"There are, I think, two Americas. There is that which we decry on reading the newspapers. "Those fools," we say, of the group not of our political bend, "how in the world can they believe the nonsense they are spouting? How can intelligent people act that way?" This is the America of 'them.'


"And then there is the America we participate in--that fairly friendly and reasonable group of diverse interests and talents, happy to pitch in, the America of 'us.' We see and participate in this group at the Little League, the Rotary, the Shul or Church, the block party, the sports bar--we speak its language in the conversation we strike up with the stranger in the airline departure lounge, in the chat with the other parents on the way to school, in the office jokes we share. This nonabstract, this real America, is a rather pleasant place. When we are not being actively divided--by religion or politics--we rest here in the default position of unity. Over time, we see, the reasonable often find a way to unite the seemingly irreconcilable claims of passion."

-Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins