I too am greatly concerned about the decline of civility in America, but rarely see it in daily interaction with my fellow humans. I see it almost entirely in the political arena.

Further, I can identify a point in history where the curve of political incivility took a sharp uptick, an inflection where its slope increased dramatically: the introduction into the political arena of Donald J. Trump.

From the first debate with his fellow contenders, where he was the only one of seventeen who declined to agree that he would support the eventual nominee, through his ad hominem attacks in assigning disparaging nicknames to his opponents, to his declaration prior to the 2016 election that the only way he could lose is if the rigged system has it way, I had never seen its like in all my years of politics watching.

Trump spends as much time attacking his opponent’s personal character and appearance -“Look at that face” (Fiorina) – than their policy proposals. I had never seen this before. Nor have I ever seen attacks on the democratic process itself, including poor sportsmanship in refusing to acknowledge the winner.

Before the Trump era my brother and I could talk politics. With Trump, no longer. Something is different. Talk about polarization. Who is the polarizer?