It’s more open and mean now, but we’ve been divided for an awfully long time. Not only the Russians have exacerbated the situation. So, too, has the media, many elected officials, the plethora of “special interest” groups. It’s not a pretty sight.
If there were one incident in relatively recent memory that flamed the divisions, it would be IMHO the late Sen. Kennedy’s attack on the late, then-Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork. Not everyone has his name made into a verb to describe vicious attacks that seek to destroy the person and his reputation.
those seeking to disrupt the unity of America have played the people like a fiddle and all are dancing to their own tune.