The white noise of American politics is the gurgling river of rhetoric from two presidential candidates who seem determined to say nothing germane about the nation’s domestic misgovernance and deteriorating security. The candidates are wagering that there are no serious consequences of prolonged unseriousness.

Last Monday, the national debt “unexpectedly” surged past $35 trillion. Neither candidate seemed to notice. But, then, trillion-dollar increments are not what they used to be. The debt reached $32 trillion on June 15, 2023. It reached $33 trillion 92 days after that and, 105 days later, $34 trillion. Two hundred and thirteen days after that, we reached Monday’s milestone on our “treadmill to oblivion.” (That is the no-longer-quite-so-amusing title of a 1954 book by comedian Fred Allen). The Congressional Budget Office projects $56 trillion in 10 years.

The Republican Party, in its Trappist mood, has taken a vow of silence, not mentioning the debt in its platform. But at least it has a platform. In 2020, it just preemptively endorsed whatever pleases its Dear Leader. Democrats, who are comparatively serious, promise to make unpopular minorities (the rich, corporations, etc.) cough up the trillions squirreled away in their mattresses.

Both candidates have (to dignify their irresponsibility with Jeffersonian cadences) “sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against” any modification of the entitlement programs (Social Security, Medicare) that are driving the nation’s indebtedness. This is redundant evidence that, beneath the foam of rhetorical discord, the political class is more united by class interest than it is divided by ideology: Both parties enjoy running huge annual deficits even when, as today, the economy is growing and unemployment is low.

Back in reality, last week Russia, intensifying its war to erase a European nation, launched almost 90 drones against Ukrainian targets. No drones hit their targets, but on July 8, Russian missiles killed nearly 50 people and injured nearly 200 when they struck, among other things, a Kyiv children’s hospital. A serious U.S. response would have been to lift the limits that have been imposed on military targets in Russia that Ukraine is permitted to strike using U.S. weapons. There was, however, no serious response.

A widening war that could engulf the Middle East might elicit serious thinking from the candidates. One of them seems opposed to U.S. power projection, lest he find himself in Ronald Reagan’s shadow. The other candidate might be wary of inflaming the small but clamorous pro-Hamas and antisemitic portion of her party’s progressives. This might prevent her from pursuing Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes (three more than Georgia or North Carolina, four more than Michigan, eight more than Arizona, nine more than Wisconsin, 13 more than Nevada) by choosing as her running mate that state’s Jewish governor, Josh Shapiro, who is strongly pro-Israel.

The Republican candidate is not bashful about speaking his mind concerning legislative proposals: His frown killed bipartisan border legislation cobbled together by one of the most conservative senators, Oklahoma Republican James Lankford. (Donald Trump dislikes the border chaos less intensely than he likes having the chaos as an issue.) Trump could, however, use his campaign to seek a mandate pertinent to governing: He could impart momentum to Sen. Roger Wicker’s defense proposals.

The Mississippi Republican approvingly quotes foreign policy analyst Hal Brands’s assessment: “As the strategic environment deteriorates, it’s time to recognize how eminently thinkable global conflict has become.” Wicker, ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee, proposes countering the “axis of aggressors” (China, Russia, Iran, North Korea) with a $55 billion “generational investment” above the administration’s plan, which shrinks real (inflation-adjusted) defense spending.

Unfortunately, the candidates will pass the time until Election Day pelting each other with insincerities. Vice President Harris vows to end the border crisis that became one because of actions and inactions of the Biden-Harris administration. She promises to improve the cost of living that soared during the inflation that reached a 40-year high under that administration. And she promises to rescue women from Trump’s supposed abortion extremism. (Never mind that the overturning of Roe, which she operatically deplores, put abortion policy beyond the federal government’s reach.)

Trump is promising whatever pops into his skull during one of those bouts of rhetorical diarrhea that enchant his audiences. For example, during his acceptance speech, which was of Castroite length, he assured the Milwaukee convention that the Green Bay Packers will have a swell season.

Perhaps. But expect that the national debt will soon “unexpectedly” pass $36 trillion. Seriously.

George Will writes a column for the Washington Post. His email address is georgewill@washpost.com