It’s Time To Flee The DSA August 17, 2026August 17, 2026 Bernie and AOC and Mamdani and El-Sayed, et al, could say: Look. We applaud the idealism of those who hope for a world where there’s no crime, so no need for police or prisons . . . a world where everyone lives in prosperous countries without fear of oppression, so no need for borders . . . a world without conflict, so no need for armies. But the platform of the Democratic Socialists of America, and recent statements of some of its leaders, bear no resemblance to what those of us actually in office or running for office — like those of us on this stage today — actually advocate. So to avoid confusion, we today bid that party farewell and will henceforth call ourselves social Democrats — the kind of Democrats who want affordable health care for all . . . well-regulated capitalism that provides a living wage and enforces worker rights and safety . . . well-regulated, enlightened community policing . . . a criminal justice system not designed to enrich billionaire owners of for-profit prisons . . . the old system of carefully considered pardons and commutations based on merit, not on bribes or presidential whim . . . common-sense gun safety laws of the type the NRA itself used to champion . . . an Internal Revenue Service adequately funded to collect taxes owed by the ultra-rich and corporations . . . a tax system where a billionaire’s top tax rate is not lower than the workers who launders his clothes and where loopholes available only to the rich are closed . . . a country that allies with invaded democracies not with invading dictatorships . . . a country where the Constitution is respected, corruption is rejected, and no one — not even the President or the rest of the Epstein class — is above the law . . . and quite a few other common sense things almost all Americans favor. And no, bizarre as it is that the 600,000 fine citizens of Wyoming have as many Unites States Senators as the 39 million fine citizens of California, we do not advocate abolishing the United States Senate. Yes, we are the liberal wing of the Democratic party. But we believe we want what most Americans — if not most billionaires or giant corporations and their lobbyists — want. Don’t be fooled by those trying to scare you. Ed Luce of the Financial Times is so sensible. Here he speaks with Charlie Sykes about a variety of topics, including — in the last few minutes of the interview — Francesca Hong campaigning in Wisconsin with Hasan Piker (“thank heavens she lost,” he says) and what he calls the “utterly lunatic idiotic positions” of Megan Romer, co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America. Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, he notes, is no Francesca Hong. “Hurray,” he says, for “the normies.” Worth a listen.