and that's what propelled me to write the book with my wonderful co-author dennis thompson. and we thought we had to say, give a diagnosis of the problem. and some of the solutions to it. for american universities which are still the greatest in the world, we really depend upon american democracy helping us move our country forward and to give opportunities. >> rose: you seem to say that the spirit of compromise is less presence today than it has been. >> it seems to be quite dramatically. and the causes of that are multiple. we have a 24/7 news cycle which has very narrow horse race coverage. and the horses are on steroids and the steroids are funded by the ubiquity of money and politics. money is more prevalent and important in politics than ever before. and relationships among congressmen and relationships of politicians to one another across the aisle have really faded as a consequence. so, in fact, compromise is at a disadvantage when politicians are standing on principles and demonizing their opponents instead of making deals. >> rose: and people will argue the followi

thompson -- >> right. >> -- who was a farmer from new hampshire. and his roommate in the eighth air force and best friend named dan dennis, his b-17 was shot down over the eastern part of germany during the war. and dennis was, when he landed, was beaten to death by the farmers in the area. this was very common. people don't like the people who bombed them. and many pilots were beaten to death that way. and, in fact, if you remember or check out that's what happened to john mccain over hanoi. he came down in what amounts to the central park of hanoi, and the people were drowning him. he came down in a lake, were drowning him when police and north vietnamese soldiers came and pulled him away from them. so that suddenly noah thompson knows the exact spot where his friend was slaughtered and is