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Millions of people will spend today thinking about what they’re grateful for. For some, it will be the family gathered with them around the table. For others, it will be their health or their jobs. What unites these reflections of gratitude is that, by and large, they’re all wholesome. But there are at least two groups of people who will be thankful for something much less benevolent. Corrupt, shoddy politicians and cable news companies like CNN and Fox will spend this year contemplating how lucky they are that at least some Americans are at each others’ throats over political or ideological differences.

As this NYT opinion piece depressingly points out, corrupt politicians have benefitted from the partisan divide in the American political scene. Whereas corruption would have once been the seal of death for a politician––since constituents would vote for the other party than support a corrupt politician of their own party––nowadays, voters seem more willing to vote for a corrupt politician than vote for someone of the opposite party. Another NYT piece suggests that Americans don’t actually dislike partisan politics as much as they dislike the other party. Politicians reap the benefits of this dislike.

But they’re not the only ones who benefit. Cable news has been pulling in tremendous ratings recently, and it’s hard to imagine that it’s because of anything but partisanship. The more Americans hate the other side, the more they’re willing to watch shows that openly and regularly attack the opposing ideology.

More about politics.