Does America needs a new ‘Pod’? America certainly needs more than just the identical likeness or similar pair that the Democratic and Republican parties offer.
As a No Party Affiliation (NPA) registered Florida voter, I can’t stand either the Democratic or Republican party and usually vote against whichever I find most objectionable at the time. I voted against Harris last November. What a choice – Trump or Harris. While Trump has done better domestically this time around, his foreign policy has been a disaster—bordering on treason, in my humble opinion, particularly in his actions enabling Russia to recover from their reinvasion of Ukraine.
Both the Democratic and Republican parties support BIG government – though each wants their own version of it. Both appear left-wing to me, though Republicans might be considered center-wing. However, for clarity, I’ll use the conventional left-wing and right-wing labels. Political terminology can be quite confusing – I only recently learned that the Republican party encompasses Republicans, Conservatives, and “Classic Liberals.”
Daily Kos vs The New Neo – Political Blogs
For the past year, I’ve been exploring political blogs and their comment sections. They’re essentially “two peas in the same pod” – a Left-Pea and Right-Pea with different talking points but similar messages of bigotry and hate. Each side seems amazed at their own intelligence while dismissing the other as stupid.
Daily Kos doesn’t allow for diversity—a trait common among all left-wing blogs I visited. This hasn’t changed much since I conducted a similar exploration around 2008; if anything, it’s slightly worse. Their message is clear: toe the line or you’re out.
I lasted about three days at Daily Kos this time. I was comparing Republicans’ TCS (Trump Cultist Syndrome) to Democrats’ TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) in a post, and that ended my tenure – apparently, I crossed a line by acknowledging TDS.
I fared better at The New Neo blog, lasting around nine months and enjoying my stay until the final day. I was labeled a “troll” initially, but the name-calling subsided after about six months.
Other Conservative blogs can be even less tolerant toward those who don’t adhere to the MAGA line—especially in their comment sections. Power Line is probably my favorite “fair and balanced” Conservative blog, though its comment section is brutal.
What ultimately ended my time at The New Neo blog was the aftermath of the Trump, Vance, and Zelensky interview on 2/28/2025. Republicans were visibly shocked by Trump’s and Vance’s rude, aggressive, loud, angry, and undiplomatic attacks on Zelensky – and the next day, they attempted to edit the Video Evidence of that disaster. Once Video Evidence is available online, it’s difficult to edit, but Republicans desperately tried.
Here’s one example of such ‘Editing’ and/or reinterpretation. I’ll start with the ‘Much less – No’ exchange between Zelensky and Trump. Trump had said that Europe gave Much less to Ukraine than America, and Zelensky tried to explain that Europe had given quite a lot.
That ‘Much less – No’ link shows a calm friendly exchange between Zelensky & Trump – almost as if they are a ‘Comedy Duo’ team in the exchange.
Here is a pic of a comment. Here is a quote from the comment:
Z: We can help Europe because Europe really helped. President Trump said that they made less support, but they are our friends. They are very supportive partners. They really gave a lot, Mr. President.
T: [nods] They gave a lot, but they gave much less.
Z: No, no!
T: Don’t argue. [Trump smiles, leans in, gives Zelensky little pat]
Z: No, no! [said this time in a sort of whiney-jokey way, with a slight smile]
T: Much less.
Watch the video and note that Zelensky does not exclaim, and only says “No” (or nope?), then “No” after another Much less, then Trump leans in and points with Zelensky saying “Nooo” whilst both are smiling. Blog Conservative commenter says Zelenskyy did a double-no exclamation. That’s editing the facts – a claim by Republicans against Democrats and their MSM—and akin to the pot calling the kettle black.
Here is the COMMENT link…
MSM (Legacy media) vs New Media – Media Charts
Pew Research – “Broad agreement in U.S. – even among partisans – on which news outlets are part of the ‘mainstream media’”:
The mainstream media (legacy media) is currently undergoing changes. New media continues to grow, but primarily along partisan journalism lines.
My preferred sources for relatively balanced news are the Daily Mail and X (formerly Twitter). If Musk maintains a censorship-free environment, X may become the leading news platform.
Conclusion
Politics has become intensely partisan now, though perhaps it always was. I avoided politics until 9/11, voting for the first time in the 2002 midterms. The Right-Pea has become increasingly radicalized – catching up to the Left’s radicalization and possibly surpassing it at this point.
For me, the political whiplash from Bush to Obama to Trump to Biden and back to Trump has led me to vote against whoever I dislike more. Harris versus Trump presented terrible choices, but Democratic positions on issues like transgender children, women’s sports, and bathroom access forced me to vote against Harris and the Democrats.
If Democrats nominate candidates in 2026 and 2028 who move toward the center—as California Governor Gavin Newsom recently did on transgender athletes—I will likely vote against Trump and the Republicans for the first time. Trump’s and Vance’s pro-Russia stance has deeply disturbed me.
Is there a new ‘Pod‘ on the horizon? One can only hope. 🤞