Sometimes, the only winning move is not to play. Sometimes the game becomes so vile – so stripped of civility, compassion, and mercy – the only way to survive is to run, not walk, away.
Take, for example, two recent failures.
This month, leaked text messages from Virginia Attorney General candidate Jay Jones ignited a political firestorm. In the 2022 messages, Jones joked about shooting then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert, writing: “Three people, two bullets — Gilbert, Hitler, and Pol Pot… Gilbert gets two bullets to the head,” and even suggesting Gilbert’s children should die to spur policy change.
Jones confirmed the texts and apologized, calling them “shameful” and written in anger. But the fallout was swift: Republicans labeled him unfit for office, Democrats distanced themselves, and the scandal has dominated his race against incumbent Jason Miyares. During their debate, Jones again apologized, but the controversy continues to overshadow his campaign — and raises deeper questions about civility and judgment in public life.
Yet Democratic leaders have not gone far enough. While they may not be able to remove Jones from the ballot, they could pull funding, withdraw support, and make a clear moral statement. They haven’t — and that’s telling. In fact, US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Jones should stay in the race signaling an apology was enough.
Republicans, meanwhile, don’t have much moral high ground.
Recently, thousands of leaked group-chat messages from the Young Republican National Federation surfaced — filled with racist, antisemitic, and violent jokes from several state leaders. The messages, first published by Politico, sparked outrage. The New York GOP suspended its Young Republicans chapter, and several members resigned or were forced out.
But Vice President J.D. Vance downplayed the scandal, calling the participants “kids” who said “stupid things,” and warned against “ruining their lives” over offensive jokes. Instead of condemning the behavior, he deflected — pointing to Jones’ texts as “a thousand times worse.” It was a political calculation, not a moral one: protect your young base, redirect the outrage.
Yes, both sides are wrong.
Jones is unfit for office. Jeffries is wrong, he shouldn’t still be in the race.
Those young Republicans aren’t children — they’re adults who should know better. And the vice president is wrong, carrying water for them is outrageous.
Why aren’t party leaders saying so? And if they won’t who will?
This is political life in America: quick to vilify the other side, slow — if ever — to discipline our own.
It’s wrong. It’s frustrating. It’s a path to disaster.
When you step back from the two-party battlefield — declare political independence, criticize both sides where it’s deserved — you’re branded “lazy” or “indecisive.” That sentiment appears almost daily on the MetroNews Talkline text line.
But political independence isn’t apathy. It’s rational. It’s the stance of citizens who are fed up with parties that protect their own at any cost — who refuse to participate in a system that excuses the inexcusable.
Neither Democrats nor Republicans seem to understand that frustration, or care to. Why? Because so far, Independents almost always drift back to one side by Election Day – a vote not for someone, but for the least bad candidate.
Even if a party loses a majority, the status quo is preserved. Things eventually swing back, after all. That’s more important than anything substantive or any policy good for the country.
How will it change? What if we all just showed up one day and said no to everything and everyone on the ballot, especially at the national level? Vote against the status quo.
Until more people call out both parties for their hypocrisy, America’s politics — and the country itself — will keep sinking deeper into the muck.