We didn't discuss the cause. My earlier post had to do with Trump's demagoguery, that has strictly to do with how he was able to get himself elected by accident and why he has millions of loyal followers. But that's only a small portion of the story behind the 2016 election.The cause of the present ill will between the parties is directly traceable to Newt Gingrich and his "Contract on America". It's after that government became increasingly dysfunctional. The reason Trump got elected was a combination of events and forces and the opposition candidate Hillary, whom the Republicans successfully, with the help of 3500 Russian fake social media accounts, successfully smeared. The real damage was done when the hacked DNC emails ("Russia if you're listening") revealed how the party was screwing Sanders, infuriating the Sanders supporters who stayed home. All of these thing were factors in getting us to where we are today with a ray of hope for sensible government. Next step is for the democrats to take over the Senate. We need a unified government. Then the stuff we've been needing to take care of for years is going to get done.