{"id":23312,"date":"2026-11-02T15:03:19","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T20:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=23312"},"modified":"2026-11-02T15:03:19","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T20:03:19","slug":"cynicism-should-win-the-mid-term-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2026\/11\/02\/cynicism-should-win-the-mid-term-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Cynicism Should Win the Mid-Term Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Cynicism Should Win the Mid-Term Elections<\/a><\/h1>\n

By James Bovard\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0In an era of clueless voters and profoundly dishonest candidates, cynicism is one of the last best checks on political power run amok.\u00a0 Regardless of the final vote count in Tuesday\u2019s mid-term congressional elections, both Republicans and Democrats have earned all the distrust they will reap. \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Any hope that elections would safeguard the Constitution should have perished after 9\/1<\/strong>1. Consider the race for a U.S. Senate seat in Michigan. Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed<\/a> talks as if the Second Amendment only protects Americans\u2019 right to own the type of antique flintlock muskets used to fight the British Army at Yorktown. Republican candidate Mike Rogers has devoted his congressional career to championing the Deep State and obliterating the Fourth Amendment\u2019s prohibition on warrantless unreasonable searches.\u00a0 After Edward Snowden exposed a vast National Security Agency crime spree, Rogers exonerated Uncle Sam\u2019s secret surveillance: \u201cYou can\u2019t have your privacy violated if you don\u2019t know your privacy is violated.\u201d<\/p>\n

But whoever Michigan voters send to the Senate will take an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, right? As former U.S. senator Bob Kerrey explained in 2013, \u201cThe problem is, the second your hand comes<\/a> off the Bible, you become an asshole.\u201d<\/p>\n

Denouncing cynicism is an anesthetic the political elite inject to stifle hostile reflexes.<\/strong>\u00a0 When California Gov. Gavin Newsom addressed the United Nations\u2019 \u201cHigh-level Event on Climate Action and Just Transition<\/a>\u201d (hey, I didn\u2019t make up that name), he hailed the lackeys in the audience: \u201cThank you for being the antidote to that cynicism, fear, and anxiety.\u201d\u00a0 Newsom\u2019s environmental mandates pointlessly impoverish Californians but assure him deity treatment in the media.<\/p>\n

Americans are schooled to trust the regimes that domineer their lives. But that storyline becomes harder to prop up each time the political parties rotate power in Washington.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In modern American history, the most audacious liars have been the greatest self-proclaimed enemies of cynicism. \u201cThe only deadly sin I know is cynicism,\u201d declared President Lyndon Johnson<\/a> in a 1967 press conference on how the Vietnam War was going great. In a 1973 nationally televised speech, President Richard Nixon declared<\/a>, \u201cI reject the cynical view that politics is inevitably, or even usually, a dirty business\u201d before deluging viewers with false claims on the burgeoning Watergate scandal.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In 1994, President Clinton derided citizens who \u201cindulge themselves in the luxury of cynicism<\/a>\u201d for betraying the American soldiers who died on D-Day in 1944.\u00a0In 1997, Clinton declared that people can make America \u201cbetter if we will suspend our cynicism<\/a>.\u201d This is the Peter Pan theory of public service: if only people believed government has magical powers, politicians could achieve miracles.\u00a0After his impeachment, Clinton castigated<\/a> \u201cfashionable cynicism\u201d as \u201cself-indulgent arrogance that has no place in America.\u201d But it wasn\u2019t cynics\u2019 fault that Clinton helped make presidential candor an endangered species<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

George W. Bush exploited the revulsion against Clinton, promising America \u201ca fresh start after a season of cynicism<\/a>\u201d when he launched his presidential campaign in 1999. In his first inaugural address, President Bush touted positive thinking about politicians as civic duty, lecturing Americans on their <\/a>\u201ccalling\u201d to make a \u201cdetermined choice of trust over cynicism.\u201d In the same 2002 State of the Union where he uncorked \u201cthe Axis of Evil\u201d to pave the way to war with Iraq, Bush declared<\/a>, \u201cDeep in the American character, there is honor, and it is stronger than\u00a0cynicism.\u201d Bush repeatedly rebuked the cynicism<\/a> of anyone who refused to cheer<\/a>\u00a0his invasion of Iraq<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Barack Obama exploited the revulsion against Bush, proclaiming in 2007\u00a0<\/a>that \u201cmy rival in this [presidential] race is not other candidates. It\u2019s cynicism.\u201d\u00a0Six years later, President Obama exhorted college graduates<\/a> to beware of the \u201ccreeping cynicism\u201d and people who \u201cwarn that tyranny is always lurking just around the corner.\u201d He did not seize that opportunity to show how he acquired the prerogative to order drone killings <\/a>of American citizens by his own decree.<\/p>\n

Politicians denouncing cynicism are akin to used car salesmen telling customers to ignore the engine clunking during a test drive. Cynicism is blowback from decades of deceit.<\/strong> Most of the major political power grabs in modern history have been propelled by official falsehoods, as have all the major wars <\/a>since 1950. Perpetual bipartisan chicanery explains why\u00a0only 17%\u00a0 of Americans trust the federal government<\/a> nowadays.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Cynicism often arises because politicians judge themselves by their rhetoric while citizens judge them by their (mis)deeds. The alternative to cynicism is pretending that politicians are more honest than they sound.\u00a0Are politicians, like underage delinquents, entitled to have all their prior offenses expunged?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Cynicism is necessary because the political playing field is often tilted in favor of servility.<\/strong> Politicians are almost never held personally responsible for their falsehoods, follies\u00a0and fiascos. Scores of millions of people will unquestioningly obey no matter what Washington commands.<\/p>\n

Cynicism is a form of political damage control. An ounce of cynicism can save a pound of repenting.<\/strong> Cynicism functions as a brake on political steamrollers. Timely doubts loudly expressed can stop presidents from driving a nation over a cliff or into a foreign quagm<\/strong>ire.\u00a0 It is not possible to be too cynical about President Trump\u2019s betrayal of his promise to \u201cend the endless wars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Politicians seek to banish cynicism without repenting their rascally ways.\u00a0Why should citizens intellectually disarm themselves in the face of political aggressors?\u00a0Why should they accept the passive obedience that was preached for centuries to the politically downtrodden? Are citizens obliged to continually cast their common sense and memories\u00a0overboard as if they were seeking to placate an angry pagan god?<\/p>\n

The derision of cynicism\u00a0goes to the heart of citizens\u2019 role in a democracy. If citizens have a duty to believe, then politicians are entitled to deceive. If citizens are obliged to trust, they become sacrificial offerings for the next political con job. A cynic is often merely someone who trusts politicians as little as politicians trust each other.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cynicism is simply a discount rate for political honesty.\u00a0Even cynics should not presume that\u00a0all politicians are perfidious\u00a0all the time.\u00a0There are decent folks in every profession.\u00a0Instead, citizens should judge politicians like federal judges treat accused criminals<\/a> \u2014\u00a097% of whom are convicted.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Cynicism can be pro-freedom, spurring resistance rather than resignation.<\/strong> Citizens should be cynical when politicians endlessly absolve themselves for all the damage they inflict on America.\u00a0Citizens should be cynical when politicians propose sweeping new federal programs to replace disgraced boondoggles.\u00a0 How can anyone be too cynical about Trump\u2019s promise to send each American adult $5000<\/a> if the Republicans maintain control of Congress?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Regardless of who wins on Tuesday, Washington politicians will continue wasting hundreds of billions of dollars every year and ravaging the value of the U.S. dollar.\u00a0 They will continue bankrolling federal agencies that trample the Constitution and they will perpetuate policies that pointlessly drag America into foreign conflicts.<\/p>\n

Regardless of who wins on Tuesday, neither Republicans nor Democrats deserve any honeymoon from cynicism. The more cynical Americans become, the less power politicians can seize.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cynicism Should Win the Mid-Term Elections By James Bovard \u00a0In an era of clueless voters and profoundly dishonest candidates, cynicism is one of the last best checks on political power run amok.\u00a0 Regardless of the final vote count in Tuesday\u2019s mid-term congressional elections, both Republicans and Democrats have earned all the distrust they will reap. 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The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \"the roving inspector general of the modern state\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \"one-man truth squad.\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism & Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","https:\/\/x.com\/jimbovard"],"url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23312"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23325,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23312\/revisions\/23325"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}