"Weird Parallels"

On the sesquicentennial anniversary of the day the Civil War began (April 12, 1861), some historians are pointing to several similarities between the political atmosphere then and now. From an article on CNN.com: "The shutdown of the federal government, war in Libya, the furor over the new health care law and Guantanamo Bay—all have tentacles that reach back to the Civil War, historians say." http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/04/08/civil.war.today/index.html