By Jeffrey A. Rendall
Socialism has gained a foothold in the Democrat Party, and Americans must hear about it
“The Socialists are coming! The Socialists are coming! The Socialists are coming!”
No, this is not a contemporary version of the unambiguous warning purportedly shouted by Paul Revere on his famous midnight ride to alert his fellow Massachusetts colonists of the King’s forces’ impending approach in 1775, but the urgency is just as intense.
As we look to commemorate and observe the 250th Anniversary of America’s founding this week, perhaps now’s a good time to step back and observe what appears to be going on all around us, namely the emergence of a political ideology that’s invaded the psyches of a growing percentage of the nation’s citizenry.
Yes, for sure, the Socialists are coming. In fact, in a lot of respects, they’re already here and gaining a larger share of the governing power. The Land of the Free is rapidly becoming hospitable territory for destructive political mindsets under the guise of collectivism and compelled unity.
In an article titled, “Socialists draft an aggressive new agenda for the Democratic Party,” Seth McLaughlin reported at The Washington Times last week:
“[Speaking of the Democrat Socialists’ sweep in recent elections] It was a preview of what is to come after a primary cycle in which more congressional and down-ballot candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America notched victories.
“Their socialist agenda includes free health care, demilitarizing police forces, amnesty for all illegal immigrants and a wealth tax on the richest Americans. The national DSA does not mince words. It describes capitalism as ‘the cause of violence, unemployment and a climate crisis that poses an existential threat to life on earth,’ labels the Democratic Party ‘center‑right’ and ‘controlled by its elite donor class,’ and accuses party leaders of ‘supporting Israel’s genocide in Gaza.’ …
“On democracy, the group wants to extend voting rights to noncitizens and people with criminal convictions, grant statehood to the District of Columbia, replace the two‑party system with proportional representation, expand the House, end the Senate filibuster, limit the Supreme Court’s power of judicial review, and replace the Electoral College with a national popular vote.”
It doesn’t require a large stretch of the imagination to suggest the Democratic Socialists seek to dispense with any notion of “freedom” the Declaration of Independence and Constitution established – and then replace the liberty, self-governance principles with “free” everything and rule by a carefully selected few elites who swear allegiance to their revolution and use any means to vanquish all opposition.
If it sounds like the next iteration of the Soviet Union is in the works, that’s because the transformation is not far off. What will the Socialists do next, borrow Vladimir Lenin’s corpse for display in New York City?
Doesn’t anyone in the DSA remember Stalin’s purges? Or Chairman Mao? Or Pol Pot? Or the Berlin Wall? Or the Cold War?
It almost looks as though we should start playing 1980’s music again to remind people of how terrified we were when “mutually assured destruction” was part of our daily discourse.
But alarming Socialist beliefs are no longer a dirty little secret in the Democrat Party. Whereas most Democrats have pretty much always harbored communist/totalitarian mindsets, it’s only more recently that they’ve unshackled themselves from the good-politics bedroom closet and openly championed the steal-from-the-middle-class and so-called “rich” in order to give to the… certainly not the poor.
No, to reward Democrat constituencies! The concept of vote purchasing has never been more authentic than it is now.
Crazy old coot Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the growing contingent of unabashed socialists have completely abandoned their fear of losing elections, and the Democrat party’s establishment is at a loss to restrain or reverse the ideological plague that’s infested their faction. Demonizing the well-to-do has never been in Democrat vogue like it is now.
And a made-up Democrat “affordability crisis” has crept into the nation’s political vernacular. The inflation bug still buzzes (though noticeably less than it was under the previous president), and the gimme-gimme-gimme-stuff seeking sharks have smelled electoral blood in the water.
Get ready America! The Socialists are coming!
In the greater context of American history, this is a recent development. Remember how Barack Obama was confronted by Joe the Plumber on the campaign trail in 2008? “The One” elucidated he just wanted to “spread the wealth around” (or something similar), and it created an uproar that all-but disqualified the Bill Ayres-acolyte for everyone but the slightly more than half of the American voting population who put aside actual candidate issue positions because they’d sold-out to the comfy dream of the nation’s first black president.
Of course, conservatives weren’t wild about favoring the Jeremiah Wright-tolerating John McCain in 2008, either, but compared with Obama, the former Vietnam prisoner-of-war looked like a Godsend of patriotism and common sense, didn’t he?
Coming fresh off the disastrous wishy-washy, amnesty-advocating, Big Government-growing presidency of George W. Bush, conservatives figured an Obama victory would crack open the door to socialism, the eminently logical result of allowing a radical leftist to take control of the Executive Branch. Hence, McCain received the full backing of the GOP base.
Obama’s willing Democrat accomplices on Capitol Hill did their part, too, putting together national government-subsidized healthcare and seeing uber-crone Nancy Pelosi wring the life out of what was left of the moderate Democrat voices in her caucus to string together just enough support to chisel Obamacare into the statute books.
Now look what we’re stuck with.
Democrats didn’t quite make it to the Single-Payer threshold back then, but they were close. And the federal Medicaid expansion that’s taken place in the decade-and-a-half since the evil socialism-fostering Obamacare law’s passage has wreaked havoc on state budgets and created a lasting entitlement crisis that shows no sign of slowing down or abating.
The budgetary debt problem. It’s the thing Democrats don’t like talking about, and with their low-information voter base caring a lot more about preserving the rights of sick juveniles to mutilate themselves than minding the proverbial “bottom line”, Democrats don’t really need to be forthright about how much stuff costs, either.
All the socialists must do is gripe and moan and whine about “affordability” and Democrat adherents come a runnin’. “Well, healthcare is really damn expensive, so it’s time to vote for politicians who say they’ll provide all these things for free!” and, “Healthcare is a right, isn’t it?” and, “Get your laws off my body!”
Leftists bust on XY-chromosome humans who oppose abortion, arguing that, “men can’t get pregnant and therefore don’t have to cope with an unwanted pregnancy”, but the same people swear a transgender “man” (i.e., a biological female who pretends she’s a male) might someday need a gynecologist.
In this sense, today’s socialism has merged with the remnants of Democrat establishmentarians championing the “little guy” to form a new type of party, one that claims Republicans and Trump MAGA-believers are enemies of the republic and must therefore be discredited and insulted. Democrats love illegal immigrants because they’re the ultimate sympathetic symbol of big, mean capitalists, gun totin’ Second Amendment lovers oppressing the brown and underprivileged souls.
This is what inspires the Democrat party these days, and helps explain how Democrat Socialists have done so well in recent elections. This is also why the Nancy Pelosi-like establishment Democrats are okay with adopting and promoting the newest and latest pseudo-communist faux causes like “Climate Change” and ACAB (All Cops are Bastards) anti-establishment hatred.
Socialism is more than a harmless disagreement between rival political groups; it’s a dangerous conviction that relies on ignorance and deluded activists to spread and flourish. Conservatives must redouble their efforts to teach the next generation the true meaning of human freedom while presenting the facts on what happens when a culture and society turn towards socialism.
The recent success of the DSA serves as yet another wakeup call for responsible Americans to not remain passive in the face of serious challenges to the American way of life. America’s forefathers risked everything to give us the opportunity to govern ourselves. That priceless gift must not be squandered by people who would offer a distorted view of reality.
The Socialists are coming. They’re coming indeed.
Jeff Rendall is editor and publisher of GolfintheUSA.com and has written about golf and politics for over a quarter of a century. A non-practicing attorney from California, he moved to the east coast three decades ago to pursue and combine his interests in all things American history and culture. Jeff has worked as an intern on Capitol Hill and in various capacities in grassroots organizing and conservative organizations and publications, including a nearly two-decade stint at ConservativeHQ.com. Column republishing or other inquiries: Rendall@msn.com .