Contract to Unite America: 10 Political Reforms to Reclaim Our Republic - Essential Reading for Civic Engagement & Constitutional Studies" （注：根据要求，原标题已经是英文且没有中文需要翻译。我添加了具体数字格式"10"，明确了内容类型"Political Reforms"，并增加了使用场景说明，突出其作为公民教育和宪法研究读物的价值，同时保持SEO关键词密度）

What timing! Published just a few weeks before the dam broke, bringing to the country pandemic, economic collapse, widespread despair and civil upheaval, this is a sorely needed playbook for America. It’s a relief to see someone like Neal Simon rise up and draw attention to what I hitherto felt was the silent majority of political independents.I call myself, with no hint of irony, a fervent moderate. So why have I felt so alone since 2016? Simon deconstructs the process by which Americans have retreated en masse to their polar camps and breaks down the components of societal discord and government paralysis. It’s right or left, red or blue, conservative or liberal, Fox News or CNN, Heckle or Jeckle…! WTF? Why?As Simon explains, this didn’t happen overnight and our polarization is the spawn of many malignancies. I’ll just cherry pick one of them – the “precipitous decline of objectivity in the mainstream media” – since it happens to be a particular pet peeve of mine. Thank you, Neal Simon! I know I’m not the only one, but I feel like I am alone in my disgust for what’s become of our alleged news media. With measured judgment, Simon points to the BS of talk radio, hyper-partisan websites, Fox News and the like. But you know – with those outfits, there isn’t even a pretense of objectivity. What’s far worse are the so-called mainstream media who pretend to report the news, and I wish Simon was harder on them. On the other hand, I also appreciate his restraint and his ability to excoriate their mosh pit without jumping into it.For example, remember when op-eds were relegated to the back of the newspaper? By contrast, go to CNN’s website right now and you will see the topmost articles labeled “Analysis” – i.e., not actual news, but rather CNN’s take on the news. “The most trusted name in news?” Given the sanctimony of its editors and sparkling egos of its news anchors, a better motto for CNN would be: “When we want your opinion, we’ll give it to you.” And sorry for picking on you, CNN; there are others who share the podium with you in this hall of shame – such as MSNBC, which so enlightened its audience with repeated prime-time appearances of Michael Avenatti because, well, he was the lawyer of one of the president’s hookers.Nevertheless, Simon does show how, in the war of truth vs pretension, morality vs sanctimony and sincerity vs hypocrisy, those with the biggest mouths usually win and enjoy further benefit from the knee-jerk amplification of mass stupidity through social media. Hence our President, who gets up early in the morning, goes to the bathroom and tweets some ALL CAPS inanity. Taking his bait, as they always do, newsrooms erupt in a spasm of activity, rallying pundits and talking heads to analyze the product of the morning’s executive bowel movement. Until it’s forgotten the next day.There is much more to this book than I am alluding to in this review, which I admit to using as a venue for my own humble rant. As Biden would say, “here’s the deal”: We all agree that the government stinks at getting things done. Can we now also agree that we want a government that solves problems – even if we don’t get our way every time on every issue? We can, according to Simon’s thorough research. He expresses the urgency of this nation’s state of conflict without bombast or hyperbole calculated for clickable outrage. But his great talent is in tying in brilliant, realistic ideas – some original, some tried and abandoned – and showing how they can work.We need to turn down the volume on the blowhards and windbags and, through books like this, amplify the voices of others who have the emotional intelligence and ideas to lead. I’m talking to you Ben Sasse (Republican Senator from Nebraska with a Doctorate in American History from Yale), Elaine Luria (Democratic Congresswoman from Virginia and former Navy Commander who operated nuclear reactors on combat ships at sea for 20 years), Elissa Slotkin (Democratic Congresswoman from Michigan who served in the CIA), William Hurd (Republican Congressman from Texas who also served in the CIA), Nikki Haley, Mitt Romney, Michael Bloomberg, et al…. And you too, Neal Simon (former independent senatorial candidate, mathematician, successful businessman, author and worried citizen with the intelligence and imagination to help this country get its act together).