The Con Consuming American Politics
15th February 2026
There is a growing sense of frustration coursing through American politics, and it is no longer confined to one party or ideology.
That frustration has real roots.
Major institutions badly damaged their credibility during the COVID-19 pandemic, the excesses of the Black Lives Matter movement, and years of breathless coverage of Russiagate. At the same time, artificial intelligence looms over the labor market with few clear answers about what comes next. Add to that a political class that often appears shamelessly corrupt, and the result is a public that feels misled, ignored, and exposed.
But frustration does not remain static. In the United States today, it is mutating into something darker: nihilism.
“ISMS! Get your isms here! You can’t be a pundit without an ism!”