Not belonging to a political party and being of the belief that citizens ought to be critical of government actions and designs, no matter which party is in power, I feel more and more like I'm living in a foreign country. It is by turns maddening and depressing.

EDIT: I guess my point is that the real underlying changes are to be found in many, but by no means all, Americans themselves. The increasing rancor and polarization in politics merely reflect these shifts in core traits found in some. And since media attention gravitates to the extreme and the absurd, there is a sort of self-reinforcing nature to the problem.