Phil Robertson fault lines sign of fractured union

Phil Robertson's suspension and the frenzied reaction that has followed is a taste of a great American schism in the making.

Set aside Robertson's suspension, the Duck Dynasty patriarch and A&E have deep pockets and their attorneys can clean up their mess. More concerning is the partisan screaming across the country's political divide.

For a country that prides itself on being "United We Stand" and "Boston Strong," the gap between the left and right of the American political spectrum could be as wide as it has ever been:

• 50-50 elections over the past four presidential voting cycles
• A deeply divided and gridlocked Congress
• Radicalization on the left (Occupy Wall Street, etc.) and the right (Tea Party, etc.)
• Stubborn divisions on several issues, including abortion, guns, immigration and sexuality
• With income inequality and campaign spending at record highs, less than 2 or 3 percent of the population has both economic dominance and powerful political influence

The first casualty in war is truth

Americans should know the price of civil war. We have fought many wars but none was more bloody than the battle to preserve the union and abolish slavery.

Before we go down that road again, American history provides guidance to guard against disaster and disinformation:

• President Lincoln: "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
• Second sentence of the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
• Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the Constitution, establishing separation of power between the Congress, the president and the judiciary, respectively. (Firewall against dictatorship.)
• The Bill of Rights, Amendment 1: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
• The Bill of Rights, Amendment 2: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. (Basis for gun ownership and gun regulation.)
• The Bill of Rights, Amendment 4: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. (Basis of due process.)