On March 4, 2025, President Donald Trump addressed a joint session of Congress, laying out a vision of American renewal rooted in constitutional fidelity, individual liberty, and economic freedom. The response from Democrats was telling: self-righteous anger, sophomoric antics, and indignant posturing that underscored how far the party has drifted from the nation’s core values. Once a formidable force championing the working class, the Democrat Party has been hijacked by radical ideologues—progressives and Democratic Socialists—whose neo-Marxian agenda has alienated voters and eroded trust.
With polls showing the Democrat brand at historic lows and internal dissent bubbling to the surface, the party stands at a precipice. Its obsession with radical, transformative extremism may well signal its end, while the “New-Republican” embrace of constitutionalism, individualism, and deregulation offers a path America craves—and one Democrats ignore at their peril.
The unraveling of the Democrat Party was laid bare at a recent retreat in Loudon County, Virginia, where Democrat consultants, campaign staffers, elected officials, and party leaders gathered to confront their declining fortunes. Jonathan Cowan, president of the centrist Third Way, delivered a scathing critique, accusing Democrats of clinging to “comforting platitudes” instead of grappling with their diminishing relevance. New DNC chair Ken Martin chimed in, suggesting the problem lies not in the party’s agenda but in its messaging—a tired dodge that sidesteps the real issue. While hinting at pragmatic shifts that, with present leadership, would be impossible to achieve, the retreat produced a five-page strategy document that exposed a deeper rot: the party’s capitulation to progressive extremism and Democratic Socialism has left it severed and disconnected from the American people.
The document acknowledges a litany of failures—a growing rift with working-class voters, a reliance on “ideological purity tests,” and the deteriorating state of Democrat-run cities. Its proposed fixes—patriotism, support for institutions like churches and police, and a focus on local governance—sound suspiciously like a page from the Republican playbook. It’s as if, bereft of original ideas, Democrats are quietly conceding that their rivals have been right all along.
Yet, this half-hearted pivot is overshadowed by a palpable fear of the party’s far-Left wing, whose neo-Marxian demands—open borders, defunding the police, the application of identity politics, and expanded government, among a host of other radical notions—threaten to drown out any hope of moderation. The retreat’s revelations point to a stark truth: the Democrat Party’s survival hinges not on better spin, but on a wholesale rejection of its radical drift and a return to the timeless principles of constitutionalism, individualism, and deregulation.
Progressivism, as embraced by today’s Democrats, is a doctrine of centralized power, identity obsession, and self-righteous moralizing. It dismisses individual agency, favoring collective solutions enforced by an ever-growing state. Democratic Socialism takes this further, promising paradise through government control of industries and wealth redistribution. Both ideologies, steeped in Marxist roots, view the Constitution as an obstacle to be overcome rather than a guardian of liberty. The result is a policy agenda that clashes with the values most Americans hold dear—and a track record of failure that’s impossible to ignore.
Progressive dogma has spawned divisive initiatives like race-based reparations and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, which prioritize group identity over merit. These policies alienate working-class voters—White, Black, Hispanic, or otherwise—who see fairness, not favoritism, as the American ideal. Democratic Socialists, meanwhile, peddle fantasies like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, trillion-dollar schemes that defy economic reality and saddle taxpayers with unsustainable burdens. In Democrat strongholds like San Francisco, Portland, and Chicago, progressive governance has delivered soaring crime, rampant homelessness, and fiscal collapse—proof that utopian intentions don’t facilitate competent outcomes.
The cultural fallout is just as damning. Progressives have turned language and institutions into tools of control, wielding cancel culture and Critical Race Theory to enforce ideological conformity. Democratic Socialists applaud this as a dismantling of “systemic” wrongs, oblivious to the cost and the divide it causes: trampled free speech, eroded parental rights, and a growing backlash from voters who reject woke (read: Cultural Marxism) orthodoxy. The Loudon County document admits that “unpopular cultural positions” are dragging the Democrat Party down—an understatement when millions see Democrats as out-of-touch elitists more interested in policing pronouns than solving real problems.
This extremism isn’t just a political liability; it’s a betrayal of America’s founding principles. The Constitution was crafted to protect individual liberty and constrain government excess, not to enable utopian experiments. Progressivism and Democratic Socialism flip this on its head, elevating state power over personal freedom and equity of outcome over equality of opportunity. By embracing these ideologies, Democrats have abandoned the voters they claim to champion—working families, small business owners, and everyday citizens who want a government that serves, not subjugates.
Contrast this with the New-Republican vision taking root under Trump’s leadership and the MAGA movement—a return to constitutionalism, individualism, and deregulation that resonates with a nation weary of radicalism.
Constitutionalism isn’t a relic; it’s a living framework that balances power and preserves liberty. It demands adherence to the rule of law, not the whims of activists or the fiat of executives. For Democrats, recommitting to this principle would mean abandoning divisive crusades—like censoring “misinformation” or mandating social policies—and refocusing on governance that respects individual rights. It would also curb the party’s reliance on executive overreach, from Biden’s student loan bailout to Obama’s DACA edicts, aligning policy with the Constitution’s enumerated powers. Today’s Democrat leaders would rather “die on that hill” than relinquish the power those totalitarian crusades afford them.
The Loudon County document’s nod to patriotism and institutions like churches and law enforcement aligns with this ethos. Americans revere these institutions not out of blind loyalty, but because they embody a shared commitment to freedom and community—values the Constitution protects. If Democrats took the Second Amendment as seriously as the First, or the Tenth as earnestly as the Fourteenth, they might begin to reclaim the trust of voters who see government as a partner, not a parent. But then, again, that would mean relinquishing the power afforded them through the never-ending crusade; the only political game they understand.
Individualism, the beating heart of the American experiment, stands in stark opposition to the collectivist bent of progressivism and Democratic Socialism. Where the Left sees people as avatars of race, class, or gender, individualism celebrates self-reliance and personal responsibility. It’s the truck driver who logs long hours to feed his family, the shop owner who risks all for her dream, the parent who instills values in their child. Democrats once grasped this; FDR’s New Deal, whatever its shortcomings (and there were many), sought to empower individuals, not entangle them in dependency. Today’s Democrat Party, fixated on “systemic” fixes, has lost sight of this truth.
The retreat’s focus on reconnecting with working-class communities intimates at a longing to recapture this spirit. These voters don’t want handouts or sanctimonious lectures on privilege—they want jobs, safe streets, and a government that respects their autonomy. The New-Republican emphasis on individualism speaks to these aspirations, offering policies that reward effort and unleash potential, not punish success or cradle dependence.
Deregulation is the practical arm of this philosophy. Progressives and Democratic Socialists have smothered the economy with rules—environmental edicts, labor mandates, healthcare diktats—that choke innovation and crush small businesses. The result is stagnation: inflation, deficits, and a bureaucracy too bloated, dysfunctional and corrupt to function.
Deregulation, by contrast, trusts markets and people over apparatchiks. In energy, rolling back punitive green regulations would boost domestic production, cut costs, and create jobs—especially in the Rust Belt and rural regions Democrats have abandoned. In healthcare, easing restrictions on insurance and drug approvals could lower prices without a government takeover. Trump’s first term proved this works: pre-pandemic deregulation fueled record-low unemployment and rising wages, a stark rebuke to the Left’s command-and-control fetish.
The Loudon County retreat exposed a party at war with itself. Some, like Cowan, see the need for change—hence the calls for patriotism, local focus, and economic pragmatism. But the progressive and socialist factions, entrenched in activist networks and staffer cliques, remain a formidable obstacle. Their influence explains why the retreat document dances around the core issue: ideology itself. No amount of slick messaging can salvage a party that’s lost its way; only a decisive break from extremism can.
Polls cited at the retreat reveal the stakes. A growing number of Democrats crave moderation, yet they’re drowned out by the louder, radically extreme voices pulling Left. If the party doubles down on progressivism and Democratic Socialism, it risks oblivion—a coastal elite bubble preaching to a dwindling faithful. The 2024 election, with Trump’s landslide victory and Republican gains across Congress and statehouses, was a warning shot: voters have rejected the Left’s radicalism.
The Democrat brand is toxic, its cities crumbling, its policies unpopular. Without a drastic course correction, the party faces a slow death—fractured by infighting, abandoned by its base, and outmaneuvered by a New-Republican movement that’s seized the mantle of common sense and liberty.
This isn’t about jettisoning liberal ideals like compassion or fairness. It’s about anchoring them in principles that endure—limited government, personal freedom, economic vitality—rather than chasing utopian mirages. The Constitution isn’t a partisan tool; it’s America’s bedrock, adaptable yet resolute. Individualism isn’t callousness; it’s the engine of a pluralistic society. Deregulation isn’t chaos; it’s confidence in human ingenuity over bureaucratic meddling.
The Democrat Party could still pull back from the abyss. The Loudon County retreat offers a faint flicker of hope—a recognition that “ideological purity tests” and “comforting platitudes” have failed. But hope alone won’t suffice. Democrats must reject the extremism of progressivism and Democratic Socialism and embrace constitutionalism, individualism, and deregulation. That means turning the page on political charlatans like Bernie Sanders, Nancy Pelosi, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Squad, and the other spotlight-seeking, pseudo-radical throwbacks to the 1960s.
Anything less is a betrayal of the nation they claim to lead—and a death knell for a Democrat Party poised to fade into irrelevance.
Then, when we return, our segment on America’s Third Watch, broadcast nationally from our flagship station WGUL AM930 & FM93.7 in Tampa, Florida.
It’s Time For The Final Scene in Gaza
I wanted to address the insanely one-sided arrangements that Israel is consistently forced to accept when it comes to the murderous, Islamofascist terror organization Hamas and its facilitating Palestinian people.
Let’s be crystal clear about something. The Palestinian people have had ample opportunity to throw off the oppressive shackles of Hamas and Hezbollah—and before them, the PLO, but continue to vote terrorist-aligned into leadership, giving an electoral consent to these terrorist organizations and, through that, the actions of them. To insist otherwise or to deny this, is to exist either uneducated on the facts or as a “blood-on-your-hands” ideologue.
That understood—and as I said, only the uneducated, terminally naive, and ideologically activist could possibly continue to exist with those facts not making sense, the idea that Israel has to negotiate with Hamas to achieve peace is nothing more than an internationally mandated joke.
First, Israel is a superior fighting force. If left to their own abilities, free from international interference, the terrorist Islamofascistic threat posed by Hamas would have been over long ago. The same goes for Hezbollah and the dozens or so other terrorist organizations constantly targeting Israel—and her citizens, not just her military. Israel would have wiped the scum off the face of the planet in short order. The only reason these unacceptable threats to the Israeli people still exist is because the international community has a soft spot for bloodthirsty, Islamofascist organizations in the most cowardly of senses.
But to add humiliation to the plate Israel is forced to accept, Hamas continues to trade the dead bodies of kidnapped, tortured, starved, and sexually abused Israelis taken through an act of war—and mostly taken by Palestinians, not Hamas regulars—for live Hamas terrorists, convicted in a court for the their crimes. And it’s not just a one-for-one deal. The ratio is nauseatingly lopsided:
On January 24, 2025, Hamas released four hostages. All were alive. Israel released 200 Palestinian prisoners, some serving life sentences. Ratio – 50:1
On January 30, 2025, Hamas released eight hostages. All were alive. Israel released 110 Palestinian prisoners, again some serving life sentences. Ratio – 55:4
On February 7 & 8, 2025, Hamas released three Israeli hostages. All were alive. Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners, again some serving life sentences. Ratio – 61: 1
On February 15, 2025, Hamas released three Israeli hostages. All were alive. Israel released 369 Palestinian prisoners, including 36 with life sentences. Ratio – 123:1
On February 22, 2025, Hamas released six Israeli hostages. All were alive. Israel released 0 citing Hamas’s handling of prior exchanges. Ratio – 6:0
On February 26 & 27, 2025, Hamas released 8 Israeli hostages. All were dead. Israel released 642 Palestinian prisoners, including 151 convicted prisoners, some exiled to Egypt. Ratio – 321:2
This totals out to Hamas releasing 33 Israeli hostages, eight of which were dead, and Israel releasing 1,904 Palestinian prisoners, many of whom were convicted of murder and acts of terrorism against the nation state of Israel. The overall ratio of terrorists released to Israeli hostages standing at 1904:33.
Even a second grader would identify those numbers as wholly out of whack when it comes to fairness and equity, two words the anti-Israel contingent in the West—and especially in the United States—likes to throw around with impunity on every subject less the topic of Israel.
Hamas, formally established during the First Intifada in 1987, has likely killed between 2,050 and 2,350 Israelis. Hezbollah, formed in 1982 during the Lebanese Civil War with Iranian backing, has killed between 555 and 840 Israelis. Throughout Israel’s history, as of March 6, 2025, Islamofascist terrorist groups have killed between 4,650 and 5,500 Israelis.
Yet the international community—including the total of Arab nations who steadfastly refuse to allow Palestinian immigration into their countries—insists that Israel accept a negotiated peace with the Palestinians, who consistently elect and support officials who are always members of terrorist organizations—and organizations whose charters call for the eradication of the Israeli people and the Israeli state.
33 to 1,904 with eight of those 33 already dead; all starved, all tortured, all the women raped. And the international community wants to rebuild Gaza into a financial mecca, the Palestinians re-populating it to live right next door to the people they seek to kill? What will they do with their newfound wealth, be philanthropic with it? Or continue to fund Islamofascist terror organizations that wage never-ending war against Israel and the Israeli people?
On March 5, 2025, President Donald Trump issued what he termed a final warning, saying:
“‘Shalom Hamas’ means Hello and Goodbye - You can choose. Release all of the hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is over for you. Only sick and twisted people keep bodies, and you are sick and twisted! I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job, not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don’t do as I say. I have just met with your former hostages whose lives you have destroyed. This is your last warning! For the leadership, now is the time to leave Gaza, while you still have a chance. Also, to the People of Gaza: A beautiful future awaits, but not if you hold hostages. If you do, you are DEAD! Make a smart decision. Release the hostages now, or there will be hell to pay later!”
33 Israeli hostages to 1,904 Hamas terrorists with eight of those 33 already dead; all starved, all tortured, all the women raped. I say, let Israel have at them to end this once and for all, and use the big stick the United States possesses to hold the international wolves at bay.
It’s time Israel was allowed to live in peace.
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