For those confused or disgusted with this current political election, I offer these words of explanation. What we are witnessing is the death of a political party.

The present Democratic Party is peculiarly the same as when Thomas Jefferson rallied a grassroots republican revolution in opposition to the Federalists during the 1790's. In Jefferson's mind the Federalists had become the same as the English monarchy in their elitist sensibilities of government. To counter this development, he collected a wide assortment of grassroots groups into a republican coalition and changed the direction of the nation.

As Joyce Appleby records:

...the Jeffersonians coalesced around a set of ideas — radical notions about how society should be reorganized. These ideas were propagated less by a class of men — that is, persons tied together by common economic interests — than by a kind of man — men attracted by certain beliefs. Their common vision about the reform of politics and the liberation of the human spirit... Ideas — not interests or old loyalties or institutional identities — supplied the unity for success. [emphasis added]

Today, The Democrats have become a coalition of interests in search of power, and lack any unifying ideas. Today the ideas pushing the political forum are found not among the Democrats, but rather their opposition. Fist comes the vigorous prosecution of the war against Islamic fascism that threatens freedom throughout the entire earth. Without liberty under our own Constitution the other ideas are moot.

Only then come the ideas for the continuity of the American Dream: permanent tax cuts, border control, reform of the entire method of collecting taxes (e.g. flat tax or national sales tax), protection of private property, and other such ideas that dismantle the power of the federalist government.

The contemporary Democratic Party has corrupted itself so far in its American self—loathing that it is in every sense at odds with the Constitution its elected members have sworn not only to abide by, but to protect. 

The current generation of Democrats has so railed and rebelled against the "power of America" that they have spiritually joined with those sworn to destroy us. It is much like the conversation in Dostoyevsky's The Idiot. Substitute "American" for "Russian" and the message is clear,

"Well, my fact is precisely that Russian liberalism is not an attack on the existing order of things, but an attack on the very essence of things, on the things themselves, not merely on their order, on the established order in Russia, but on Russia herself. My liberal has gone so far as to deny Russia herself; in other words, he hates his own mother and he beats her. Every Russian failure and misfortune stirs him to laughter and virtually delights him. He hates national traditions, Russian history, everything."

And then,

"Not so long ago some of our liberals effectively took this hatred for Russia as sincere love for their country, and congratulated themselves on seeing better than others what that love should be; but now they have become more frank, and even the words 'love for country' have become an embarrassment to them and the whole conception has been banished and dismissed as harmful and trivial."

Both quotations from the Henry and Olga Carlisle translation, ｩ1969

An astute politico can hear Hillary Clinton screeching that she is patriotic and that she has a right to screech about having the right to disagree with the President of the United States. Or throw up as the media ponders whether it is "proper" to wear a flag pin or come out in support the troops.

The world is on a headlong descent into chaos. Do we go down with an emasculated whimper or do we stand up and fight back the status quo until the bloody end? I say we must be in the world but not of the world and desire to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

The Democratic Party once was a good and faithful servant. It is a tragedy for it and for America that it has strayed so far from its roots.

Nancy Coppock welcomes comments.