These damn politicians! I'm fed up — and I'm done

Political parties and their politicians have never been less popular, and I’d argue it’s about time.

This probably isn’t something a guy who makes his living writing about this toxic environment should be on his high horse touting right now, but let’s face it, for the most part, our politics have become big-money recycling efforts stuffed to overflowing with worn-out ideas, and double-talkers who only go away to write books.

They have become an unwelcome, outsized portion of too many of our lives, and nag at us for more of our time and treasure.

Fact is, warts and all, we got ourselves into this mess and we are the only ones who will get us out. We’ve assigned too much power to mere politicians and their money-laundering machines to clean things up when we’re the ones with all the power.

While I’ll never vote for a Republican again during what’s left of my life, because I prefer our public servants weren’t members of a cult, I’m plenty disappointed with too damn many Democrats these days.

This would put me in the vast majority of America, by the way, and the sooner the over-served party I vote with starts getting that, the better it will be for everybody.

Truth is, most Americans aren't affiliated with political parties, and aren’t running around with their hair on fire. They have lives to lead, children to raise, dogs to walk, marriages to hug, bills to pay, and politicians to ignore.

I see their political inaction as dangerous and even selfish, but I grudgingly get it.

They aren't tuned into Fox or MSNBC or CNN or any of these other dreadful places where sharpies draw seven-figure salaries to creatively warn us that the end of the world is coming each day in an effort to draw coveted viewers, who will dutifully tune in tomorrow, no matter what happened yesterday.

For most of America, the constant partisan noise that is flowing downhill off of Capitol Hill and echoing in their ears is just making their difficult lives more difficult.

I have come to understand I am way the hell out of balance right now. I’m overwhelmed by the madness, and lately a bit underwhelmed by the things that truly matter like my family, and all those beautiful animals out there.

It’s not them, it’s me.

I’m a relatively fit dude, who loves a good hike or a swim, but for the first time in my life my blood pressure’s running high. The doc asked me about any recent lifestyle changes that might explain it, and I shook my head and flashed one of those “are you kidding me; have you seen WHAT is in the White House?” kind of smiles.

So I’m cutting back on the salt, and keeping my eyes and ears open for some clear air and perspective.

As to these damn politicians and parties that are eating the majority of us alive, I have a prediction for you: We’re going to be OK, because we are slowly discovering they don’t matter as much as they seem to think they do.

And if you are asking, “What kind of drugs are you on, Earl? Have you seen what is going on in Washington?” I am answering with a question: “What did you see in November that I didn't?”

The Democrats are running the same old tired leadership and messaging out there that lost back then, and the reprehensible Republicans are mistaking all that for a mandate, while losing one special election after another. They got a big, beautiful bill out there, that is going to hurt tens of millions of Americans, and make things easier for billionaires, and ironically for Democrats, who are going to win elections despite themselves because of it.

I swear to you there’s not a single person I talk to on the Left who doesn’t think we deserve better. NOT ONE. And I’ll bet you a shiny quarter that you are hearing the same thing.

It’s OK to admit that, people. I’d argue it’s even necessary if we want the change we think we deserve.

Most Americans, no matter which way they lean politically, have decided they have better things to do than hold their breath while the tails of the bloated big-money oligarchs wag all those political dogs.

These days, all you have to do is look down to see that America’s two major parties are in the gutter. Endless polling backs this up. Most of this actually has Democrats in worse shape than Republicans.

Here’s just one of those lopsided polls that back up all my assumptions. I’ll share a pair of slides from that poll here, and ask you to focus mostly on the “neither party” columns:

Which political party’s views are closer to your own on each of the following issues:

Like I said, a lot of people in America are fed up with the state of our politics, and have no faith in the politicians to fix it.

And I’ll admit it, these numbers irk the hell out of me as a liberal, but I’ve been around long enough to know America lacks taste. We are a mostly fat, ignorant nation isolated by the two largest oceans in the world, and enough weaponry to blow up the Milky Way.

We are armed and dangerous.

Hell, it’s the un-evolved Year of 2025, and we’re still spending our time warning about the end of our democracy, hollering for a woman’s right to choose what is best for HER, and that diversity, equity and inclusion are all about fairness, not favoritism.

You’d figure climate change would be accepted as reality by now, and everybody would get that vaccines save lives.

It’s helluva lot to process.

There’s been too much idolization of politicians the past couple of decades or so, and I figure social media has a lot to do with it. You want to idolize something, maybe start with our teachers and nurses, who don’t have time for all this political bulls--t.

I’ve been on the streets protesting five times since November’s massacre, and can tell you that the people I’ve run into aren’t there because they are fighting for the Democratic Party, they are there because they are angry, standing up for themselves, and want some damn change in this country.

The politicians have mostly avoided these things, because I reckon they have nothing to say that the people haven’t heard before.

The Democratic Party needs a complete reboot, and to work on understanding what people are really feeling outside the Beltway. The people in the party who understand that first will fare handsomely later.

I’m not wrong about this.

So now we see who is really listening, and who just wants to hand us more of the same.

Until then, I’ll see you in the streets.

Now pass the low-sodium salt …

(D. Earl Stephens is the author of “Toxic Tales: A Caustic Collection of Donald J. Trump’s Very Important Letters” and finished up a 30-year career in journalism as the Managing Editor of Stars and Stripes. You can find all his work here, and follow him on Bluesky here.)