The root of political polarization is a conscious effort by unscrupulous corporate media to trample journalistic integrity for viewership and revenue. What used to be the “news” is now biased opinion at a minimum, and a substitution of fiction for fact at its worst. The result of which is clickbait for eyes and ears, and the fringe extremes on both sides of the political spectrum froth at the mouth for it. When journalistic values recede so does a functional democracy which dependably relies upon the foundation of truth. tw