(07-29-2021, 06:55 PM)Jags Wrote:

(07-29-2021, 05:08 PM)mikesez Wrote: Society is measurably more divided now than anytime I have been alive.
There were always sharp disagreements, and always condemnations from one side to another, but the number of people who have such sharp disagreements keeps growing.
The most striking measurement, to me, is how the number of people who would accept if their child married outside of the parents preferred political party keeps going down. All other kinds of acceptance are going up. People are more tolerant of racial differences, people are more tolerant of homosexuality, people are more tolerant of other nationalities and religions. But not political differences. "Son, I'll still love you if you marry a man, but he better not be a republican!"

Your dad told you that last line, didn’t he?

(07-29-2021, 07:29 PM)Lucky2Last Wrote:

(07-29-2021, 06:54 PM)jagibelieve Wrote: From what I recall in my lifetime, no.

I do think that it started to get bad when President Obama got elected, and it went downhill from there.  He certainly didn't help matters any.  That's one of the major reasons that President Trump was elected.  People were "sick and tired" of the crap.

From what I recall you didn't see the "hate" rhetoric from not only opinion pieces, but also what people would call "hard news" until around the Bush Administration (G.W. Bush in the early 2000's).

A very good book that gives some insight into Washington politics is "The Pact" by Seven M. Gillon.  It talks about how then Speaker of The House Newt Gingrich and President Clinton actually worked together for the good of the country.  From that point I really can't say that there has been any "bi-partisan" work or agreement on anything.

Yeah, I was going to say it began to ramp up with 24 hour news, then went nuts with social media. Democrats and Republicans were fairly closely aligned in the 90s. Clinton was WAY right of modern day dems. Also, in retrospect, I'm not convinced Newt and Clinton did anything for the good of the country. They are largely to blame for China's power and the all consuming fire of corporate greed.