By Peter Lemiska

Throughout our history, Democrats and Republicans have offered contrasting solutions to the many problems facing our nation. But until recently, they have always agreed on certain fundamental principles. They’ve loved America, cherished American values, and agreed that America is an exceptional nation. In general, they’ve respected our law enforcement communities, supported the concept of national sovereignty and secure borders, and proudly stood for our national anthem. They’ve always respected our Constitution and appreciated the freedoms it guarantees. And they rejected socialist and communist philosophies as antithetical to the American way of life.

The Democrat Party has always professed to be a defender of civil liberties and champion of the downtrodden — the party of the working man, the party of compassion. It’s easy to understand why it might attract a constituency of caring, middle-class Americans.

But the party has undergone a profound evolution over the past few decades. It has been transformed by the radicals in the party and no longer stands for the principles it once claimed to represent. In fact, today’s Democrat Party represents none of the things America has always stood for.

Its 1964 War on Poverty sounded like a worthy endeavor, but the costly welfare programs it spawned had minimal impact on the nation’s poverty rate. The desperate poverty rate prior to 1960 was already declining, and by the time the new entitlement programs kicked in, the rate had already settled in to the 10%-15% range, where it remains today. The War on Poverty only succeeded in bringing the nation closer to government dependency.

Was its goal to reduce poverty, or control the people — to make them dependent on the state?

Democrats never abandoned their quest for more welfare programs — more power and control over the people. They began to focus on the wealth earned by hard-working, successful Americans. The War on Poverty gave way to a new, more divisive socialist war on wealth. Class envy became one of the Democrats’ favorite tools, and now they can’t stop regurgitating terms like “redistribution of wealth,” “top one percent,” and “fair share.” They’re pushing the idea that the wealthiest Americans can and must pay for college tuition, college debts, healthcare, child care, family leave, and a vast array of other new entitlements — not only for all Americans, but for the millions of foreign citizens flooding across our now-open borders.

The drumbeat of socialism echoing throughout our schools has conditioned our young people to welcome socialist principles. But why do so many other Democrats, those who once staunchly rejected socialism, now embrace it? One poll, conducted last year, indicated that 76% of Democrats would vote for a socialist president. Considering Joe Biden’s new agenda, it seems that’s exactly what they’ve done.

There’s a simple explanation for Biden’s conversion to socialism. Looking back at his history of vacillating core values, it’s clear he was never a leader, or even a trendsetter. He spent most of his career jumping from one bandwagon to the next. Considering Bernie Sanders’ strong performance in the primaries and AOC’s social media popularity, their bandwagon was one he couldn’t resist.

But it’s not just socialism. Sadly, this new Democrat Party represents an array of other distinctly anti-American values. The pride in America it once felt has evaporated. The party has embarked on a new path of self-loathing with its 21st-century version of racial discrimination and segregation — euphemistically called Critical Race Theory — and demands that all Americans feel their same self-inflicted shame. And they apply their fabricated “systemic racism” liberally — to demonize and defund our police agencies, to justify open-border policies, and to sully political opponents.

Now they’ve launched a more sinister and dangerous gambit — criminalizing legitimate dissent — branding political opponents as domestic terrorists. And reminiscent of the Obama administration’s abuse of IRS authority, Biden is now weaponizing our government agencies to target American parents. His attorney general has issued a memo directing the FBI to inject itself into local school board meetings. In a clear violation of the First Amendment, it’s a transparent attempt to intimidate and silence outraged parents who speak out against the radical and bizarre lesson plans being thrust upon their children.

It’s the Democrat Party, not its political opponents, and not those frustrated parents, that now fits the definition of “un-American.”

And it’s the Democrat Party that best fits the definition of “corrupt.”

Honest Americans understand why Democrats turn away from Joe and Hunter Biden’s influence peddling schemes. They know why Democrats are ambivalent about the border chaos and Biden’s unlawful refusal to enforce our immigration laws and Supreme Court decisions. They’ve seen those images of the kids huddled together under aluminum blankets and the third-world encampments under the Del Rio bridge, and they know that Biden and his lackeys are lying when they insist that the border is closed.

Yes, the Democrat Party has changed. It’s come to believe socialism is the end game, and the end justifies the means.

There are several theories in sociology claiming that a small percentage of the population, possibly as little as 3.5%, can effect enormous change. Are those small number of radicals in the party solely responsible the transformation? Were Democrats just too eager to buy into the false promises of progressivism? Perhaps, like in the fable of the boiled frog, they failed to notice those incremental changes in the party until they found themselves where they are today. Maybe party loyalty blinded them to the metamorphosis their party was undergoing.

Or maybe they weren’t duped, seduced, or blindsided. Worst case scenario, perhaps they’re just no different than Biden himself.

But there is a glimmer of hope. A handful of Democrats are waking up to the damage their party is inflicting on America. They see the exploding crime across the country and understand the absurdity of defunding the police. Two Democrat senators have finally taken a stand against the Democrats’ reckless spending, and one U.S. representative is calling out Biden’s border fiasco. He’s joined by a number of Democrat mayors directly impacted by the chaos.

The country we once knew can still be saved if more of them begin putting principle, or at least common sense, before politics.