All Politicians Are Crooked

A fraction of Americans see him (even now, amazingly) as a cultural Robin Hood, his transgressions and corruption as heroic. They are, of course, the marks in his con, but they'll never admit it. https://t.co/sHt1E3ob7V

— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) August 16, 2026

Some are just more crooked than others. That’s the standard attitude, anyway.

Down here on the Third Coast, Texas and Louisiana are infamous for their crooked politicians. It’s practically a badge of honor. We know Ted Cruz has never done shit for Texas. We knew Rick Perry was rich, despite only having had government jobs his entire adult life (Paxton was at least a lawyer in private practice until 2015. He was a Texas representative and Senator for a decade, but that’s a part time job. And it’s not clear his blatant corruption now is hurting him all that much. We’ll see.). Louisiana politics is almost unthinkable without corruption. 

It’s as American as cherry pie. Sometimes it’s machine politics; it’s crooked, but it takes care of you. Sometimes it’s resentment; at least the politicians are oppressing the people I resent. That one is actually the most popular source of GOP political power in the country, and the hardest to explain when poor people accept the authority of the rich because they think it means somebody else is getting stepped on worse than them. Never underestimate the sheer power of resentment.

But the simpler example is the low esteem Congress is always held in. We resent the fact Congress is helping “them,” but appreciate “our” Congresscritters who always look out for “us.” Congress sucks. Our guys are brilliant. 

Same as it ever was.