What went wrong with the Democratic Party?

Salon writer Sean McElwee presents an interesting question in his recent editorial, "What went wrong with the Democratic Party? Three big failures that led to the current debacle". Implicit in his question is the assumption that the Democratic Party is a valid political party. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

The Democrats have only recently learned to openly embrace their socialist roots, thanks to Bernie Sanders. For the Democrats, equal rights are impossible until equal results are achieved. This ignores the individual responsibilities needed to go along with those rights. The Democrats assume equal results can be achieved via collective effort, otherwise known as the government. To achieve this means pulling resources from the economy, or individual rights from the people. People mindlessly agree to this under the assumption their lives will be made better...because the politicians say it can be done.

Mind you, the Republicans are guilty of this to a lesser extent. The only difference is the Democrats do this openly and shamelessly. The end game for the Democrats will have the United States in a replication of the old Soviet Union, where all rights are removed in order to provide equal rights to all. People are, by nature, unequal, so success must be penalized in order to create equal results for all. (This is the basis behind the progressive income tax.)

But the failure of government is ultimately the reason for the failure of the Democrats in the last election. Sadly, the Republicans don't offer a real alternative, and the mainstream media refuses to cover third parties, so the Democrats will undoubtedly return to power some day. In 21st century America, failure only has limited consequences.

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to [yield], and government to gain ground."-Thomas Jefferson