So Al Sharpton tells us the black vote isn't for sale. Well of course the DNC isn't selling -- there's still a crop to bring in!

Still, as brazen as Sharpton's comment is (Question: Do blacks want their vote taken for granted? Answer: Yes!), it is utterly predictable. It has been the party line for all of recent memory, and is emblematic of all machine-party politics. So when I hear people describe the country as being unusually divided (and we hear it all the time), I just shake my head. It's horseshit. More divided than 2000? More divided than during the Clinton impeachment? More divided than the 1994 takeover of Congress? More divided than any other presidential election?

Please. I can understand losing one's perspective in relation to world history. But forgetting recent history?

Unless they're just saying it to hype their blather and boost ratings/circulation. It would still be a load of horseshit, but at least it would make sense in context.