re: There's no coming back for America in terms of political cohesion ever again

True - I can add my own anecdotal input to this

I have always hated LBJ - from my earliest childhood memories all the way back into the 40's my grandfather from Texas hated LBJ - called him a murderer and most of the adult talk that I overheard was about politics with LBJ being the villain. My grandfather was a devout Democrat.

As I grew into adulthood and began following politics I started off as a democrat (entire family was democrat and in LA at the time the GOP was not even on the ballot. But I fairly quickly turned conservative and have become more so every year since.

Anyway - I hated LBJ - hated every political policy he proffered. BUT - when it came to the war in Vietnam, I supported him. At the time I had no concept of a POTUS deliberately lying to us about something so serious as war.

SO - regardless of my intense hatred of the man himself - my total detestation of his political maneuvering and its policies - I was still a supporter of him as the Leader of our Nation.

That was the ethos of the country when I grew up - support the NATION regardless of personal political benefit/liability.