#1

Nearly 11 years ago, I remember eagerly awaiting the results of the 2006 midterms. I was in sixth grade, and we'd had six years of Bush, of pointless war, idiotic spending, spying on our own citizens, etc. Now was our chance to fix things! Once the Dems controlled Congress, they could stop Bush and push the country in the right direct. What actually happened with that Democratic landslide? Nothing got done. But it was Bush's fault; once we got him out of office and had a Democratic President, things would get better. So when Obama won and had control of Congress, things we really looking up. Regulate Wall Street and get those sons of bitches who ruined our economy in their greed. Protect the environment and fight against climate change. Stop the Patriot Act. Fix our foreign policy failures and rehabilitate our image. And his presidency turned out to be a resounding succes...well it turned out to be pretty lame.

While we were expecting Hope and Change™, we instead got a mediocre health care bill that faced heavy opposition, in part due to political pettiness, but also because of its major shortcomings. Republicans used Obamacare as a tool to power, winning massively in 2010, and regaining control of Congress and many state governments. But, like the Democrats during the latter Bush years, all they really accomplished was obstruction. Congress wasn't enough they said, they needed the White House. And the White House they got, against all odds. What has the Republican Party done since having nearly complete control of our government, a control that is at historic levels? They've had a pair of failed travel bans, loosened environmental regulations, and are (probably) about to confirm Gorsuch. In short, we have a new justice and we can dump sludge into rivers now. 

What we see here are two parties that have asked us, time and time again, to give them power in return for delivering on their promises. But instead of delivery, they give us shit. And so people turn to Trump in foolish hope, only for him to flounder in his own incompetence. The moral, all in all, is that our parties are trash, don't deliver, and shouldn't be trusted to deliver.