The Dark Cloud of War

In the epic Civil War movie Cold Mountain, Ruby, played by Renée Zellweger, proclaims, “They call this war a cloud over the land. But they made the weather and then they stand in the rain and say ‘Shit, it’s raining!’”

War, by its very nature, always casts a cloud over the land, and the weatherman is projecting dark clouds over America for the next few years. America is a divided nation. Divided by the war, and divided between two candidates: President George W. Bush and Senator John F. Kerry. With the war in Iraq raging with no end in sight, serious talk of a military drafts, and both politicians claiming the Divine has a plan for them, the America of 2004 is starting to look eerily like the America of 1864. In that year, the incumbent was Republican President Abraham Lincoln, a dark, gloomy former lawyer from Illinois. His challenger was a Democratic Civil War general, George B. McClellan. Both men vied for the votes of a bitterly divided nation trapped in the fog of war.

George W. Bush is the Abraham Lincoln of this election–a vulnerable but strong Commander-in-Chief fighting for his political life in a pivotal election. Lincoln prosecuted a largely unpopular war. (Sound familiar?) Like Bush, Lincoln was also lambasted for his poor handling of the Civil War. Though things were not going well, “Don’t change horses in the middle of the stream,” Lincoln warned. Both Bush and Lincoln found also that a professed faith in God, coupled with military might, made effective election strategy. In April 1864, as part of the Coinage Act of 1864, the government first began printing money emblazoned with “In God We Trust,” whereas “Under God” became a campaign issue in the current election.

General McClellan was the John Kerry of the 1864 election. McClellan countered by promising to prosecute the war more effectively. A war veteran himself, he played an important role in raising a well trained and organized army for the Union, but his leadership skills in battle were questioned, and he was accused of being incompetent and cowardly. While skilled in intellectual matters and organization, he was criticized for not having the decisive drive of more popular warriors such as Robert E. Lee or Ulysses S. Grant. (Sound familiar?)

War divides nations, especially when the rationale for the war is unclear. Though the Civil War was exponentially more deadly than the Iraq War, Americans in our generation are getting their first real taste of what it means to be at war, and it has divided war supporter and war opponents into two, irreconcilable groups. This is certainly not the Gulf War of the early 1990s, where a few dozen soldiers died on CNN for a few weeks. This war is real. The news is now All Iraq, All The Time and the media competition has people on edge. The very mention of this election can set people off. Recently, shots were fired into the Bush-Cheney campaign headquarters in Tennessee. People on both sides think the people on the other side must be crazy, or that something must be wrong with them.

November 2, 2004 is a day that will mark a turning point for America and the rest of the world. Regardless of who wins, the War in Iraq will continue, and America will continue to be divided. But, at some point, as Ada, played by Nicole Kidman relented in Cold Mountain, “When this war is over, there will be a reckoning.”

By Justin Sanders 2004(C)