Dial back to a year or so ago, to the wrenching, vicious, partisan escapade that was Campaign 2004, to a time when we were told by a thousand pundits that America was deeply, hopelessly divided.
And it felt that way: Family dinners became shouting matches. Bush and Kerry signs were snatched from yards. Blue and red were at war.
But 12 months have passed since then, ample time for the nation to relearn the principles of civil discourse. We have had time to heal, to start listening to each other again. To become, in a word, purpler.
So have we?
If you want signs of hope, you can read about the hundreds of millions of dollars that poured in for relief after a nation watched, united in its horror, as a humanitarian nightmare took hold in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. You can remember the nomination of John Roberts for chief justice, which sailed through the Senate.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051106/ap_on_re_us/still_divided