Divisive partisanship: Yes, we built that

(CBS News) "The Daily Show" writer Kevin Bleyer says the Framers of the Constitution did not mention political parties, and now we know why . . .

The Constitutional Convention that created this country ended 225 years ago next week.

This past Thursday marked the end of two political conventions, hosted by the Democratic and Republican Parties, both of which insist they know how to fix this country.

Turns out, they don't agree.

Now, it's worth pointing out that back at their own convention (that early one, way back when), the Framers wrote nothing about political parties in the Constitution.

Back then, the "them" in "Us versus Them" was still "the British."

So they deliberately omitted any mention of parties, hoping that their new nation would never succumb to what they called "factions."

Well, we did! And we just celebrated it with two weeks of balloons and confetti.

And it got ugly.

"Biden is the intellect of the Democratic Party," said Clint Eastwood. "Just a kind of, kind of a grin with a body behind it."

"Governor Romney said that as President he would take a jobs tour - well, with his support for outsourcing, it's gonna have to be a foreign trip," said Joe Biden.

"With all their attack ads, the president is just throwing away money, and he's pretty experienced at that," said Paul Ryan.

"Their number one priority was not to put America back to work - it was to put the President out of work," said former President Bill Clinton.

By the last night, I was beginning to feel that the problems of a lack of bipartisanship don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy, polarized world.

And then, SHE walked in. Gabby Giffords, the Democratic former Congresswoman from Arizona, strolled delicately across the stage, held her weaker hand over her heart with her stronger hand, and pledged her allegiance - not to a party, not to a platform, but to a flag, and to the republic for which it stands.

She's that kind of Democrat - and that kind of Republican.

Now don't worry, I'm not going to cry, again. And I'm not going to be naive to ask that we all "just get along."

But here's what we know: The Framers designed a Constitution that ensures a peaceful transition of power. But a two-party system, devoted to tearing each other down? We built that.

That's our convention.