Newt Gingrich’s critique of House Democrats goes beyond a single night of folded arms and withheld applause. He sees it as a symptom of a deeper fracture: a political culture where reflexive opposition has replaced any sense of shared purpose. When even broadly unifying moments draw only half-hearted response, it suggests not just division, but a loss of faith that the other side is even worth hearing.

His polling, showing 82% of Americans believe the system is corrupt, underscores how dangerous that loss of faith has become. Whether one accepts his framing of Republicans as reformers and Democrats as defenders of bureaucracy, the anxiety underneath is unmistakable. A democracy cannot function on contempt and suspicion alone. Rebuilding trust will require leaders willing to risk backlash from their own side, applaud what is right no matter who proposes it, and treat power as a responsibility, not a performance.