Meanwhile, Among The Democrats ...

Meanwhile, Among The Democrats ... The hard left cements its grip on the party. “If we only elect Zohran, we only elect AOC, our project will have been a failure. Our ambitions are so much higher than just a position in government. We want to transform the world. To do that, we have to transform DSA into a factory,” - Gustavo Gordillo, co-chair of NYC-DSA. The deep truth of liberal democracy is that it takes two to tango. If one side in our political system turns illiberal and extremist, we have another one to counter it. At least that’s the theory. The trouble comes, of course, when the culture has already polarized, illiberalism has bred a reactive illiberalism, gerrymandering has made primaries the key selective process for Congress … and the radicalism of the strongman right is matched by the fanaticism of the hard left. When that happens, a doom loop kicks off, and it takes a leader of unusual skill to rebuild a sane center. Biden briefly appeared to be such. That’s why he won in 2020. But the Biden years showed he was merely a passive, senile cipher for increasingly radical interest groups. Today? We don’t even have someone like Biden who can plausibly pretend to be moderate. Everyone in the GOP has been corrupted by the Trump stain, with the possible exception of Marco Rubio. And the Democrats now contain a surging, highly organized illiberal faction: the Democratic Socialists of America. This past week revealed their strength. I’d say the DSA is to the Democrats in the 2020s what the John Birch Society was to the GOP in the 1950s. But the Dems won’t expel or cauterize them, so dozens of DSA candidates are surging to victory this year, from Colorado to New York State, with a big boost from Mayor Mamdani and Hasan Piker. The DSA backs Hamas terrorism, the Maduro regime in Venezuela, and the Castro tyranny in Cuba. Its new platform — to be voted on next month — supports “scrapping the U.S. Senate, ‘abolishing the carceral forces of the capitalist state,’ defunding the Department of War, amnesty for all immigrants, and ‘replac[ing] the President and Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress.’” Jon Chait has a good rundown of the the group’s darker undercurrents. Last year, they amended their founding documents to allow members of communist cells to join. The DSA “Red Star Caucus” brags: We in Red Star are communists who believe that DSA is the most effective place to serve the socialist movement ... We call on all communists in the United States to join us in the democratic struggle within DSA ... as we continue to improve the democratic structures of DSA, and as communists contest for and win hegemony within the organization, we continue to move toward a revolutionary horizon. When Donald Trump calls someone a commie, it’s a good rule to ignore him. This time, he’s right. Lenin-fan Darializa Avila Chevalier showed up to a pro-Hamas rally on October 8, as bodies still lay on the ground at a music festival — yes, that’s how deep the Israel-hatred runs. She supports abolishing all prisons, police, and national borders. Her now-deleted Twitter discourse is a 2020 fever dream: “Yes, literally, abolish the border,” “Seize the means of production,” “ALL PIGS EVERYWHERE ARE HARAM.” She also converted to Islam. Check out her answer to the simple question, “What should happen to somebody who has killed somebody else?” It’ll take a while. Claire Valdez, another primary winner, pledges to abolish ICE and nationalize the airline industry. Melat Kiros, who defeated a staunch progressive in Denver, is more rooted in opposition to Israel’s existence as a Jewish state and “genocide” in Gaza. She refused to condemn as antisemitic the fatal firebombing of a solidarity walk for Israeli hostages. It was merely “anti-Zionist.” Israel is increasingly the dominant fixation among the activist left — just ask Scott Wiener. After this wave of extremism, you might expect some Democratic pushback. And some came: a new group of 13 House Dems signed a “Promise to America,” rejecting socialism. “We disagree with MAGA. We disagree with socialists,” Congressman Tom Suozzi said. “We don’t want this extremism. We want mainstream.” But 13 signatures are not much against a growing and organized machine. And the pressure more broadly is on the critics: “You are creating the antagonistic dynamic that we do not need,” AOC said. “These are two young, talented, intelligent women that got elected against all odds, against millions of dollars. Perhaps there is something we can learn from them.” There is: communism. And for most of the DSA, communism is, of course, a luxury belief — like Nazism is for the Groypers: In 2021 the D.S.A. surveyed its members and found that 85 percent were non-Hispanic white (far more than the national population, which was 57.8 percent white in 2020, according to the census); 9 percent were Hispanic, 5 percent Asian American and 4 percent Black. Four percent of the members held blue-collar jobs... Nearly six out of 10 D.S.A. members held professional jobs (58 percent); the remainder were students or were unemployed or disabled. … More than 80 percent of members who were 25 years old or older had college degrees (just more than double the percentage for the United States as a whole) … This is the woke elite. Completely unreconstructed. It’s not Democratic voters, let alone swing voters. But in low-turnout primaries in polarized, populist times, they can wield a lot of power — against any sign of Democratic moderation. And you saw that this week on one issue that has come to epitomize the total woke control of the Dems. SCOTUS delivered a 9-0 ruling on the statutory validity of using biological sex as a category in Title IX sports; and a brief op-ed appeared in the NYT by a young gay activist, Matthew Vines, arguing against using the word “queer” to describe all gay men and lesbians. The reaction to both shows where we are. Not a single Dem politician supported the SCOTUS decision, which up to 80 percent of Americans agree with. Every public statement by a Democrat was opposed. “As disappointing as it is cruel,” said the Democratic Women’s Caucus, which has 96 members. Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey, Pramila Jayapal, and JB Pritzker also came out hard against it. Newsom’s office gave a tepid response that the ruling won’t affect California law, which allows bio-boys to compete against girls. The lone Democrat who once demurred on the sports issue, Seth Moulton, issued a Reek-like statement, saying that the ruling amounted to “a deliberate act of cruelty toward transgender Americans.” Or look at the responses to Vine’s op-ed, which merely argued that swapping out “gay” for “queer” undermines the key argument that gayness is unchosen, and is needlessly provocative. (After all, only 6 percent of sexual minorities call themselves “queer”.) The reaction was that it was outrageous that the op-ed was run at all. A typical view from social media: [Vines] is a complete product of cis white male patriarchy … and it is on full display in this piece. I would hope the response is so strong it removes him from the public sphere once and for all … Cancel culture is alive and well among the queers. Vines is “privileged.” So what? Is he right? Irrelevant, it seems. “[H]is argument can be boiled down to this simplistic thesis: ‘if we stop calling ourselves queer, then homophobes will like us.’” No, he’s saying that in appealing to the center of the country, using non-provocative words can help. As they did in the past. “Black queer and trans people” gave gay men and lesbians our civil rights, this writer argues — so we must call ourselves queer in gratitude. But there were no trans people in the Stonewall riot that first night, let alone leading it; look at the crowds in the days and nights thereafter and it’s very white and very male; the gay rights movement was led by white cis gay men and lesbians; and we won marriage thanks to the “respectability politics” the queers despise. I know. I was there. (And I met no trans people in the marriage movement at all. Why would I? It had almost nothing to do with them. Just as boys competing against girls in sports has nothing to do with gay men and lesbians at all!) Then there’s simply this: “There is no such thing as a normal gay person, Matthew. Our subversion of social norms is our power, friends.” That’s where the queer left and the religious right meet: on the ineradicable weirdness of gays. Or this: “BEING QUEER IS A GIFT, my dear friends. AND IT MATTERS … [I]t is the biggest gift to the world and the deepest reflection of the divine.” But Vines never said it wasn’t a gift; and he supports people calling themselves what they want. He’s a liberal, just seeking not to distort the truth of who most gay people are, to distinguish us from the totally separate category of trans, and to keep the gains that the queers threaten. His respondents, in contrast, are deeply illiberal. They want his views deplatformed; they smear him using his race, sex, and religion; and they believe that “queer” truly is morally superior to gay. And the queers have imposed their orthodoxy with Stalinist fervor since Obergefell: new flags, new history, new identities — Which You Will Adopt And Celebrate. Or Else. Living in this gay and lesbian subculture right now is an insight into the Democratic activist space. It is a doctrinaire, fanatical, self-loving hellscape. All of which suggests to me that the Dems are exactly where they were in 2024 and have no inclination to change. Maybe a Clinton- or Obama-like candidate can alter that; maybe what liberal tendencies remain on the left will push back against this suffocating “moral clarity.” But all I see is fanaticism and a reboot of the full 2020 Monty: open borders, DEI, boys in girls’ showers, hatred of Israel, hostility to the police, queer revolt, and tolerance of crime. Welcome to the post-Trump Republican era, starting in 2028. And don’t say I didn’t warn you. (Note to readers: This is an excerpt of The Weekly Dish. If you’re already a paid subscriber, click here to read the full version. This week’s issue also includes: a chat with philosopher John Gray about Trump’s new world disorder; reader memories from the World Cup; nine notable quotes from the week in news, including two Yglesias Awards over trans athletes and the Trump stain; 17 pieces on Substack we recommend on a variety of topics; a Mental Health Break to commemorate the 250th; a patriotic view from DC; and, of course, the results of the View From Your Window contest — with a new challenge. Subscribe for the full Dish experience!) From a new paid subscriber: I support your work because of your World Cup column, which brought tears to my eyes. The camaraderie displayed across this country for the visitors, and the visitors for this country, was amazing. Thank you for that; it’s restored some faith and pride in being a US citizen. Heads Up The column and the VFYW contest are off next week for the July 4 holiday. The Dishcast — with psychoanalyst Stephen Grosz on the nature of love — will be delivered as usual. Thanks for subscribing. This is a peak period for our renewals as we celebrate our sixth anniversary at the Weekly Dish. We’re deeply grateful for your continued love and support. Back On The Dishcast: John Gray John is a political philosopher. He retired from academia in 2007 as Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics, and he’s now a regular contributor and lead reviewer at the New Statesman. He’s the author of two dozen books, and the most recent is The New Leviathans: Thoughts After Liberalism, which we discussed on the Dishcast last year (after first having him on the pod in 2023). He’s back by popular demand to discuss the new world disorder under Trump and the political turmoil in the UK and Europe. Listen to the episode here. There you can find two clips of our convo — on what the Founders would think of the 250th, and sizing up the next prime minister of the UK. That link also takes you to commentary on two of our pods with Bob Wright — on AI and foreign affairs. We also hear from readers with cross-cultural memories from the World Cup, along with other topics; and I respond throughout. Browse the Dishcast archive for an episode you might enjoy. Coming up: Stephen Grosz on the struggles of love, David Thomson on cinema in American history and culture, John O’Sullivan on conservatism, Robby George on natural law, and Megan McArdle on pretty much anything. Please send any guest recs, dissents, and other comments to dish@andrewsullivan.com. In The ‘Stacks This is a feature in the paid version of the Dish spotlighting about 20 of our favorite pieces from other Substackers every week. This week’s selection covers subjects such as the birthright ruling, Trump’s record with SCOTUS, and psychedelics. Examples: Literature is getting dumbed down by BookTok. Jerusalem Demsas schools the left on assimilation. She also writes, “You have to love America to save it.” Here’s a list of the substacks we recommend in general — call it a blogroll. If you have any suggestions for “In the ‘Stacks,” especially ones from emerging writers, please let us know: dish@andrewsullivan.com. The View From Your Window Contest Where do you think it’s located? Email your guess to contest@andrewsullivan.com. Please put the location — city and/or state first, then country — in the subject line. Proximity counts if no one gets the exact spot. Bonus points for fun facts and stories. The deadline for entries is Wednesday, July 15, at 11.59 pm (PST). The winner gets the choice of a VFYW book or two annual Dish subscriptions. If you are not a subscriber, please indicate that in your entry and we will give you a free month subscription. Contest archive is here. Happy sleuthing! The results for this week’s window are coming in a separate email to paid subscribers later today. In last week’s contest, a sleuth wrote: “I gotta say, the Intrepid Couch Traveler touches the whimsy in my heart.” The latest from ICT: So first of all, posting this view was mean. Educational, but mean. I spent the better part of my Saturday chasing down Martello Towers in Quebec City. You see, the round stone building on the hill looked like it must be a 19th-century British defensive fort. I mean, what else could it possibly be? Well, turns out, it could be a 1930s era French-Canadian water tower. Ces Québécoises intelligentes. So, not Quebec City’s historic fortifications. Rather, a disguised water tower on a hill behind the distinctive paint scheme and room air-conditioners of the Hôtel Le Roberval, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I should have guessed it sooner, since I first met Couchella at the 1983 Montreal jazz festival with Ella Fitzgerald: See you next Friday with the Dishcast. Happy Fourth!