Just be normal

Donald Trump is now master and commander of the American political landscape, and everyone else is just a bit player in his saga. The Democrats, his antagonist, could be interesting characters in the story. But they have, by choice, become one-dimensional villains incapable of even applauding a 13-year-old cancer survivor.

At Trump’s address to Congress last week, the Democrats began with Congressman Al Green being booted by the staff of the House of Representatives. Green felt compelled to engage in performance by standing, yelling, and shaking his cane at Trump. We went from the breach of decorum with Rep. Joe Wilson screaming “You lie” at Barack Obama to Al Green defiantly trying to shout over Trump. Democrats outraged by Wilson were just embarrassed by Green.

Therein lies the rub. Democrat partisans want Democrats to fight Trump on every issue in every way and at every opportunity. A feisty geriatric congressman is not what the Democrat base really had in mind. But the only other options were pink-wearing feminists quietly holding protest signs as Democrat leaders sat stoically embarrassed by their clowns.

Donald Trump chose to highlight scores of issues that poll upwards of 80 percent popular support. Democrats either booed or froze with each one. They could not be happy the border is secure. They could not be happy about a 13-year-old boy with cancer becoming an honorary member of the Secret Service. They could not be happy that more resources will be devoted to fighting crime.

Worse, the Democrats were offended that Donald Trump would defend girls and their sports. They were offended Trump pointed out that a new president, not new legislation, was all it took to close the border. They were offended Trump invited a young lady injured at a volleyball game by a trans athlete. They were offended Trump used the speech to rename federal land after a young lady murdered by an illegal alien.

On MSNBC, after the speech, progressive thought leader Rachel Maddow denounced Trump for inviting D.J. Daniel, the boy who battled brain cancer. “For the record, and this is disgusting, the president made a spectacle out of praising a young man who has thus far survived pediatric cancer,” Maddow, dressed in funeral black attire, mourned to the camera.

Even Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who gave one of the better responses to a presidential address of recent years, devoted half her speech to group therapy for Democrats on how to mount an effective resistance to the man they view as a threat to democracy. Therein lies the problem for Democrats. The public, according to the 2024 exit polling, views Democrats as a greater threat to democracy.

MSNBC and the partisan media bubble have thoroughly destroyed the ability of Democrats to assess reality honestly. According to CBS News, after Trump’s speech, a majority of the public liked it. But on MSNBC and among media partisans, it was an authoritarian monstrosity with children as props.

Democrats are like the rich kids in school who cloister together in disdain of everyone else, completely oblivious to the fact everyone else despises them. They have embraced fringe voices of the progressive left and platformed them into mainstream media institutions. Those voices reinforce the message of the leftwing echo chamber that they are virtuous, righteous, kind, and just. Republicans are evil, bigoted, loathsome poor people who threaten democracy and undoubtedly generate green chat bubbles.

It is hard to win when you think you can do no wrong. It is hard to win when you think parents really are OK with boys in their daughters’ sports. But The New York Times and MSNBC and Bluesky bubbles all insist this is so. For too long, Democrats insisted they were reality based and the facts of life worked in their favor. All the while, as their minds embraced epistemic closure, reality and facts shifted against them. Still, they remain unaware of their standing with the public. Still, they refuse to accept it was not their message that cost them the election. It was their policies. And they still don’t get it. To their shame, they even refused to encourage a boy with cancer.