In January, four weeks after the Washington Examiner magazine launched nationwide, we ran a cover story under the headline “Hostile Takeover” about four extreme young left-wingers barging Nancy Pelosi and the old guard aside to seize control of the Democratic Party.
We focused on Reps. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Tulsi Gabbard. The last of these turned out to be less of a force (although she is running for president), but the other three are members of the so-called “Squad,” which is now the center of political attention. Our analysis of Democratic infighting between fearful left-wing leaders and aggressive far-Left insurgents is looking more insightful every day.
The Squad, which also includes Rep. Ayanna Pressley, has become the real opposition to President Trump — Pelosi is fretting on the sidelines — and they are at daggers drawn following his Twitter attack on them. He didn’t name names but his target was clear.
Trump shouldn’t have told Squad members to “go back” to the countries from which they came. All except Omar are American born. Additionally, legal immigrants should be respected as full and equal citizens. I don’t believe Trump is a racist, but his tweet gave ammo to those who do, and was characteristically problematic for those of us who think the hue and cry against this presidency is grossly excessive.
But, as the Washington Examiner opined in an editorial last week, Trump’s assault touched clumsily on a serious concern about the Squad. Many millions of people reasonably enough dislike that these new left-wing politicians display a pathological attitude toward their country. They want to change America in a way that would make it un-American. It’s not just that they deploy standard accusations, most often about racism, drawn from the leftist abuse lexicon. It is more that their radical egalitarianism would, if successful, require a level of central government coercion that Americans don’t want and is incompatible with our founding principles. “Socialist” an insult in America for the good reason that socialism militates against “the blessings of liberty” that the Constitution was drafted and adopted to secure.
Squad members’ hectoring contempt for America and their desire for an un-American form of government meant that Trump’s lamentable tweet storm struck a chord. Ordinary, decent people look at today’s radicals and think, “You obviously don’t like America and what it stands for; it’d be wonderful if you just went away, left us alone, and let this country govern itself in the way that has made it the most successful nation on Earth.”
Intentionally or not, Trump has tied the Squad tightly to the Democratic Party, frustrating efforts by Pelosi and others to distance themselves from the most vocal extremists in their midst. The Squad, in turn, is dragging the party and its presidential candidates leftward to a position that Trump likes very much as his reelection campaign gets into gear.
