Politicians, influencers, news media, advertisers, and even lowly bloggers are all trying to give us our opinions. Not just influence us, but tell us exactly what we should think, buy, believe, and vote for. They hire “experts,” unleash social media armies, and now deploy shiny new AI bots pretending to be humans, all pushing their agendas.
And you know what? Many of us react exactly the way they want. We buy junk we don’t need, vote for politicians who lie so much they can’t remember their last version of the truth, pay extra for those exceedingly rare green tulips, and still convince ourselves the news is giving us unbiased coverage. Sure it is!
Some of us just throw up our hands and say, “I don’t have time for this nonsense.” We tune out, go with the flow, or focus only on surviving the week. I can’t condemn that. When I was working, the last thing I wanted after a long day was to hear the “news” lecturing me about social issues instead of, you know, actual news.
My neighbor’s a perfect example. Good neighbors in rural Texas are a blessing, but when I brought up the government shutdown, he admitted he doesn’t watch the news. No clue why it was happening. He’s a smart man, married to a smart woman but he’s done with the news.
And honestly? I can’t blame him. With reporting as one-sided as it’s become, who can? When a Democrat senator, his wife, and his dog are killed and another senator wounded, we barely hear crickets. But when Charlie Kirk was shot, people actually lost their jobs for quoting Charlie’s own words. Go figure.
During the first No Kings protest, both local and national media practically disappeared. Millions of Americans protesting the president, and we get a five-second clip about “a small group gathered downtown.” Right!
And let’s not forget ICE. They were supposed to be catching the “worst of the worst.” Apparently, that now includes elementary school drug lords. Since 2025, ICE hasn’t lost a single agent. Assaulted, yes — although their definition of assault seems to include being brushed against in a crowded elevator. Meanwhile, actual police, dealing with the real worst of the worst, have lost 42 officers.
But what do we hear on the news? Oh, yes — those “aggressive Congresswomen” assaulting the poor ICE agents. The video was fuzzy, but from my perspective, it looked like she got shoved into the agent. But sure, ICE would never lie.
Nothing about this video is real!
Every day, I see fake videos from both sides, screaming their own “truth.” I just watched a batch of AI-generated product reviews — and I couldn’t tell they were fake. With AI bots running rampant across every platform, how can you tell who’s real anymore? Of course, when our own president creates an AI video of him dumping shit on Americans, that tells us a lot about his mental state.
So here’s a radical idea: look at the data. Not the cherry-picked nonsense crafted to prove a point, the actual data. Then run it through the common-sense filter. Do you really believe food prices have gone down?
East wing being destroyed!
Look at what people do, not what they say. Take Trump’s ballroom: “Won’t touch the White House.” “Paid for entirely by donations.” Next thing we know, the entire East Wing’s rubble, and the price tag has doubled. Who approved that? Not Congress — they’ve been hiding ever since Arizona elected a senator willing to sign the Epstein Discharge Petition. She’s the last signature needed to bring it to a vote. Heaven forbid that happen. Voting no on releasing the Epstein files might make Trump smile, but it’s a career-ending look for anyone else.
And those “drug boats” our Navy keeps blowing up? That’s the maritime version of ICE shooting a “suspected protester.” Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?
Then there are the Trump tariffs — the ones we were told the other countries would pay. Cute story, except that’s not how tariffs work. They’re just taxes we pay so someone can tweet “America wins again.” How do you run a business when your costs can double mid-shipment because one man wakes up grumpy?
When Ontario ran an ad using Ronald Reagan’s own words about how tariffs wreck economies, Trump threw a tantrum and slapped another 10% on Canadian imports. And who pays that? We do! Canadians aren’t coughing up that extra 10%. It’s us footing the bill for his meltdown.
In case you’re wondering — the government shutdown? It’s over insurance. The Affordable Care Act credits expire at the end of 2025. Republicans proposed a “clean” bill to keep the government open and promised to “negotiate later.” Sure. When Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill passed, Democrats proposed amendment after amendment — all ignored. Do you really think there’s good-faith negotiation coming this time? Every vote since has been on the same exact bill. Nobody’s talking; they’re just performing.
So why am I making you sit through my rant? Because up to now, I’ve tried to stay neutral. I only wanted people to vote. But 35% of registered voters didn’t. More people stayed home than voted for Trump. Think about that.
The midterms are coming. Both parties are screaming “apocalypse” if the other side wins. But we’re living through what happens with this crew in charge — and it’s a mess. I’m honestly not sure democracy can survive another round.
If you support Trump, relax, your guy doesn’t need your vote. He’s got the diehards. You can stop reading here and go back to watching Fox Entertainment. But if you don’t support him, Republican or Democrat, vote a straight Democratic ticket. Are they perfect? Please. Not even close. But if we don’t put them back in charge now, we might not get another chance to fix this.
And that’s not all. Remember: almost a third of Americans didn’t vote. If you’re fed up with the incompetence, I’m asking you to do one more thing — talk to people. Neighbors, friends, relatives. You don’t have to be pushy, just remind them their vote actually matters. Make sure they know the facts. Because if the wrong people keep counting on our silence, they’ll be right and that’ll be the last time our voices ever count.
And of course, today’s song from Songer… Vote Them Out!
© 2025, Byron Seastrunk. All rights reserved.
