Was The U.S. Always This Crazy?

Somedays it seems like we here in Canada are positioned way too close to the barrel of monkeys / powder keg across the border from us, for my liking! Are there really that many nutjobs down south of us, or are they just getting an inordinate amount of publicity right now thanks to the media forces (like Fox 'News') who aren't happy about having a person in the White House who gives a crap about the poor for a change? I definitely tend to worry too much about stuff that I have no control over, and this is no exception.