“There was a time, not that far in the past, when a shocking tragedy would bring the country together,” the Washington Post reports.
“Americans had the capacity to grieve as one — as they did, for instance, in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. This reflected their sense of a common purpose and shared values, whatever their political differences might be.”
“So far, almost the opposite is happening after two young National Guard members from West Virginia were ambushed, killing one and leaving the other in critical condition. It occurred on the eve of Thanksgiving and just a block away from the White House, against a national backdrop of rising political violence and deep polarization.”
