As we reach the end of yet another Democratic political stunt, it has once again become evident that the party has an outright disdain for the American people.
Even more than that, though, this recent shutdown has painted a clear picture of what the Democratic Party and the Left hold as their actual values.
They shouted from the floor about taking care of the poor, the outcast, the immigrant, and the foreigner, but never once was the central focus on who matters most: The everyday American.
The truth could not be more on display with the left. The welfare of the American people is subordinate to the pursuit of political power.
The shutdown was a calculated and cynical campaign strategy designed to inflict maximum economic and social pain, all in the service of electoral gain in the November elections.
For weeks, essential government functions were curtailed, and federal workers were left without pay. The national infrastructure of services, from airport security to SNAP benefits, was placed under immense strain.
The Democrats typically throw money at any government program that so much as smiles at them. This time, though, they thought they could gain a boost in the elections if they maximized the pain on the American people. So they did not hesitate.
The narrative they presented was resistance against a supposedly tyrannical Trump administration. This narrative in itself is telling, because Democrats perceive the withholding of government handouts as morally equivalent to dictatorship.
Yet even with their ludicrous premise, the timing and eventual capitulation reveal a motive rooted in their party's one chief virtue: power. The moment the perceived electoral benefit was over, the resistance crumbled.
They will claim victory and pretend they acted out of virtue or in the best interest of compromise. But virtue had nothing to do with it. The moment they calculated that the shutdown had run its course as a political tool, they began to change their tune.
The fundamental uniting factor of the left is that it is a coalition with a shared appetite for dominance over traditional Americans and their values.
They talk about "equity" and "justice," but their actions reveal a hierarchy of concern in which ordinary citizens come last.
They will fight for illegal immigrants' healthcare before they will fight for American workers. They will protect big pharma before they protect small business owners. They will spend trillions overseas before building a border wall.
In other words, they love power, but they don't love you. Nor do they love America, not an iota of it.
Their morality is defined entirely by power. If a policy strengthens their hand, it is righteous. If it weakens them, it isn't perfect. Every action is justified so long as it advances their hold on the institutions that shape American life.
This is the morality of modern progressivism, which is plainly a full embrace of Marx. It is a morality that sees people not as citizens but as instruments.
The soldier's family, unsure about their future pay, is not a family to them but a prop. The air traffic controller who can't pay his mortgage is an acceptable expense to the left.
They measure virtue by how much authority they can command over others, not by how many lives they can improve. The founders of our great country warned about such men. They knew that liberty would constantly be threatened not just by enemies abroad but by those who would use the power of our own government to enslave the people.
The danger of unchecked power is that it eventually convinces those who wield it that they are morally entitled to do whatever is necessary to keep it.
Once that idea takes root, every abuse becomes permissible. What makes this moment so dangerous is that millions of Americans still believe the Democratic Party acts in good faith. They have not yet seen that the promises of compassion and equality are masks for a much older ambition: the desire to rule.
The government should serve the people, not hold them hostage. Yet the left has embraced the ideology of tyrants: a disdain for the people accompanied by power as the highest virtue.
If there was any good to come from this charade, it was that many Americans finally recognized the pattern. Every shutdown, every crisis, every speech from the left follows the same script.
They create pain, claim compassion, and consolidate power. It is not about governance. It is about control. The saving grace this time was the Trump administration's clear messaging and refusal to budge.
We need that in 2026, where this will almost certainly have a second round before the midterms.
The American people must not be fooled again. A love of country and one's fellow man does not celebrate when citizens suffer. It is time for citizens to see through the performance and vote out the true tyrants.
