Like most Americans I had never heard of Charlie Kirk until he was shot. Terrible stuff to be sure.

But I wonder if the media’s complete obsession with him after his death might turn out to be no less terrible.

Most Americans are sad that he was killed the way we’d be sad that anyone was killed.

But the wall-to-wall coverage and complete inescapability of his name and image since his death is absurd. It suggests he was the most important person who has ever lived–either good or bad. As if everyone must either mourn him or revile him.

I have never heard of the guy, so how am I supposed to eulogize or criticize him?

The right-wingers talk of holy war in his name. The leftists suggest he brought it upon himself.

Just wild stuff.

Its as if the entire world is trying to force you to pick a side– you must either canonize him or demonize him.

Except they aren’t the entire world.

At all.

Not even close.

These are two fringe groups that do not speak for the majority of Americans. Yet their messages are amplified a million times a day across every conceivable channel in an endless churn of frothy chaos.

We all know where this is going to lead.

The noise is the problem. The noise is what killed Charlie.

And the noise has gotten noisier.

But no one– except for the Czar–is going to tell you that.

No one is going to tell you the Truth.

And you know why right?

You know what drives the noise don’t you?

Emotional predators.

Predators. Every one of them.

They see you there. Wondering. Asking, “what should I think about this?” Ready to be imprinted upon.

And they come for you. Breathless and hysterical.

The talking heads. The cable news. The emotional predators. The Gmork of our day.

Hoping to make you feel something.

Anger. Fear.

Whatever.

Doesn’t matter.

Just something.

Because once they make you feel they’ve got you.

You’ll come back for more. And they know it.

And you do.

And they just keep scooping it out.

Its a form of masturbation really.

Stimulate the audience. Get them to their peak, if you can.

And they’ll keep coming back for it.

Getting off on it.

The political parties play the same game.

They can’t lead.

They accomplish nothing (and sometimes even less than nothing.)

All they can do is get you angry, or scared.

Make you feel because they can’t make you think.

Anger and fear are better motivators anyway.

They can’t make you think but they can make you hate the other side.

But there is no other side. We’re all just Americans.

So they make you hate Americans. 

And that’s what they do. Every day.

And now they ALL have a tool they can use to get you mad or scared.

A tool they can use to make you hate.

And they are ALL going to use it.

And they are.

But that’s only going to make things worse.

Turn it off folks.

Just turn it off.

Watch some Deserve to Win podcast episodes instead. 🙂

I will say this–and only this– about Charlie Kirk.

It sucks he got shot, but anyone who is trying to change the world– and I think he was– knows that’s always a possibility.

That’s life.

If you can’t handle those stakes, then you weren’t meant to change the world.

That’s how it is.

That’s how it always was.

If I sacrifice my legal career and move forward with a Congressional run as the first step to dismantling our current BROKEN political system and replacing it with the one the framers actually gave us in the Constitution–a system that serves ALL Americans instead of just co-conspirators in some rigged political game– you think I don’t know there’s a chance I eat a bullet?

Of course there is.

But you know what our national motto really means don’t you?

What “In God We Trust” actually means right?

Chat soon.

“The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.”

So it has ever been.

So it shall ever be.

When we fix the system and have it operate as it should I promise you we will have ballot boxes full of good men (and I suppose a woman or two.)

There will be no more being governed by the “lesser of two evils.”

We will never again have to choose between a felon and a person who couldn’t pass the bar. One ticket that woeful combination of greed and folly and the other a union of incompetence and unease.

These are the choices the political party system provide.

A system that divides before it subtracts.

I see a system that only adds and multiplies.

I see a world where we choose between brilliant men and women and no one else.

Its not so hard.

Look out at the horizon and you can see them already.

Really, its precisely what the founders of our nation intended.

Its built into the very DNA of our nation. And it is burning to return.

The political party system has stifled it. But it will be back.

Its inevitable.

So let’s discuss, however briefly before the college football season kicks off, what a qualified lawmaker might look like.

In the first place they should be “good” and not “evil.”

This is not challenge to find in society. But it is challenging to find in politics.

Why is that?

Well, rather obviously “good” men and women tend to carry themselves with a certain humility and grace– the silent dignity of a life lived not to curry favor but to accomplish results.

Sadly, of course, that personality simply does not fit with politics.

Yet politics is the highest way to serve man. “Results” are needed more in the political arena than in any other.

Assuring laws are well organized, the government well checked, the people’s freedoms well preserved– to what greater purpose can the “good” aspire?

But that disdain for the spotlight–that crippling humility of “good” men and women– has for so long lead to only the ignorant, incompetent and–most importantly– those desperate for attention to seek political office. Thus has it ever been said “only those who do not seek power are qualified to hold it.”

The absence of qualified people in the ballot box has lead to most intelligent and capable members of society simply ignoring politics altogether. And the political parties have been there to capitalize.

As the rational logical parts of our minds disdain the spectacle of buffoons holding office, only the hot passionate parts of our minds can be reached.

Logic will not spur us to the ballot box. There is nothing logical to vote for.

Only anger will spur us to the ballot box. Because there is always something loathsome to vote against.

In truth, its all loathsome. The political parties are only good at one thing– blinding you to their own loathsomeness, and helping you to hate the other side.

But there is no other side.

There is no right or left.

Its concocted.

Made up.

The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing people they had to choose one side or the other– when there are no sides to begin with.

Just conspiracies by a handful of people so desperate to hold power they’ll make you act out of hatred where you should only be acting out of wisdom.

Ultimately, good men don’t pledge themselves to that devil of conspiratoral control– to the political parties. They pledge themselves to the people. And to the truth. And nothing else.

Not to the darkness of the people. But to their excellence.

Not to their fears. But to their promise.

A good man elevates.

But seeking a “good” man should be the least of our worries.

The ballot boxes should be full of them.

A display case of gems and jewels of human virtue.

It shall be that way again.

And when it is, remember that being “good” is not even a minimum threshold to hold office– its a minimum threshold to be considered for office.

Those who prevail must have qualifications far beyond merely being “good” in the moral sense– they must be “good” for the position they are to hold.

For the House of Reps they must be good listeners. Good obeyers. They are not to be leaders. The Constitution forbids it. Instead they are to be absorbers and portrayers. Understanding the desires and locals needs of their constituents and faithfully etching the same into law. They must be attorneys, of course. Because they must make law. (As we would not hire an unqualified person to bake us a loaf of bread, how much more cautious must we be to assure those making our laws are qualified to draft them?)

Senators are leaders to a degree. They must account for the broader policies. Here we seek wisdom. Here we seek those who have sacrificed their lives to the pursuit of something greater. We want to see long years of dedicated study. Decades, perhaps, of running a successful business that served its employees and society well. Senators are, by design, the 100 most powerful people in our society– so we must demand the most of their qualifications.

The president was supposed to be a virtual nobody. A steward, perhaps, of the grand beauracracy of the administrative state today. But nothing else. He was never to make law. Only once a year was the president supposed to speak on what laws might be useful– during his annual address to Congress. The constitution makes no other mention of the executive branch discussing political matters– and it is an abomination we allow it.

I see a world where our presidential candidates “debate” one another by explaining how they will each uphold the constitution in a superior fashion than their counterparty. And ultimately these debates won’t be for the “people”– but for the people’s representatives, the electoral college.

I didn’t come up with any of this, of course. The founders did.

Great people who gave us a great system.

Its your system. And mine.

And it has been taken from us.

By the political parties.

A republic, friends, if we can take it back.

And we can.

The courts are on our side.

The law is still in our favor. At least for now.

“Mankind will never see an end of trouble until lovers of wisdom come to hold political power, or the holders of power become lovers of wisdom.”

There is plenty of wisdom out there.

In the courtrooms if nowhere else.

I know its hard to see.

But I see it.

I know its hiding.

But not from me.

I know in dark times, the light seems like it may have gone out.

But its right here.

And I’m going to show it to you.

#deservetowin

Yes I am still thinking of running for Congress. In fact following my visit to D.C. last week it is more likely than ever.

A couple of reflections.

Every time I visit the monuments I feel inspired. As an adherent of the ancient religion of politik, is as close to a holy place as there is for me.

Thomas Jefferson has always been my favorite in all of history.

And those of you who follow this blog know I have studied history and philosophy closely. But Jefferson stands above even my beloved Rousseau:

“”I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man” is perhaps my favorite snippet.

But recalling the final words of the Declaration of Independence:

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

There we something about this line that really spoke to me this trip.

First, nobody pledges anything upon their sacred honor anymore. And that’s too bad.

Second, I appreciated that these men were knowingly and openly putting their fortunes– everything they and their ancestors had worked hard for across generations– on the line, along with their lives, to give this nation its birth.

That really is truly profound– and not in some hokey cheesy way, but in a real life hits you in the gut sort of way if you really pause to think about it.

These were rich men who profited from the system as it stood. But they wanted to build something the world had never seen. Something better. And they were willing to risk EVERYTHING for it.

God, I can relate to that.

But here I am tarrying over the “risk” to my practice when I know my work is so badly needed for the sake of the country I care so much about. Seems like such small stakes compared to what these men put on the line knowingly, openly, publicly.. in writing.

Perhaps even more meaningful, on the way to visit TJ’s memorial I happened upon George Mason’s memorial, tucked away in the far corner of the tidal basin.

I had never visited before. Didn’t even know it existed.

There I found perhaps the precise inspiration I needed:

“I charge [my sons] never to let the motives of private interest or ambition to influence them to betray, nor the terrors of poverty and disgrace, or the fear of danger or of death deter them from asserting the liberty of their country, and endeavoring to transmit to their posterity those sacred rights to which themselves were born.”

Well there it is, isn’t it?

More soon.

Editor’s note: I am currently considering a Congressional run for 2026. This would require me to give up my law practice– which is insane. But I am still considering it. As part of the listening tour I will be sharing thoughts on the political process each Saturday. For those interested in TCPA news only feel free to ignore these posts. 

I run a business.

When I want a qualified person, I have to offer a salary that is consistent with the market for a qualified person in that role.

That’s just common sense.

If I pay under market I am not likely to get qualified people.

And if I were to offer a salary say 90% below market for the skillset I am seeking well… I’d be a buffoon.

The only job seekers I’d attract would be losers who had no other job prospects or those who are so desperate for the attention and validation that comes with working at a high-end firm like Troutman Amin, LLP that they’d take peanuts just to have the name on their resume.

Well.. that’s precisely what we are doing as a nation.

We are massively underpaying a position of CRITICAL value to our nation and, as a result, are attracting dweebs and weirdos who lack necessary skills and seemingly just want attention and validation.

Buckle up because I have one very unpopular opinion for you (that’s about to become a lot more popular): Congress needs a raise.

A big one.

The current starting salary for a new member of Congress is $174,000 per year.

Now I know that probably seems like a lot of money to most people– and it is.

But is it?

Let’s assume we want qualified people in office.

And let’s assume that by “qualified” we mean high-end attorneys– people who are actually capable of: i) representing people (because they do that for a living); ii) making deals (because they do that for a living); and iii) writing laws (because they deal with laws for a living.)

Right.

Pretty much all of the things that folks do in Congress are things that lawyers are uniquely–and perhaps solely –qualified to do.

No wonder as the percentage of lawyers in Congress has fallen over the years so has Congressional approval ratings. It currently stands at a dismal 29%.

29%– my goodness.

We definitely need to do better.

We need more qualified people in office.

How do we get there?

We pay the position what it is worth.

So let’s assume we, as a nation, want good laws written by wise people– as opposed to bad laws written by morons.

Well, we know how to get the latter. We offer a salary that looks good to regular people but not to elite people. And so we basically just attract regular people who want or need a lot of attention into a role that really should be filled with elite people who want very little attention and just want to get stuff done.

Indeed, when I talk about running for office the first thing people say is “why would you want to deal with all that bullshit for so little money?”

Now in my case, I sincerely just don’t care about money. Not sure why. Just don’t.

If I choose to run it will be because I see a ton of problems I know I can fix. And so I feel compelled to go fix them. Simple as that.

But let’s get back to the money part. Because fixing this mess is going to take more than just Eric J. Troutman– yes I will lead the process but others will need to participate.

And those others will need to be qualified.

And qualified people are going to want to make money.

How much?

Well, typical #biglaw partners– generally not the best litigators but also generally amongst the best thinkers and writers– make $1.9MM a year.

$1.9MM a year.

In order to go into Congress, therefore, these ladies and gents would have to be willing to take a 90% pay cut and give up their entire law practice they’ve worked so hard for.

That’s insane.

Going to tell you–  not going to happen.

Again, I am considering it deeply because… well… I’m just not that motivated by material stuff.

But most people are. And that’s ok.

So we have an important job position open that we are hiring for as a nation–a lawmaker– and it impacts all of our lives and the correct salary for that position is at least $1.9MM per year.

But we are paying less than one tenth of that amount– $170k a year.

What are we thinking? That’s just insane.

If the country were a private enterprise we would obviously  RAISE THE SALARY to get qualified personnel– we know this, because #biglaw firms literally do.

Yet we as a nation choose to MASSIVELY underpay a position  that is critical to ALL of us– why?

The best I can tell is because people hate congress and don’t want to see them make more money.

But that’s a VERY shallow way of looking at the issue.

Indeed, the ONLY people who benefit from the current Congressional salary structure are the goofball puppets who are currently in Congress.

They could never defeat REAL qualified candidates. They survive in their roles only because they pay is so low that mostly only losers and desperate attention seekers want the job.

Indeed, the LAST people who want to see Congress get a massive raise are the people ACTUALLY IN CONGRESS TODAY and the party heads. They know higher salaries for the position would result in a flood of qualified candidates who would elevate the political process and assure a more worthy lawmakers taking center stage.

Partisan bickering would breakdown as members of congress would be less dependent upon party masters for success– and the focus on doing the nation’s important work would instantly move to the forefront.

With one little tiny (and obvious) move we can help restore considerable balance to the most hated institution in our government– which also happens to be the most important.

So let’s give a raise to Congress. $1.9MM starting salary. And see what kind of incredible candidates we draw to a position that WE ARE ALL HIRING FOR.

More next week.

Source: https://tcpaworld.com/2025/07/26/politics-saturday2-congress-needs-a-raise/

Those of you who attended the Law Conference of Champions last week heard a lot of talk about my possible congressional run next year.

I am still thinking it through because the consequences are quite dire:

1. I couldn’t practice law for two years (what?);
2. I couldn’t be a partner at my own firm anymore (what?); and
3. The firm’s name would probably have to change! (but we are working through that.)

And THIS is why so few qualified lawyers run for office (and really ONLY lawyers are qualified to be lawmakers since, you know, they… make… laws..)

Well that and the pay is so dang low. (Topic for another week.)

Anyway since I am on a listening tour here– need buy in from a ton of folks including clients (who must feel confidant the firm can operate without me (and it can)) and my team (who must feel confidant they can operate without me (and they can))–I figured I would share some of my views on how the political system in this country ought to work and I what I would do to make it work.

Now for starters anyone who reads this blog knows I am no normal dude.

World class attorney. THE best known subject matter expert in arguably the fastest-moving and most nuanced area of law in the nation. Handle multi-billion dollar litigation with ease. Written millions of words worth of legal articles and analysis I share freely. Accomplished trial lawyer. And at $4,200.00 an hour, one of the most sought after and expensive legal counsel on Earth.

Plus I have my own magazine, conference, podcast, lifestyle brand and I’ve built the most incredible legal team that has ever existed on the face of the planet (for real).

Oh yeah, and great dad, fun dude and overall winner. Whatever.

The point is I’m a guy who gets stuff done.

And there’s a lot that needs to be done right now. And nobody else really even seems to be on the right track.

See everybody is focused on what they want the government to do. But nobody is focused on the process by which those decisions are made.

So let me help.

The truth is most of the way things are working right now are UNCONSTITUTIONAL, which is why nothing seems to be working the right way.

It isn’t working the right because it literally isn’t working the right way. Hahaha.

Let’s use an example of something that is so off track we probably can’t even put it back on track– so this first post will be more of a thought experiment than anything else.

The electoral college.

My goodness are we off the path on this one.

Today we vote for a bunch of people who have sworn to vote for a specific candidate. The majority in a state vote blue, the blue electors send their votes for the state. A state votes red, the red electors send their votes.

This is pretty much the dumbest system ever designed. And, no surprise, it wasn’t designed to work like this at all.

But the way it was supposed to work would look so wildly different than the way things work today that it is almost hard to imagine it.

For starters, keep in mind that the founders of our nation never contemplated people would directly vote for a president.

Weird right?

Indeed, the notion was that the people would really not even know who was running for president in the true sense of the word– and since the president was not even viewed as a terribly important role (more of a chief bureaucrat whose actions would be largely invisible in the lives of most Americans) there was really no reason for the people to select him (and the Constitution specifically references the president as a male, which is another interesting fact.)

Instead folk would vote for a wise and learned person from their geographic area–an elector– who would join with a bunch of other wise and learned persons from throughout their state. They would get together in something called a “college”. They would talk about who they think should be president. And then they would decide for the people of their state who should be president.

Now the Constitution is very thin on details in terms of how this process should play out– but one thing that is utterly clear from the writings of the founders is that the folks selected for the college SHOULD NOT have their minds made up at the time they are sent to determine who should be president.

Indeed, this concept is utterly inconsistent with the entire idea of an electoral college– wise and learned persons are supposed to get together, debate and decide who the president ought to be- free of passion or partisanship.

Its like being on a jury. You’re elected. You hear the evidence. Then you sit in a room and talk it through.

But the current electoral college is like a jury being empaneled who have already sworn to vote for the prosecution or the defense before the deliberation ever began.

Not good.

Now the “down side” to the constitution’s path is that the people literally do not select the president at all– so fans of direct democracy aren’t going to like this. But the constitution says what it says.

The other issue is that when we vote in November we have NO IDEA who is going to win. Indeed we are just voting for electors. Not a president. That’s it.  The presidential candidate’s name is LITERALLY NOT EVEN ON THE BALLOT. And the people we are voting for–the electors– HAVE NOT DECIDED who they will vote for. We’re just trusting that this person is smart and wise and will make the right decision for us.

So we might not know who wins for weeks– or really who is even being seriously considered.

Seems crazy today right?

But again, the concept was to keep the president’s role in our lives WEAK and INSIGNIFICANT. The inability of the people to even really know who is running only emphasizes the impotence the man selected was supposed to have over our daily lives.

Another interesting wrinkle is that according to the constitution the VICE president was automatically the second leading vote getter. This means the guy with the most votes is president. The guy with the second most votes is vice president– and president of the Senate!

This assured “ambition would check ambition” as the legislature and the president duked it out and only acted in concert, presumably, when it really mattered for the good of the nation.

So according to the original constitution– we elect smart people to get together and discuss (without prejudice or partisanship) who the right person is to run the country. The top guy is president. The second guy is vice president. And the people basically stay out of the voting.

I presume most of you already know all of this (I think its basically covered in 7th grade) but what they don’t really teach you is why it doesn’t work like it is supposed to.

Indeed, shouldn’t it be wildly illegal for electors to pledge to vote for somebody before they even get to the place where they are supposed to debate and figure out who is the right choice? And why in the world was the constitution amended to allow a single ticket to determine both the president and the president of the senate? Isn’t that the opposite of how separation of powers is supposed to work?

Well.. yeah.

The root problem– and as we shall see, the root problem with basically the entire political system right now– is the corruption of the system by political parties.

The political party is an extra-constitutional (indeed, unconstitutional) conspiracy by a group of people to control the government and make it work for them.

I don’t mean to offend anyone by saying this– but it is simply the truth.

Just sit back and think about it.

Isn’t the literal entire purpose of a party to control the government and make it do what its members want?

More on that topic another day.

And, to be sure, there were political parties at the time of the constitution. And, to be sure, there is ZERO mention of political parties in the constitution. And that is by design.

The entire concept of political parties nominating a ticket and having pledged electors swear to vote for them to enable the names of their presidential choices to appear on a November ballot– ENTIRELY divorced from the constitution. Was NEVER supposed to work that way.

So what do we do about the electoral college?

Not sure.

I’d certainly support a return to the original constitutional path, but we’re pretty far down our new path at this point. Not sure the people would want to adopt the framer’s original vision anymore.

And that last point is an important one.

I am not here to tell you what to think. I’m here to tell you to think. 

And should I be duly elected by intelligent people to serve as a member of the house of representatives it is my job to see that their choices are fulfilled– not to tell them what choices they should make.

But it is my job to raise issues.

Facilitate debate.

To help people to see things in a new light.

And– most importantly– help people to see the true ROOT CAUSE of the problems that impact them.

The political parties don’t do this. They simply point at one another and ask you to be angry with the “other side.”

If you ask a democrat everything that plagues you is Trump’s fault. If you ask a republican– its all because of the woke liberals.

Its gang warfare. Bloods vs. Crips.

Blue vs. Red.

Truth doesn’t matter.

But that’s a topic for a different Saturday.

For today let’s ponder what the nation would look like if the president (and vice-president) were chosen as the constitution originally contemplated– by an ACTUAL electoral college.

I will concede it is difficult for even me to imagine the system working the way it is supposed to anymore– but it is deeply fascinating to consider.

Until next week.

Chat soon.