Political platform statements are weird documents as a rule. They seek to appease pet constituencies and embrace a lot of ideas that most candidates would prefer mainstream voters either ignore or, better yet, never know about.
But even by the strange standards that define these things, we weren’t prepared for what the rising Democratic Socialists of America put out in recent weeks as a statement of its values and intentions.
In normal times, we would ignore such a thing as the rant of a fringe operation. But ignoring the DSA is not an option now. Hardly a week goes by without news that some DSA candidate in some part of the country is pushing out a traditional Democrat in favor of a radical brand of politics that signals a dangerous shift for our country. ...
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Shame on those of us who failed to see how damaging the tea party takeover of the GOP would be. It ushered in the era of a president who governs through vile insults and whims that often have nothing to do with conservatism.
Now the Democrats are facing their moment, with DSA candidates posing as Democrats and winning in blue areas.
But many of these socialists are more red than blue. Don’t take our word for it. Read the words below the raised red fist on the DSA website. The platform, released earlier this month, has to be seen to be believed.
It begins with a ridiculous cartoon scenario imagining “a day off from work in a future without capitalism.” There is no work, of course, unless you kind of want to sometimes work. But don’t worry, there are no bills either. You don’t have debt. You don’t have a mortgage. You might wear a medical mask going about everyday activities, that is if you are anything like the little cartoon guy. But government will take care of everything. Just enjoy the sunshine.
After you scroll past this infantile projection of what a socialist day might look like, you get to the chilling platform statement. Here you get the anger at all those rich capitalists sticking it to us in the name of war, hatred and, worse yet, profit (always a four-letter word). “If we lived in a classless society and governed ourselves, we could freely build a world without war or poverty. We could build a world where no one suffers for their race, gender, or religion, and everyone is free, equal, and cared for,” it says.
Scroll a little farther and you get the details. And they are scary. Free the criminals and defund the cops. End private healthcare. Ensure that race and gender are at the center of every decision. Open the border. Abolish the Senate and end the presidency and Supreme Court as we know them. Embrace Cuba, Venezuela and Iran.
If a hard-right conservative attempted to parody the left, he couldn’t do better than what the DSA has done with this platform.
When the tea party began marching in the streets and running candidates in GOP primaries, we should have taken them at their word for what they stood for — dysfunctional government based in anger and destruction.
The DSA is bent on taking over the Democratic Party. Democrats, take them at their word. Shove them out. Do it for your party. Do it for your country.
