Thoughts On 21st Century American Politics —  From the Ridiculus to the Sublime

 

Prologue…

 

Why in the world would I waste time writing about politics?  Excellent question.  The answer is simple —  American politics in the 21st Century have gotten so irritating, so confusing, and so disgusting that political thoughts occupy way too much space in my head.  For my own sanity, I thought I would try to put my thoughts down on paper (or the internet equivalent thereof) for posterity’s sake.  Could I make sense of the nonsense of modern political theory, theatre, and practice?  I doubt it, but I decided to give it a shot anyway.  Here we go…

Let’s Start With a Defintion, From Miriam Webster:

politics (noun): the art or science concerned with winning and holding control over a government

In The Beginning, Growing Up In Texas…

 

In the home I was raised in, politics were never discussed.  And, I have no memory that either of my parents voted, donated money to politicians, or put political signs in our yard.  My earliest memory of a political event was the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.  I was in 5th or 6th grade, and our whole school sat in the auditorium and watched a small black and white television.  All I remember was the serious tone of it all.  No explanation was requested or offered, I just knew that it had something to do with politics. Not long after that event, I got my first job at Burger Chef, making 75 cents an hour.  One of the first things I did with my newfound wealth was begin getting my haircut at the swankiest place in town, the barbershop at the Jack Tar Hotel in downtown Orange, Texas.  Up until that point, I always had my haircut by a drunk who cut hair in his backyard for 50 cents a pop.  It was all my father would provide, and I hated it.  I will never forget the first time I walked into the barber shop at the Jack Tar Hotel — Mr. Perry sized me up and said “Get out of here kid, whatever it is you are selling, we don’t want it!”  I said “No sir, I am not selling anything.  I am here for a haircut.”  To that proud announcement, Mr. Perry replied “You got money?”, and I replied “Yes sir, right here in my pocket”.  That didn’t seem to please Mr. Perry at all, as he replied “Okay, but you will have to wait until I don’t have any other customers”.  So I waited, and got my first real haircut.  But I digress.  You see, the Jack Tar Hotel barbershop was downtown near the courthouse.  It was where the lawyers and judges and doctors and all sorts of important people got their hair cut.  And I got to sit and listen to them. And learn.  What did I learn about politics?  Not much.  It was serious business for serious people.  We were born to be Democrats and that was an important thing.  There you have the beginning of my political education.  

In Junior High and High School, we had class elections.  I was never involved in any of that nonsense.  I wasn’t part of the popular crowd, and it was none of my business.  After all, they were just popularity contests.  I was never a member of any clubs, such as the Key Club, where I might have gotten a taste of politics.  I was always too busy working, after school and on weekends.  I worked and played golf, that was it.  And, trust me, none of the men I played golf with at DERA ever talked about politics.  My college years were also bereft of politics.  It was not until I met my wife and got married that I even thought about voting.  Even then, I relied on her expertise and politics to guide my voting. 

After law school, we moved to San Angelo, Texas.  I was an assistant County Attorney for a while, then moved up into the District Attorney’s office where I was an assistant for several years.  Dorothy was an assistant City Attorney, then went into private practice.  Since I worked for elected officials, I had a passing interest in politics.  It was my experience that all things political were worked out far in advance of elections, and were, in reality, decided by important people.  The voters just put their stamp of approval on who the powers that be wanted elected. Toward the end of our tenure in San Angelo, both Dorothy and I were approached about the possiblilty of running for elected office.  Some folks thought Dorothy would make a great judge.  The local law enforcement rank and file wanted me to run for District Attorney.  I had no interest in that.  By that time, even the thought of politics left a bad taste in my mouth.  Shortly thereafter, we moved back to Houston, to be closer to family and friends.  I spent time at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, and my years around the courthouse in Houston did nothing to dispell my dislike and distrust for politics on any level — city, state, or national.   

A Distasteful Start To 21st Century Politics…

Early in the year 2000, a very close friend of mine decided to run for Congress.  A couple of years prior to that decision, my friend had traveled to Nicaragua to help monitor elections in that country.  He came back a changed person.  He told me that watching people walk all night in bare feet through the mountains to cast their votes had a profound effect on him.  He told me flat out that he felt guilty that he had never participated in the political process in the U.S. and that he was going to get involved.  I asked him how, thinking he might consider running for school board or city council.  His answer became apparent when he approached me to help him run in a Congressional primary in the Houston area.  I will spare you all the romantic details, but my friend, who honestly wanted to contribute and had good motives and a good story, failed in his quest.  He spent a large amount of his own money and contributed blood, sweat, and tears, all to no avail.   I was very involved in helping him and his campaign, and it left me very sad and disheartened to see him get beat.  But even more disheartening was the glimpse it gave me into the slimey world of big money politics and the motley cast of questionable characters that inhabit and rule this sick world of politics.  Suffice it to say, that, as the 21st Century rolled around, my feelings about politics were simple:  politics sucked!  Since that experience, I have never expended a dime or an ounce of effort to get anybody elected to anything.  I had become a political agnostic of the highest order.  

Dorothy Takes a Different Path and Becomes A Right Wing Wingnut…

While I drifted off into the world of political agnosticism, Dorthy took a different path.  She kept up with current political events.  She spent time studying and thinking about political issues.  She donated lots of her hard-earned dollars to political hopefuls she supported.  Some won, some didn’t, but Dorothy never got disillusioned or disheartened.  She did her best to see that I voted, and that I voted the way that she deemed correct.  While I had given up on politics, her interest and fervor only grew.  As a result, I affectionately branded her as a “Right Wing Wingnut”.  About the only thing I did with any consistency was listen to Rush Limbaugh and vote.  And, as you might imagine, his thoughts sometimes shaped my thoughts and actions — I was even moved to participate in his 2008 “Operation Chaos“.  So, in spite of being a Limbaugh accolyte of sorts, I have invested very little into political thought or action since the turn of the century.

Just When I Thought Things Couldn’t Be Any Worse — The Shots Heard Round the World….

As the 21st century rolled along, we endured two terms of Barack Obama, the George Floyd catastrophe, Trump’s embattled first term, the fake insurrection at the Capitol, and Joe Biden’s brain dead presidency.  I didn’t think there was ANY way the political landscape could get any more incoherent and unsettled, but I was dead wrong.  On July 13, 2024 there was an assassination attempt on Donald J. Trump as he campaigned in Pennsylvania for the 2024 presidential election.  

To make matters worse, on September 25, 2025 Charlie Kirk was shot and killed on the campus of  Utah Valley University while speaking to students at a Turning Point USA event.  I didn’t really know much about Charlie Kirk, although I had heard his amazing story and had passed on some fund raising material for his company to Dorothy.  She had been supporting the organization, which Kirk had founded as a teenager, for a number of years and thought he might run for political office someday.  

Unfortunately, these two shootings are not isolated events of political violence.  As I write these words, an organization that calls itself ANTIFA is ramping up violence against agents of the federal government, and organizations it sees as political opponents, such as Turning Point USA.  There was a second attempt on Donal Trump’s life.  Each new day, it seems that there are reports of violence associated with political beliefs.  Against this backdrop of violence, many leading political figures refuse and fail to speak out against it.  They also openly call their political opponents Nazis, Fascists, and followers of Hitler.  Many of the large media outlets in our country fail to report on these matters or offer watered-down, biased versions of events of political violence.  It looks like New York City has elected a mayor who is unabashedly and un- apologetically a socialist and communist, a supporter of the terroist group Hamas, and openly anti-semitic.  

Just when I thought that things couldn’t get any crazier or more disgusting in the realm of U.S. politics, there is a report that, on November 9, 2025, a 64 year old white female (who is a liberal radio talk show host) got down on the floor in public and kissed the feet of Jasmine Crocket, an extreme left Democratic Congresswoman from the State of Texas, who is a fowl-mouthed (“Donald Trump is a peice of s***.”) and loud- mouthed critic of President Trump, frequently comparing him to Adolf Hitler.  I wish I was joking, but I am not.

Speaking of the Main Stream Media…

To say that the 21st century main stream media in the U.S. was, and is, biased against conservatives in general and Donald J. Trump and his MAGA followers in particular, might be the understatement of all recorded American media history.  Most of the time not even the meagerest of attempts was or are made to mask this bias, or to present other viewpoints and arguments.  Most conservatives would say that the main stream media was a culpable hand maiden and carried oceans of water for left wing democratic views and conspiracy theories of all types, large and small.  For example, they could (credibly, in my opinion) be accused of not just sitting idly by but active participants in efforts to sway public attention in matters relating to some of the following areas-

• stories about the left’s attempts to smear Donal Trump’s character and make him out to be a natzi;

• stories about efforts to bankrupt Donald Trump’s businesses, family members, and supporters;

• stories about efforts by the left to prosecute Donald Trump for crimes he never committed;

• stories about efforts to kill Donald Trump;

• an almost complete failure to say anything positive or good about any matter relating to Donald Trump

In short, the left in this country, aided by the main stream media, attempted to take Donald Trump’s assets, his reputation, his personal freedom, and his life.  Thank goodness these efforts have not been successful, at least as of the writing of this blog post.

Well, What Am I Going to Do About It?

Honestly, probably not a dam thing.  After watching politics nearly bankrupt our middle class and our country, after watching our politics shut down our government for longest time in our nation’s history, after watching our personal safety and freedoms be steadily eroded overthe last 25 years, after watching our culture be degraded to the point that commenting on even the most basic biological truths can result in “being cancelled”, after watching organized religion bow to the unending pressure of left wing ideologies — I am disheartened and depressed, not just about our politics, but about the state of the soul of our country. 

So, probably the only thing I will do is to continue to pray for our country and our leaders each morning as I begin my day.  I am too old and too tired to physically get out and try to help change the state of our affairs.  I am not wealthy enough or influential enough to extract an economic price on those who are intent on destroying our country.  So all that is left is to pray, which I will do, each and every day that my Higher Power allows me to get out of bed and enjoy the Breath of Life.  Tom McCoppin, November 14, 2025.