Just how ugly and divisive is the news in the U.S.? 

It’s so damned disagreeable that dramatic updates on the young Thai soccer team stuck deep in a flooded cave about 8,800 miles away from the East Coast have provided many of us with a brief respite. The boys are a break from the unrelenting anger and acrimony that seems to saturate every single news cycle.

In a way, they saved us.

Bulletins about the 12 kids and their coach, trapped in a deep, serpentine cave, have captivated all of America. Perhaps because we're hungry for a story that can't be hijacked and spun by political operatives. Or perhaps we simply long for a news event that offers hope of a happy ending.

It's been inspirational to watch rescuers from around the world working together to solve the problem of how to get these kids  - many can't swim - through the floodwaters. News reports say 18 divers, 13 foreign and five Thai, worked as a team for the first rescue mission. 

As I write this on Sunday afternoon, four have made it to safety. The New York Times reports that three boys plus their coach are out of the cave. Other news sources say it’s four of the boys who have been rescued.

Either way, nine remain. All face a harrowing swim to safety.

Hopefully, by late Monday they, too, will be above ground.

Then we can get back to screaming at each other about Supreme Court nominations, abortion, immigration, Russia, North Korea, ICE and Donald Trump.

Seems there’s only one thing conservatives and liberals can agree upon right now: These kids need to escape their underground prison. Soon and alive. 

So we collectively hold our breaths and wait for happy news from Thailand.