall crowd in New Hampshire, what are we going to do about it? Answering that question can’t wait until November 2024. The work has to start now.