The Hypocrisy of Both Sides — And Why I Stand Apart

By David Seaton

The current state of American politics has long since pushed me into the camp of the politically homeless. I am a Conservative Independent because I have grown weary of the brazen hypocrisy, manipulative rhetoric, and cynical gamesmanship of both major parties.

Take the latest controversy surrounding Zohran Mamdani and New York City’s call for Emergency Snow Shovelers. The city is paying $19.14 an hour—up to $28.71 with overtime—for temporary workers to clear bus stops, crosswalks, fire hydrants, and step streets after heavy snowfalls. Applicants must show identification: photos, Social Security card, and original IDs. In other words, standard employment documentation is required anywhere in America to complete an I-9 and W-4.

The Right erupted, accusing the Mamdani administration of rank hypocrisy: How can “Blue NYC” require ID for a snow-shoveling job while opposing the SAVE Act’s voter ID provisions? But this line of attack is intellectually flimsy and transparently opportunistic. Every employer in the United States must verify work eligibility. That’s federal law. Pretending this is some sinister data grab is unserious, conspiratorial nonsense designed to inflame low-information voters.

Yet the Left is hardly innocent. Their response to voter ID debates has too often been drenched in condescension and outdated racial tropes. We are told that Black Americans, poor Americans, or minorities are somehow incapable of obtaining identification—that securing a birth certificate or state ID is an insurmountable obstacle akin to a Jim Crow poll tax. This argument is not compassionate; it is patronizing. It assumes incompetence where there is resilience and agency.

Politicians such as Bernie Sanders and Gavin Newsom have even mused rhetorically about who keeps track of their birth certificate, as though the process of obtaining one were an arcane scavenger hunt. Every state has a Bureau of Vital Statistics. Replacement Social Security cards are free. Millions of working Americans navigate these systems routinely. The debate over whether such documentation should be required to vote is legitimate. But pretending the documents are unattainable is disingenuous theater.

What we are witnessing is not principled governance but partisan opportunism. The Right gleefully blurs unrelated issues to score cheap points. The Left reflexively invokes accusations of racism to shut down uncomfortable conversations. Both sides traffic in half-truths, emotional manipulation, and calculated outrage. Both treat voters less like citizens and more like pawns in an endless power struggle.

It is no surprise that roughly 45% of Americans now identify as independents, outpacing both Democrats and Republicans. The American people are exhausted by ideological extremism and performative indignation. We crave seriousness, coherence, and integrity.

I remain a Conservative Independent not because I lack convictions, but because I refuse to pledge loyalty to parties that have become arrogant, self-serving, and corrosively hypocritical. Until our political class chooses honesty over hysteria and principle over partisanship, I will stand apart—and I know I am far from alone.

-David Seaton
Host, “The David Seaton Show” on WVON 1690