One of Abraham Lincoln’s most famous speeches before the Civil War concluded: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Sage words then and now. For much of our history, differences of opinion made us stronger and the American character matured. The founding fathers gave us the gift of their wisdom and foresight. I think they would be displeased with our current president who seems more comfortable playing up our differences rather than trying to bind us together.

Enough is enough. West Tisbury selectman Richard Knabel has been using the newspapers for his own personal crusade against the roundabout. In his most recent diatribe he writes that “had there been a ballot question in Oak Bluffs, I would venture to say the result there would not have been materially different from the roughly three-to-one landslide against it in the other towns.” His posturing is more akin to the morning pundit talk show hosts on who is going to win the presidential election in the fall.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People released on May 12 a resolution supporting marriage equality. At a meeting of the 103-year-old civil rights group’s national board of directors, the organization voted to support marriage equality as a continuation of its historic commitment to equal protection under the law.

The following is an open letter to Cape and Islands state Sen. Dan Wolf: The Web site ae911truth.org is made up of a group of 1,700 nonpartisan, licensed architects and engineers who have challenged the official 911 Commission Report, arguing that the report’s conclusion is not only from an engineering point of view unprecedented and impossible, but that the report itself is fraudulent and misrepresentative of the facts and not inclusive of all the facts and evidence that had been made available to the commission

I wonder how many West Tisbury residents secretly wish they lived in an uptight, sterile, gated community someplace? Not a lot, I’m guessing. Yet the current pressure to hem us in with a new raft of unnecessary regulations seems to come straight from such a milieu.

Rain fell softly and fog blew in from the ocean this week across a lush green Island after tinder-dry conditions so early in the season had weather watchers worried and firefighters on high alert. Everything has been early this year in the natural world. No winter at all to speak of, followed by a very early spring.