Politics these days have become so divided and divisive that it’s become the norm to view the other side of the aisle as “the enemy”. People are being told to “pick a side” and that there’s no room for middle ground. We here at Phetasy believe that there are a lot more people in the middle than politicians and the media would have us believe.
We’re collecting stories from the ever growing number of people who are finding themselves Politically Homeless and posting them here on Substack. If you have moved from conservative to liberal, or liberal to conservative, if you feel you’ve stayed in the same place and your party has swerved drastically away from you, if you had a moment that awakened you to the insanity and hypocrisy on both sides, if you keep your mouth shut anytime a political topic comes up because you’re afraid your opinion will cause you to lose friends or your job, you’re not as alone as you might think.
Our goal is to shine a light on people’s earnest, individual experiences and show them they’re not alone.
Some letters have been edited for clarity and brevity. If you’re politically homeless and would like to share your story, please email us at iampoliticallyhomeless@gmail.com. All submissions will remain anonymous.
Letter 69:
November 3, 2022
Hello,
In 2016 like most people in the United States I walked into my polling location to vote for Hillary Clinton. I did this begrudgingly because I was distraught by the treatment of Bernie Sanders. However, I was still confident in Hillary's imminent victory as there was no way that the good people of the United States would succumb to the used car sales pitch of Donald Trump. How could anyone?
And In 2016, like most of the world, I was absolutely baffled by the election's outcome. How could anyone vote for this huckster? I was determined to find out. Unlike most of my liberal friends in our liberal bubble who asked questions like "wHy Is EvErYbOdY RaCiSt?" I sought the opinions of Republicans, Trump voters, and people outside of my bubble. Quickly I realized that we've been sold a bill of goods. Watching shows like the Daily Show, MSNBC and CNN I realized that these interviews with Trump supporters were being hand selected to show the most extreme and stupid of the Right wing. MSNBC and CNN had just stolen Fox News' business model and started implementing it full force. We'd been had. I no longer was interested in hearing what someone thought second hand. This made every news outlet completely worthless to me.
Donald Trump is still abhorrent because I don't like what he says, and I don't like how he carries himself. I'll never vote for him, and I'm proud I never have. A friend turned me onto the Carter Page, Trump wiretap scandal, I argued with him at length about how stupid he was, that the FBI has every right to perform surveillance on that idiot. I argued that FISA approved of the warrant, and that there's solid oversight, especially with such a sensitive investigation. I believed Adam Schiff when he said this was all nonsense. I believed in the FBI that they would do the right thing.
I did that until I read Inspector General Horowitz's report, which I read directly, (not CNN's hilariously misleading analysis), and it turns out that the FBI was essentially spying on the presidential campaign of Donald Trump during the 2016 election at the request of an opposing candidate, and relying on fabricated evidence to justify it. I don't like conspiracy theories, and I never have. But I still can't wrap my head around why almost no one gives a shit about this. It's obvious to me that Trump was mistreated badly by the Left and the FBI. I still hate him, and were he to be given more power he would surely implement his own mafia-like government, but the FBI shouldn't have done what they did either.
So in 2020 I voted for Gabbard knowing she would lose in the primary (funnily enough my state was called for Biden on my drive home from my polling location, not that I believe this was fraud or anything, I just asked myself what was the point of me going?). I voted for Jorgensen in the general election because in my time in the real world, outside of the bubbles, I realized that the Democrat party hadn't earned my vote. I wanted our leaders to see that there are people willing to vote, but not for either of these two parties as they were.
No one saw.
From an ideological perspective, I'm still pro-choice, weed should be legal, gay marriage is great, and if you're a law abiding citizen you should be able to have a gun without much trouble. I'm deeply concerned by the condition of the country's law enforcement, which is simultaneously guilty of not doing enough, and massive overreach. But then I look at left leaning states and wonder why they're so messed up, and I no longer accept their excuses. I can't vote for Republicans because they don't like my ideas. I can't vote for Democrats because their ideas are proven time and again to be ineffective at best, and detrimental at worst. The Libertarian party is still too contaminated by the sovereign citizen/militant types.
In 2019 I took note of the Supreme Court when they greenlit gerrymandering, they left it in the hands of the very politicians who benefit from it the most. The House of Representatives was no longer elected, but instead anointed by one of two parties. 2.5% of the House elections are tossups this year according to www.fivethirtyeight.com the rest are formalities including where I live. In the Senate 3 of the 35 seats available are tossups. In fact, where I live, every single election has 99:1 odds on the outcome already. There will be no upsets. The game is rigged, so I'm taking my ball and going homeless.
Sincerely,
Politically Homeless
Some letters have been edited for clarity and brevity. If you'd like to share your story, email us at iampoliticallyhomeless@gmail.com. All submissions will remain anonymous.
I'm Going [Politically] Homeless