We've got people who are in control of the government and who think 2018 sucks and think some imagined romanticized 1950s simulacrum without 'uppity' minorities or women both with the gall of saying their lives matter, GLBTQ people, Muslims, etc. would be 'better'.

These people aren't the majority, they are about 20% of the population maybe at most... problem is, thanks to the Electoral Clown College, vote suppression, corruption, gerrymandering, encouraging apathy at the polls and fear when it comes to activism, and of course Putinist interference, they have the reins of government.

Division implies we're cut down some middle or something close to a middle and we're not.

...I definitely agree that only 20% are of the brainwashed, completely delusional MAGA cult variety. However I think there are another 20% that lean Republican but hate Trump, are embarrassed by what he's done to the party and country.........but STILL won't ever vote for Democrats for any number of reasons (most of which are idiotic and wrong-headed and just plain incorrect).

So yeah if we are talking about MAGA cult versus non-MAGA cult, then that 20% is correct. But if we are talking about people who will vote for Democrats versus people who will not vote for Democrats then I would bet that the split is in fact more even.

A lot of my family and friends fall in that latter category. They are only slightly less ill-informed and moronic than the MAGA types, but they are still unreachable, short of our entire party giving itself over to the Joe Manchin's and Harold Ford's of the party (yes I know Ford is out of office, I just mean his type of Dem).

The problem is that there are still a sizable number of people in power within our party (more in terms of consultants and strategists and media types than perhaps actual elected folks) who still think those people i mention are the only path to our victories. That's the strategy we've been employing for the past 15-20 years or so and it's not exactly yielding dividends so.....not sure what the solution is.

They also would be a lot more liberal if they were president of the entire country and not a senator or wannabe senator from a red state.

Them being more liberal, not the President Manchin or Ford part.

Sorry, I'm not ready to completely hand our party over to conservatives simply because of how bad Trump is. Over the past 25 years we've already given up way too much of what we're supposed to stand for as Democrats simply because the Republicans shifted themselves to the far radical right and we're convinced that maybe, if we ask really nice and give up almost everything we want and stand for, that we may possibly get votes from Republicans who still hate everything we stand for. And it's gotten us less than nothing and made the entire country worse off for it.

All this also is predicated on the belief that Trump is somehow worse than every other Republican out there and that somehow if we get rid of him the problems are solved and that we can start appealing to and working with Republicans.

That's a lot for a leader who wishes he was a dictator.

yet.

I specifically mentioned the Civil War. I am not aware of Succession as it pertains to my query.

cray-cray. Just saying.

is so disruptive. Millions are tuned out and not even paying attention. Have voter registration offices been flooded with non-voters showing up to register? The sad truth is that very few people care.

The gulf between the two sides is widening more with every passing day.

people were killing each other in battle

we aren't anywhere near that YETTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

you wouldn't have an idea to how violent it was and how divide our country was. The divisions where multifold from Vietnam, to political to racial and blood was spilled. Our country was severely divided

one base on some one who was actually there vs some one who is looking from "accounts" of other people, its clearly a no-brainer to me on where I place the most value.

explain why I place my trust in an evaluation held by firsthand people who saw an event(s) unfold. Remember we had YEARS of social unrest on every level which culminated is some really bad actions by people and by the govenrment

I give much more creedence to living people who actually wittnessed things.

As we old farts used to say, when we were Young.

overcome youthful vigor

History should certainly be taught, but creedence must be given to people who actually lived through those times. Their experiences shouldn't be discounted because some later historian is attempting to "revise" historical events in order to promote a pet theory.

Are we supposed to not give equal weight to events that happened before any of us were born ?

Wilt chamberlain scored one hundred points in a game:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilt_Chamberlain%27s_100-point_game

There are people who don't believe he did it because there is no video. Go figure.

and don't forget the Civil War. Even the Revolutionary War had a lot of divisions. Loyalists went to Canada.

Pretty sure thats the definition of divided.

... is that prior division has been, for the most part, motivated by clearly identified issues. The civil war was about the issue of slavery. The 60s was, primarily, the issues of civil rights and the Viet Nam war.

Today, the divide is across the board (all issues, real or imagined), fueled by hate media and identity politics. The “new” Republicans (the deplorables) hate liberals. They don’t hate what we stand for on any given issue, they don’t hate our policy ideas or the goals we have for the country. They just hate us. Period. That means we can’t discuss anything with them. There can’t be a genuine debate. Their hate is pure and uncomplicated by rational thought or consideration.

So in that respect, the depth and width of the divide is greater than it’s been before, the rationale for it is much more difficult to grasp, and the ability to bridge it is is infinitely less possible.

Argue all you need to about the 60’s-70’s. It really sounds as if you are just going on historical facts.
Answer these,

Were you alive when the race riots across America were going on?

Did you personally experience the riots, any of the multiple ones?

If present and of age, did you experience the times before the race riots?

If so what was your personal observation of the race climate?

Because that was a time of absolute personal mental questioning of your values.
You either came to an answer that you were either a racist or you just didn’t know, but were thinking “ No not me.” , which led to many of the problems we have today.

I’m an old white guy that lived in Detroit during those times. Mixed neighborhood, close ties to all my neighbors. Went to high school in a neighborhood that was really close to the outbreak of the Detroit riots. Worked downtown in my dad’s warehouse and loved the diversity of my city.

But the underneath current was one of racism. You just knew, you could feel it.

I could go on and on. But to your question yeah I think so. Things aren’t so good here.