It was such a marvelous idea: the United States of America.

Obviously, we’ve never really pulled it all together under one hat, but it has always seemed that at least we were striving for a more perfect union.

No more. Something changed — and quickly, as history goes. Actually, everything did.

Massive immigration has changed the face of the nation in more than metaphorical ways. Globalization has made us seem or at least feel less unique among nations. Our hyperpartisanship, augmented by incessant media coverage tied to ratings and greed, has reduced politics to a parking-lot brawl.

Demographic slicing and dicing is essential to elections, of course. Analysts and operatives are especially attached to the segmented sets of individuals, the better to objectify them into manageable parts and, thus, to predict or win elections.

This much is understood and has been so constantly discussed and written about that we’re nearly out of oxygen and ink.