With hope and patriotism blossoming across the land, Americans celebrated Independence Day with renewed enthusiasm and vigor. Just a year ago, Americans were mired in despair that America was in inevitable perpetual decline, but less than six months into President Trump’s historic non-consecutive second term, Americans are pleasantly astounded at the miraculous turnaround. Americans are again thriving, and the United States is again ascending.

Despite incessant fear-mongering by panicked press and pundits, Trump’s tariff strategy is bearing fruit with better trade deals with numerous nations (and more lined up). Contrary to predictions of doom and more inflation, inflation is in fact down substantially and wages are up, so Americans are enjoying sorely-needed relief from the Biden administration’s crushing inflation. Egg prices have dropped precipitously. Finally, the border is secure, and illegal immigration is under control—and the Supreme Court validated Trump’s authority to deport illegal aliens, which ICE is pursuing energetically. With law and order being enforced again, crime is decreasing. Americans are safer, and opportunity to prosper is returning. In short, Americans are optimistic because Trump is delivering on his promises.

The conundrum for rabid Democrats is they perceive good news for Americans and for Trump as bad news for Democrats and their socialist dreams. It’s sadly unfortunate that the welfare of average Americans does not align with Democrat goals, but they are not entirely wrong. Above all else, Democrats crave totalitarian power, which requires a dependent and oppressed populace, so when Americans attain more independence and wealth, they don’t need or want the overbearing nanny state Democrats offer. The Democrat base wants unending government largesse, but hard-working Americans greatly prefer freedom to provide for themselves.

Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” makes historic tax cuts permanent for Americans across the board. With no tax on tips and or overtime, and reduced taxes on social security, average Americans will keep more of their money which deprives the government of more money to waste (read that as transferring power away from government and back to citizens).

Democrat opposition is solely rooted in raw politics. They want your money, so they can determine how it should be spent whether you support their policies or not. Democrats want green energy mandates that reduce quality of life, gender-affirming care for children, and free MEDICAID benefits for illegal aliens; all of which average Americans reject overwhelmingly. Money is power, so Democrats covet yours.

The Trump administration is aggressively rounding up and deporting illegal alien criminals, and Democrats are shrieking in horror, demanding we bring the gang bangers back. That makes no sense to regular folks, but it’s not about the individual criminal aliens—it’s about the census apportioning congressional districts. The census currently counts all people, even non-citizens, so illegal aliens supposedly cannot vote but they count in the census, giving Democrats more seats. Removing millions of illegal aliens potentially deprives Democrats of several congressional seats. Their hissy fits about deportations are not about humane treatment of illegal immigrants, but rather about preserving their strategy to expand and retain congressional representation through exploiting the presence of illegal aliens.

Democrats are furious because they are losing political power. Like cornered rabid animals, they are lashing out with violence. Beyond the riots protesting ICE, in at least two incidents Democrat agitators actually shot at and injured ICE agents in Texas. Further, Democrats are doxxing ICE agents, endangering their families. The violence is clearly an insurrection.

Having been thrashed at the ballot box, Democrats are unabashedly seeking to foment a civil war. Rosie O' Donnell called for U.S. rebellion from her self-imposed exile in Ireland. Closing the border, securing elections, and shrinking government, Trump is effectively cutting off rebellious people's avenues to power, but Democrats have painted themselves into a corner by courting and enabling their radical communist base. Axios published feedback from the Democrat base, who demanded blood. By saying Democrat activists and elected officials must be willing to be shot, they are encouraging violent resistance as the official Democrat Party position.

Not unlike the Civil War, when Democrats resorted to violence to preserve slavery, Democrats are resorting to insurrection to overturn the 2024 election and reclaim power. They are losing the policy war to Trump badly and may likely not regain the Congress in 2026, so they are desperate. However, none of this should be surprising. Democrats routinely burn, loot, riot, and even murder. Democrat mad men just recently assassinated an insurance executive and two Israeli Embassy workers. Recall the virulently violent “summer of love” in 2020, when Democrats insisted that we must understand the anger of rioters. They view vandalism and violence as acceptable means to their nefarious ends.

Many Democrats are quite simply ruthless. Their disgusting response to the recent horrific flooding in Texas is grossly demonstrative. After erroneously blaming the Trump administration for this heart-wrenching tragedy, too many Democrats rushed to social media to posit that these little white girls from MAGA families deserved to die. Unbelievably heartless—that’s plain evil.

In the midst of an unspeakable national tragedy that should foster unity, Democrats’ cynical inclination is to divide Americans by race. An appointed Democrat official in Houston said if the dead girls were Hispanic, no one would care. Besides plain stupidity, such hyperbole is incredibly insensitive and absolutely wrong. Look no further than the horrific school shooting just 3 years ago in Uvalde, Texas. Of the 19 students and 2 teachers slaughtered, most were Hispanic, and the entire nation mourned their senseless deaths.

The Democrat Party has a huge problem. They have been hijacked by their extreme communist base which hungers for absolute totalitarian power and demands blood to achieve their socialist fantasy. Moreover, Democrats have NO leadership, so they are being whipsawed by truly crazy fanatics. The malignant manifestation is that Democrats are becoming increasingly ineffective politically, so their only option is violence. It’s a vicious cycle.

The Democrats’ intractable dilemma is a bigger problem for the country. Our republic needs a viable loyal opposition: one-party rule always devolves into corruption regardless of which party is in control. Democrats must condemn the violence and purge the radical anarchists and communists from their party and return to the Constitution or risk electoral oblivion. If Democrats fail to reform themselves, Elon Musk’s new "America Party" may have a chance to supplant them.

“If anyone stirs up strife, it is not from me; whoever stirs up strife with you shall fall because of you” (Isaiah 54:15).

Pete Riehm is a Navy Veteran, conservative activist, and columnist in south Alabama. Email him at peteriehm@bellsouth.net or read all his columns at http://www.renewamerica.com/.