We are a nation divided and Ayn Rand defined the dividing lines very well. There is the looting gang composed of the media, bureaucrats and politicians calling themselves Progressives. Their followers or victims are the moocher gang who believe in something for nothing. Finally the producers who make the whole mess function. Those producers have revolted, first the Tea Party and now Trump.

I also believe we are a nation that has had a belly full of a large segment of the media lying to our faces to support the lying politicians as well. One thing the Trump victory did was shine a light on the hypocrisy of "demicans" and "republicrats" alike. The Obamacare illustration is how close to one party rule the nation has become.

Nice article, starznbarz. Thanks for posting.

I have been advised here by someone else in The Gulch that we are not a divided nation.
I have heard it argued that voters sat at home because they did not care to vote for bland McCain or a just as bland Romney. (I voted for both only because I cared about what a socialist Obamanation could do to this country and the SCOTUS, but that's just me).
Me dino thinks we are a divided nation. Though Trump trumped way more excitement than could a McCain or a Romney, what sticks in my craw is that Trump did not win the popular vote.

The divide and it's dividend is between us and them and it seems to be multiplying.
We need to subtract their butts and add new ones to the equation.

We are a nation divided. Yes, the politician lie to suit their own ends BUT no one made the asshole try to drive my car off the road, no one caused the old man and his wife to yell at me in the post office parking lot over a bumper sticker, no one forced people to sent me hate email and death threats when I wrote commentary, etc. These are actions done by a people who have not only consumed the leftist kool aid but have stockpiled it to joyfully feed their dependence.

There is a cultural divide in this nation that derives from outside this country. It has permeated our government and, via government, has indoctrinated generations via the school systems. This is evident by the millions of people who can not see what H. Clinton was and what O actually did to this nation. It will only get worse and, may topple whats left of the Founding Fathers great experiment (and sadly, too many will cheer).

apologize starznbarz , but I can't agree.

half the people produce; the other half want to take. We ARE a nation divided and there is NO compromise in this sort of situation. Compromise would be agreeing on how much one takes from another and gives it to himself.

I think in actuality we are a nation divided. We have several camps, but there is an ideological divide that isn't just a result of the Progressive Elites. There are many who believe that government can and should be the answer to every problem. These are the socialists/Progressives who control the Democratic Party. Then you have a smattering of everyone else in the Republican Party (which is one of the reasons they can't get anything done). You have some who have distinct Libertarian leanings like Rand Paul. You have some who have very conservative leanings like Mike Lee. And you have a bunch of others who are more concerned about their image in the Press (McConnell, Ryan, et al) to worry about their convictions.

For me, I think we have two main parties - and the symbol next to their name is only an indicator of their true allegiance. For many years in this nation, the party who wanted control was the smaller of the two. I think that during Reagan's time that number finally grew to the tipping point and now the party who wants governmental control is the larger of the two. From here, I see no way out for the people unless they are willing to educate themselves on the proper role of government and vote into office those who would constrain government in all facets. And the probability of that happening is slipping lower with each passing day.

The question could be defined different ways. The only thing the masses are divided about is how the power should be applied. Power should never be given to politicians. The right to use violence to enforce any idea is wrong. If violence is used for anything except to prevent violence it is immoral. Trump or the Tea Party are failures to direct the government to stop meddling with and dictating to individuals. Trump issues Executive Orders that claim to restrict the ACA that actually make it possible for states to opt out of trying to supply the mandated coverage making a single payer system more likely. As long as the discussion is how to change the system instead of simply behaving morally without the 'permission of the state' freedom will not exist. You cannot become free by begging the masters to let you go or thinking if you convince them they will realize the error of their ways. As long as individuals ask permission it is the admission they are not free. The only way America is divided is about how they tyranny will be applied. The dialect about replacing the ACA is to admit that America will still have the same thing with slight alterations that will make its enforcement more restrictive and applied sooner. Even if Trump was not lying about relieving the producers from the moochers his task is impossible because it is what the masses (both sides) want. The only way to live free in a tyranny is to live unobserved which in a nation that has the current technology of surveillance is going to be very difficult.

We are divided. Those who are not described by your post, who cling to party loyalty, who blindly allow themselves to be led by the people and party of their fathers are amazingly divided by large numbers from using their rational abilities. They are allowing themselves to be led down a left turn, which if continues will turn them into the "collectivist party." What the outcome of that will be.....?

I wish there was a way of shaming those in Congress to represent the people who elected them and not their own political think-speak. I hope the major media goes the way of the dinosaurs. It irritates me that those who have studio on the floor of the NYSE interject politics when they should be covering the business world. In particular when the viewer is trying to find out what is happening in the markets. I want to scream at the screen No politics, Business!

Ain't that the truth!!!

"The problem that majority of voters now have, is the entrenched republicans, now faced with having full power they had asked for, realized a problem, most of them agreed with and supported most of what the democrats had been doing since 2008 and now had to figure out how to not do what they had been saying they would do for many years."

Precisely !!!!!!!!!!!!