Psychological Bondage Traps Millions of Democrats [OPINION]
I grew up in a Democratic Party-favored town inside of a Democratic Party-favored state and in an active Democratic Party family. I have had my own political heroes who were Democrats. I am friends with many elected Democrats today and have great respect for them.
However, the direction the party has taken and the controlling culture that has been created for those who belong are disturbing, and people need to pay attention.
Socialism was, for three decades, denied as the goal for America but is now being openly touted again. As late as the 1940's, the American Communist Party was sizable and ran viable presidential candidates. The Cold War against communist Russia and China opened the eyes for (almost) all Americans to see how much better our citizens had it over theirs. The communists were forced into hiding their political beliefs.
The irony always hit me me when I saw images such as members of the Soviet Politburo driven by breadlines for peasants (their "middle class") while on their way to their mansions or 8,000 square foot city apartments while riding in the backs of their limousines.
In any socialist/communist construct, there is always the small ruling class of those who "know what's best," and the majority laboring slaves are programmed, often through force, and must question nothing and serve the greater good of the state.
As the Democratic Party battles for its soul, the traditional Democrat that represents a once noble, patriotic party that embraced the free market, and individual achievement through hard work and discipline, is increasingly fearful of speaking out.
Whispers of socialism then, and slowly conditioning Democratic Party supporters to embrace it over time with covert at first but now overtly placed operatives in academia and elsewhere, are being shouted from the rooftops and on the march.
Shocking losses within the party this year should be a wake-up call. Liberal Democrats who are not far enough to the left have been thrown out on the street and replaced with relatively unknown challengers who are running on social justice issues.
Congressman Mike Capuano (D-Mass.) was a solidified, bona fide fighter for the working class and beloved by union members, the elderly, the poor and most Democratic dependable voters, but has been tossed out on his rear end, trampled by Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley, who ran on far-left ideals and promises.
In New York, a former bartender, 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, defeated a strong liberal incumbent Joseph Crowley. Frankly, it wasn't close. She beat the 10-time elected pol on promises to expand Medicare to people of all ages and ending Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the federal government.
Openly communist Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) was the darling of the 2016 Democratic primary, and likely only lost due to the manipulations of the DNC, which was only interested in a Hillary Rodham Clinton win. Sanders is a true radical, and that seems to be a badge of honor in the party today.
When the violent Soviet-backed Sandinista government seized control of Nicaragua, Sanders flew down to Managua and celebrated the victory with Soviet military "observers" and Daniel Ortega's new government. Lifeless, rotting corpses were still lying in the street. Let that sink in.
Tens of millions of Americans were ready to put him in the White House.
The attacks on America's government and free market are textbook, cliché and, as usual, resonate with the young. New people, new joke, right?
The impressionable young were not around to see the nastier side of socialist rule. Many in college over the last 15 years were not here to see the atrocities of the Soviet Union or the People's Republic of China, Vietnam, Cuba and North Korea. The left can count on their ignorance of history, and they are in positions to teach which history the young people of America will learn.
Some news still reaches the west about the economic collapses in Venezuela or totalitarian force used on citizens in China, etc. But the clever left has created a media for their own and to stray from it, like anything else, comes with great ridicule and consequence.
PHOTO: Victims of Stalin's secret police after being found in a mass grave near Lviv, Ukraine.
Today, Democrats who dare to say "not so fast" or "I disagree" are drowned out and disposed of in office or in the public square. We are witnessing a neo-socialist movement within the party that justifies rage, sedition and bigotry.
Loyal Democrats know I speak the truth.
- You cannot contribute to the NRA or if running for office, accept money from them.
- You must be pro-choice and supportive of all abortion and birth control rights, even giving government workers like teachers more medical authority over your own teenage daughter than you have
- Take your religious principles and either hide them or go home--unless you are Muslim
- Do not even question climate change or be known as a "science denier," which cannot be tolerated
- All white people enjoy an unfair advantage over people of color and they should have little or no say on matters of racism
- Enforcement of immigration is racist
- Measures to lower fraud in welfare are racist
- Voter ID is racist
- The rich do not give nearly enough to the government to hand out to others
- No business man or woman is self-made. The government created and allowed his or her personal gain
- Healthcare is a right and needs to be free to anyone in America
- If you have any objections to the LBGT community's demands, don't dare let anyone know
Defying any one of the far left's positions makes even proven lifelong, loyal Democrats a sort of apostate. You will be stigmatized, and if active in politics, you will be reduced or removed from office.
As far as the elite, ruling class waiting to have their day, one only need look at the way they inadvertently show how they truly feel about the uneducated who they pretend to love and care for. The clues come from a very unlikely source.
Look at the way the elitist liberal insults President Donald Trump when he makes a verbal or typographical or grammatical error. The venomous remarks, scoffing and ridiculing, while justified from time to time in Trump's case, don't let it escape you that they look down not just on him but any "imbecile" incapable of speaking and writing par with the highly educated. They badgered the intellectual shortcomings of George W. Bush as well when opportunity allowed, and they never failed to miss a one.
It's who they are. They think you are not capable of making decisions for the direction of this nation. That you need to be told what to think, how to think, who to vote for, how to believe and what to believe. They view you as useful idiots, and as long as you vote and don't question the direction, you will be treated kindly. If you don't obey? There are consequences for getting off of the Democratic plantation.
Look at how black or Latino conservatives are treated by liberals of all colors. Fail to obey any of the things the "progressives" dictate to you, and you will face the wrath. Black conservatives are instantly marked as "Uncle Tom" or "house slave" if they fail to tow the social justice line, or stray from the script.
Boom. Elected Democrats and Hollywood came out with torches lit and pitchforks held high. The Crips gang even posted a public alert: “Yo national alert, all the Crips out there, y'all f— Kanye up,” The progressive "overseers" whipped Kanye in the field for backing away and offering a single separate thought.
Super popular New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady once wore a MAGA hat after a 2016 practice, and the Boston media opened fire on him and the national media came a callin,' too. Open your eyes, people.
Occupy Wall Street, Antifa, Resistance and, to a lesser degree, Black Lives Matter have shown examples of easily triggered violence against nonconforming moderates and especially conservatives.
Originally I found BLM to have a legitimate gripe in some (not all) of their examples of violent police officers when encountering black citizens. I have watched that movement get hijacked by serious players. Real radicals who have harmed the movement by seizing the megaphone from legitimately concerned activists have turned BLM into a progressive political arm, which is sad. The once noble NAACP has allowed this to happen as well.
Shamelessly, irresponsible activists, the mainstream media and many elected Democrats are more than implying that being a conservative equals being a racist. The ill-informed have heard it enough times from them, to hold it as a truth.
This nation is on a collision course and only those within the Democratic Party are likely to stop it before its too late. The problem is, any movement to reverse this cult following which is capable of toppling our nation is strangled in the cradle behind the walls of the DNC.
Ken Pittman is the host of The Ken Pittman Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon. Contact him at talkerkenpittman@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @RadioKenPittman. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.