Really?!?!!??? That doesn't agree with my knowledge of US political history at all. Perhaps you could be more specific with dates?

Makes me think of the impact that new media has had on the country. Used to be that you saw news either because (a) a national newspaper published it or (b) your local newspaper published it. News was basically bland and was created by central organizations that had the resources to have their own printing-houses.

With digital publishing and therefore 0 barriers to publishing content, long tail news is now here, so you read/watch what you're interested in, and you find a community in your shared interests with others. I think this has had a major impact on the country -- it's perhaps in the little things that no longer unite us, like the small-talk about the day's news.

Maybe not though. Maybe according to this train of thought we should be more united because we all see the exact same headlines on Google News, CNN.com, NYTimes.com, all at the same time.

Maybe the lack of unity is due to other things, more non-Caucasians in the country for example. White Americans make up 75% of our population, vs a historical trend of 80-90%. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_American, under Sub-Heading "Demographic information". It's human nature to fear or stay away from people who aren't like you or who don't look like you.

Now that I think of it I'm sure it's a combination of factors. Usually is.