Won't argue that, but there IS a very clear lesser of two evils right now and it's beyond obvious to me.
They trade off on who's the most "evil". One day it could be D, the next R, and even I and non-affiliated. In the end, it all results in the same - no true concern for the constituents - only worried about campaign donations, PR, reelection, power, and corporate cronies and lobbyists, and very little action towards the betterment of American society.
If one were to step back from their party boats and look at it from a neutral position, over 50+ years, it is crystal clear that there is equal blame for any US politician's failures, bad (one-sided) policies, and poor decisions, regardless of party. The fact that they can't figure out, as grown damn people, how to work together for a common goal (like, say, negotiating a known terrorist for BOTH American prisoners?!?), tells me all we need to know about politicians as a whole - they cater to their base simply because that's what gets them donation dollars and reelected. The core policy desires of those bases are only used by politicians to get votes - then they sit in their fancy offices becoming millionaires while pretending to be working hard for the policies they pitched during their campaign - and nothing gets done (except glaring stupid decisions such as trading a terrorist prisoner for an NBA woman who technically broke Russian law over a US marine who did nothing wrong).
EDIT: Not sure if anyone has actually looked up Whelan's background, but the guy isn't this decorated Marine like many might want to make him out to be. He was an administrative clerk in Iraq. He's also been caught in a plethora of lies, theft and cheating, and was even court-martialed from the USM and given a bad conduct discharge (from posts here, one might think he's some honorably discharged US Marine killing machine). From Wiki (and confirmed on other non-politically affiliated sites):
"According to a deposition Whelan gave in 2013, he was in law enforcement from 1988 to 2000 as a police officer in
Chelsea, Michigan, and a sheriff's deputy in
Washtenaw County.
[7] The Chelsea Police however said he worked in lesser roles and as a part-time officer from 1990 to 1996, while the Washtenaw County sheriff reported no record of his employment.
[7] A former colleague said he was a patrol officer from 1998 to 2000 in the
Keego Harbor police department.
[7]
He was an
IT manager for the
Kelly Services staffing company from 2001
[8] to 2003, and then 2008 to 2010. From 2010 to 2016 Whelan was Kelly Services' senior manager of global security and operations.
[8]
He enlisted in the
Marine Corps Reserve in 1994.
[7] He took military leave from Kelly Services to serve with the Marine Corps Reserve from 2003 to 2008, including service in Iraq. He held the rank of
staff sergeant with Marine Air Control Group 38 working as an administrative clerk and administrative chief, and he was part of
Operation Iraqi Freedom.
[8] After a
court-martial conviction in January 2008 on multiple counts "related to
larceny", he was sentenced to 60 days restriction, reduction to pay grade E-4, and a
bad conduct discharge.
[9][10] The specific charges against him included attempting to steal more than $10,000 in 2006 in Iraq and using a false Social Security number to create a false account on a government computer system to grade his own examinations.
When arrested in Russia, Whelan was director of global security and investigations for
BorgWarner, an international automotive parts manufacturer based in Michigan.
[8] His work with Kelly Services and BorgWarner gave Whelan contacts with law enforcement in many countries.[
citation needed]
Whelan traveled to Russia several times from 2006 and maintained an intermittent presence on a Russian language social media website,
Vkontakte (VK), where he had approximately 70 contacts. He has studied Russian but communicated online using
Google Translate.
[11][3] Whelan supported US
President Donald Trump and, after Trump's
2016 election victory, Whelan posted in Russian
Президент Трамп Вперед!! (President Trump Onward!!).
[12][a]
He said in a deposition in 2013 that he holds a bachelor's degree in
criminal justice and an
MBA degree.
[13] He took courses at
Northern Michigan University from fall 1988 to fall 1990 without earning a degree.
[11]"