Fantasy And Reality

One feature of The Age of Trump is the endless sniping between Trump-publicans and the conservative old guard that is Not Happy with the populist turn the Republican Party has taken. I’ve argued many times across the past decade that this turn was leveraged rather than instigated by Trump, that he is a symptom as much as or more than a cause, and I still believe that to a degree. But no matter “symptom” or “cause,” the direction the GOP has taken is undeniable, and all you or I can do as small voices in this populist windstorm is just grind away at repeating first principles and fundamentals of liberty.

Much is made of the clash between MAGA and Never-Trump, but that conflict is small potatoes compared to what’s going on inside the Democratic Party.

The Democrats are in disarray. They still cannot fathom how or why they lost this past Presidential election, nor is there any indication that the party’s steady decline since Obama took its reins has been processed or understood. They have no uniting leadership and no singular message other than “F*** Trump.”

I mean that literally. The current trend, so common that it suggests somebody sent out a memo, is to add swagger and profanity to their speeches and statements. Not to change their policy positions or recalibrate their platform, but to put forth the same message in an angrier fashion. Because, I presume, they figure that’s what their base desires.

Now, about that base.

Yes, indeed, the Democrats’ core constituency is now the Angry Left. Having abandoned the blue collar bloc and having taken the black and latino votes so for granted that Trump won historic proportions of both, they have put their eggs in a “white rainbow” basket. The prototypical D voter, at least as featured across media and social media, is young, urban, culturally progressive, and very often peacocking with “look at me” hair, body art/jewelry, attire, and behavior.

That crowd, much to the dismay of the old guard, continues to be enthralled by the Left’s siren song. The Bernie Sanders/AOC/Squad faction of Team Blue, rather obviously the prime culprit in the party’s losses this past election (and more), sees losses as a reason to double down on their pop socialism and woke-culture policies. Oh, and naked Jew-hatred, it must be noted, no matter that this hatred allies them with radical Islamists whose beliefs are completely at odds with wokeness.

Some of the more mainstream Democrats have processed their party’s losses, and have made noises about how the party needs to wake up to reality and pull back from the Left’s excesses. Bill Maher is beating that drum daily, it seems, and even more so in the wake of Trump’s success in bring about a ceasefire in Gaza. Senator John Fetterman of PA is speaking similarly, decrying his party’s government shutdown antics. Fetterman, for his troubles, is now being asked about his party loyalty, and there are rumblings that the party leadership might try to ouster him via primary challenge.

This clash between the Left and the rest of the party is a conflict of visions. On the Left, there is the fantasy that socialism, or at least a soft socialism that involves taking as much as possible from the successful in order to coddle those who’d rather sky-scream than assume personal responsibility, can be made to work. The notion of a socialistic structure that doesn’t tax the snot out of everyone but relies on milking a few so that many can freeload is even more doomed to failure than the central planning attempts of the past, but it sounds great, especially when offered up by photogenic sorts like AOC and NYC Mayor-presumptive Zohran Mamdani. Make no mistake, they are peddling fantasy, but since they are peddling it to people who’ve been primed by college propaganda and leftist echo chambers, that fantasy sells well.

And who knows? Tribalism and TDS might actually help the Democrats retake the House next year, even if their left wing remains ascendant.

But, what then?

Will they go back to “impeach that m*****f***er” and other pointlessly ruinous tactics?

Probably.

Will they offer anything positive for the country other than the same cultural madness and take-from-others destruction?

Probably not.

Will they get socialism to work this time?

No.

George Will voiced support for a Mamdani mayoralty as a useful and perhaps necessary reminder to the voters that socialism, even the “pop” variety offered by today’s twaddleheads, doesn’t work. Perhaps he’s right. Perhaps the only way for people to break free of its siren song is to experience its failures firsthand. The great shame - and great cost - is that so much damage has to be done for the already-known to be proven, yet again.