An ominous development in politics!

 I read an article from the New York Times (Yahoo republished it and that's how I found it). 
It was "Why Political Sectarianism Is a Growing Threat to American Democracy."
The article articulated what has gone wrong in U.S. politics, actually politics in many parts of the world, including the United States.  
I'm sick and tired of how polarized, how angry and blind partisanship in politics has become.  When I say "blind," I mean that if you are a conservative, you become blind to anything good that the Democratic party.  You would rather "walk on hot coals" than complement who you consider your enemy. 

Sectarianism is this looking at the other party that you don't belong to as "the enemy."   According to Nate Cohn in his New York Times column on April 19, 2012, sectarianism, "is an outlook that makes compromise impossible, encourages elected officials to violate norms in pursuit of an agenda or an electoral victory.  And it undermines the willingness of the loser to accept defeat-an essential requirement of democracy."....
Sectarianism is about two hostile identity groups who not only clash over policy and ideology, but see the other side as alien and immoral.  It is the antagonistic feelings between the groups, more than differences over ideas, that drive sectarian conflict."   (emphasis in italics added)

All of this is painfully obvious, not only when we read politics but when we deal with other family members, neighbors and co-workers.  There's divisions in all of these groups!  It's hurting our country; we have come to realize that, at long last, our democracy is fragile, that it's not so difficult to imagine our nation to slide into a dictatorship.  
When Joe Biden won as president, I was relieved more than happy.  But Donald Trump wanted all those who were against him politically, including those who voted against him, to be fearful.  And he succeeded!  I was worried as were my friends that Biden's victory would be nullified that somewhere in our court system that Trump would prevail.  That perhaps the Supreme Court would agree with Donald Trump.  After all, they had a negative impact in the 2000 election; they have acted in a partisan way.  I was especially concerned on December 14, 2020 when the electoral college convened at all 50 of the statehouses as well as the District of Columbia to vote in the same way as the majority vote did on Election Day. 

The electoral college followed the majority.  To my immense gratitude and relief, the courts ruled against Donald Trump's lie that he won the election but had it stolen from him.  Then the shame, sadness and embarrassment of January 6, 2021 occurred.  For the first time, insurrectionists stormed into the US Capitol.  For the first time, we had most members of Congress and former Vice President Pence fearful of their lives.  So, I was concerned about inauguration day, January 20, 2021.  Would there be a similar uprising, revolt????? There wasn't.  Were the Capital Police were unprepared for January 6, they and other members of law enforcement in the DC area were very prepared and no hostile incidents occurred during and after Joe Biden was sworn in.  

What I find ironic in the awful, pernicious sectarianism that occurs now is that no matter how angry or contemptious we feel about "the other side,"  neither side is happy with what is occurring in US politics.  Both sides agree that the future is a scary, a matter of concern.  That what will happen to the United States in the coming years may not turn out so well.  Both sides are upset that US politics are a zero-sum game; that if something good happens with the Democrats, that necessarily means something bad happened to the Republicans.  

Finally, it's important to understand that once your candidate wins and assumes office as a president, senator or representative, it's not over. In Georgia, after both Democratic senators won.  The Georgian state government passed voter suppression laws.  Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia may have won in November and January, but he will have to run again next year, and that race will be tougher than the one a few months ago! Biden may have won the election but will enough meaningful laws, budgets get passed that will change our nation for the better?  Or, will congressional gridlock stop it? Will the elections of 2022 mean that the Republicans will come back with a vengeance, and we are assured of gridlock? It's not over.