I promise you that we’re not going to make a real foray into electoral politics here, but we need to talk about a guy by the name of John Fetterman in a neck-in-neck battle with Dr. Mehmet Oz for a Senate seat in Pennsylvania.

Fetterman dresses like a big, sloppy kid, sponged off of his parents until he was 49, and had a stroke that has greatly impacted his ability to talk and think. This is a man who would have a great deal of difficulty holding down any kind of normal job and if elected, he would be the single least impressive person ever to make it into the Senate.

Fetterman is barely a step up from Caligula’s Horse… yet it’s entirely possible that he’ll be the next senator from Pennsylvania. Now, it would be very easy to mock the Democrats in that state for being willing to support someone who’s obviously unqualified for the office, but the reality is that if the parties of both men running for office were reversed and the GOP was saddled with Fetterman, the vast majority of Republicans would dutifully march to the ballot box and vote for him.

That’s because we no longer view members of Congress as leaders or want them to work together to figure out how to make America more successful. We’ve long since abandoned the idea that our government can fix the serious problems confronting America today. Instead, the version of American government far too many of us have subconsciously accepted is something closer to a hopelessly broken-down car rolling downhill towards a cliff with no one at the wheel or brakes. We don’t expect miracles. We don’t expect anything to get fixed. We don’t even expect basic competence. We’re just trying to make the ride to the cliff as painless as possible for us and to best position ourselves to pick up the pieces after the inevitable crash that’s going to happen one day. Granted, there are some of us trying to convince the rest of the country to demand that the politicians get to the brakes and steering wheel, but they never seem to listen.

That’s why someone like John Fetterman can be a serious candidate for the Senate in America. It’s because so many of us don’t expect our politicians to be logical, puzzle through problems, or try to figure out the best way to help America anymore. We don’t expect “the best and the brightest." Any drooling moron will do. That’s because, for most people, it all comes down to nine words.

Give us what we want, when we want it.

Unfortunately, what you’ve just read is not a description of a nation with a healthy political system and a bright future.

On the contrary, America is more like a wooden boat.

Imagine being in that wooden boat in the middle of the ocean and someone decides that they want to smash an enormous hole in the bottom of the ship with an axe. They go on to note that it would certainly be good exercise and let’s face it, smashing things can be a lot of fun. Besides, boats are repairable and the trees that would be needed to repair it are plentiful in the world. That means it’s not as if the wood couldn’t be patched and replaced. At that point, that person grabs an ax, and half the people on the boat start preparing to head down the stairs to the hull.

Before they get through the door, you and several other people plead with them not to do it. However, when you start to explain the problem, they wave you off. They have absolutely no interest in your reasoning, explanations, or what you’re trying to tell them. Instead, they say, you are probably afraid of change or are used to having privilege on the boat. They ask if you have ever split firewood. If so, then who are you to say that this is a bad idea? That’s wood and this is wood. They have an axe, and you used an axe to split the firewood. Maybe you are just afraid that a minority might get to smash in the bottom of the boat. What, you don’t like the idea of brown people smashing brown wood?