Somewhere along the way, politics stopped being about ideas and started being about enemies. The measure of a good policy is no longer whether it helps Americans but whether it hurts the right people — typically, those on the opposing side. We’ve entered an era not of leadership but of vengeance.
Or has it always been that way, and I was simply too naïve to recognize it? Maybe that’s just me, as I paid little attention to politics before about 1990. But I can’t remember the last time a debate ended with someone saying, “Good point.” Sadly, I don’t think I ever will.
For the left, “what’s best for the country” has been replaced by “what’s worst for Trump.” They ooze Trump Derangement Syndrome from every pore, most of them with no idea what good policy looks like. Every proposal or investigation is framed around how much damage it might do to President Donald Trump, as if weakening him strengthens America. In truth, it’s hurting our nation.
Conservatives aren’t innocent, either. Many on the right have learned to respond — not with persuasion but with payback. The outrage machine runs on twin fuels — hatred and hypocrisy. No one stops to ask whether the country itself is better for the exchange.
We used to be a nation that argued great ideas. Liberals and conservatives fought bitterly, yes, but over competing visions of what is right. Today’s quarrels aren’t about visions; they’re about vengeance, power and how to spend taxpayer money.
The left’s obsession with Trump’s downfall has become a moral blind spot ever since he rode down the escalator. It’s one thing to oppose his excesses; it’s another to let hatred of him define your platform, as millions have done. A political movement that orbits around hatred has no gravity of its own. It becomes reactionary by design, destined to collapse the moment the villain exits the stage.
Meanwhile, the right’s frustration has curdled. Many conservatives have stopped talking about reforming institutions and instead about burning them down. They’re right to see the press, academia and government as flawed systems in need of repair, but too often the talk stops there. The fight with the left becomes the substitute for reform. That’s not conservatism; it’s chaos with better slogans.
Ordinary Americans would prefer a functioning border to another symbolic hearing. We’d gladly trade a hundred viral takedowns for just one balanced budget. But no one from either side in Washington, D.C., is listening.
Cable news and social media algorithms fuel this cycle with the highest octane. Anger is engagement, and engagement is money. A country once known for innovation and exploration now runs on outrage. It’s as if our national pastime has shifted from baseball to mutual disgust.
The tragedy is that spite feels righteous in the moment. When your side wins a battle, it feels like justice, until you realize nothing actually got done. Prices are still high, cities are still unsafe, and our debt continues to grow.
Folks, America’s strength has never come from revenge. It comes from resilience — from winning arguments with reason, not rage. Today, our leaders don’t debate; they perform like trained seals in a circus. The goal isn’t persuasion — it’s about conquest and applause. When Ronald Reagan debated Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton sparred with George Bush Sr., it was often heated, but there was wit and substance. Those leaders believed in something. Compare that to the soundbites we get today: outbursts disguised as governance.
If the left truly wants to defeat Trumpism, they might try beating it with competence. If the right wants to preserve conservatism, it must rise above tribal scorekeeping and rediscover moral seriousness. This country doesn’t need more Avengers; it needs leaders who look to make America
Spite may win applause, but it loses nations. It may deliver a few dopamine hits for partisans, but it rots the foundation that holds us together. Every time one side cheers the other’s misery, the Republic weakens.
The great irony is that for those who still believe in decency, debate and cooperation are too busy working, raising families and hoping that someday politicians will grow up … or be voted out of office. Until then, we’ll keep drifting, divided not by what we believe but by whom we despise.
And that, in the end, is the real threat to democracy — not one man, not one party, but our addiction to spite.
Alan Webber, a Bourbonnais resident, is also a blogger, occasional podcaster and the author of two novels.
He owns A.N. Webber Inc., a trucking company in Kankakee. He can be reached at awebber@anwebber.com.