The great democratic experiment has once again yielded exactly what one might expect when the lab rats are given the choice between a cage with a shock pad and a cage with a slightly more charismatic shock pad. The recent data suggests that a significant portion of the Hispanic electorate, in a fit of collective amnesia or perhaps just sheer, unadulterated desperation, decided that the man who spent a decade promising to build a wall against them was, in fact, the savior of their bank accounts. It was a historic shift, we are told. A realignment. A seismic movement in the tectonic plates of American identity politics. And now, predictably, the 'souring' has begun. It took exactly as long as a carton of milk takes to expire for the realization to set in: the golden idol has no intention of lowering the price of eggs.

Let’s start with the Left, whose performance in this tragedy has been nothing short of a masterclass in intellectual masturbation. For years, the DNC brain trust—a group of people who likely haven’t touched a non-organic vegetable since the Clinton administration—insisted on referring to a diverse, multi-continental group of humans as 'Latinx.' They treated a demographic defined by deep religious roots and traditional family structures as if they were all gender-fluid sociology majors from Oberlin. They ignored the mounting grocery bills and the decaying infrastructure of the working class, choosing instead to lecture the very people they needed about the nuances of intersectionality. They didn't lose the Hispanic vote; they threw it into a trash fire of their own making and then acted shocked when they got burned. Their shock is as performative as their policy, a weeping and gnashing of teeth from people who are more upset about being wrong than about the actual plight of the humans they claim to represent.

Then we have the Right, the victors of this particular charade. They welcomed this historic shift with the same greasy grin a used car salesman gives a teenager with a high-interest loan. They promised an economic renaissance, a return to a 1950s fever dream where a single income could buy a house, three cars, and a sense of dignity. They sold the narrative that a man who has never stood in a checkout line in his entire life somehow understood the visceral pain of a rising CPI. They capitalized on the valid frustrations of people who feel abandoned by the coastal elite, only to immediately pivot back to their true religion: deregulation for the ultra-wealthy and the systematic dismantling of the social safety net. The 'historic shift' wasn't a conversion to conservatism; it was a cry for help that was answered by a professional grifter who specializes in selling fake gold watches.

Now, the voters are 'souring.' What a delicate, polite word for the crushing realization that you’ve been had. It is the political equivalent of buying a miracle hair-growth cream from a man with a comb-over that defies the laws of physics. The news reports tell us that Latinos are beginning to feel the sting of an administration that prioritizes performative deportations over the stabilization of the supply chain. They are realizing that 'the economy' to a billionaire means the stock market and capital gains, while 'the economy' to them means being able to afford a haircut and a tank of gas in the same week. The irony is so thick you could choke on it. You vote for the man who promises to 'fix' things by breaking everything, and then you act surprised when the shards of the broken system start cutting your feet.

This is the cycle of American stupidity, a carousel of disappointment that we pay to ride every four years. We treat the ballot box like a vending machine, hoping that if we push the right button, a life without struggle will drop into the bin. We ignore history, we ignore basic arithmetic, and we certainly ignore the character of the people we elevate to power. The Hispanic voters who are now 'souring' are merely the latest victims of the Great American Grift, joined by the Rust Belt workers of 2016 and the idealistic youths of 2008. We are a nation of goldfish, swimming in a bowl of our own making, perpetually surprised by the glass wall we hit every few inches.

In the end, everyone is an idiot. The Democrats are idiots for thinking language policing could replace labor policy. The Republicans are idiots for thinking they can sustain a coalition based on grievance and empty promises. And the voters? The voters are the biggest idiots of all for believing that any of these ghouls actually care whether they can afford their rent. The souring will continue until the next election, at which point we will all find a new way to be disappointed. It’s not a political crisis; it’s a failure of the species. Welcome to the Americas, where hope goes to die and cynicism is the only commodity that never loses its value.