A blunt argument that American voters, not just politicians, are to blame for a political class that keeps failing them — bad news for party loyalists on both sides.

• Voters defend politicians in their own party out of fear of the other side, and that fear is what lets failure continue.
• Politicians who openly show contempt for their own voters face no consequences, so they keep going.
• The cost is not abstract — Americans are dying because of decisions that get excused rather than punished.
• Tribal loyalty has flipped the relationship: voters now serve politicians instead of the other way around.
• Nothing shifts until people are willing to hold accountable the leaders they actually like.

Outlook: Without real pressure from their own base, both parties have every reason to keep behaving the same way heading into the next election cycle.