A civic crisis for America? Nope.

After weeks of television screens full of screaming crowds, charges (and counter-charges) of racism, a Southern congressman shouting “You lie!” and talk of an imploding civic culture, here’s something that may surprise you.

President Barack Obama is still broadly popular.

According to the latest Bloomberg poll, 56% of Americans approve of Mr. Obama’s performance on the job.

That’s more than the percentage of Americans who voted for him. Even more — 61% — like the President personally.

An ABC/Washington Post survey this week found that 51% of Americans are comfortable with his handling of the economy.

When asked whether they thought Mr. Obama or the Republicans in Congress would do a better job handling the economy, Americans favored the President by an 11% margin.

The same polls show that Americans are broadly and legitimitely concerned about the growing budget deficit. They want Mr. Obama to do something about it.

But they don’t believe he’s evil, or a Muslim, or the mastermind of a socialist conspiracy.

Those are the preoccupations of a passingly small group of fringe-activists who, unfortunately, enjoy enormous influence within the Republican Party.

More sadly, the Birthers and Death Panelists and Obama-is-a-Muslimists have been given a massive megaphone by the 24/7 cable shows and talk radio.

This disconnect between broad national sentiment and an enraged and increasingly volatile fringe movement is nothing new in our society.

And historically these movements do the most damage to the parties that are allied with them.

So long as the Republican Party is a movement defined by Joe Wilson, Joe the Plumber, Sarah Palin, and Rush Limbaugh, it’s hard to imagine many soccer moms (or Hispanics) signing up.

My point is only that all the talk of crisis and the fraying of our civic dialogue is hooey. Yes, Joe Wilson’s shout-out was thuggish.

But Americans as a whole still share a big, comfortable centrist consensus — one with plenty of debates and problems, but no Republic-shattering divides.

If radicals on the right (or the left) want to convince themselves that they represent a silent majority, and that Mr. Obama is ushering in a national apocalypse, fine.

Paranoia and rage are defended forms of free speech, so long as they are voiced peacefully.

The challenge for the rest of us will be turning down the volume, changing the channel, and remembering the real issues at hand.