Mamdani’s twisted view of America

OPINION:

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivered a Fourth of July message that sounded as if America is on its deathbed. Immigrant citizens standing on either side of him as he sat at a desk used by George Washington appeared equally somber.

July Fourth is supposed to be a celebratory time. Not for Mr. Mamdani, who looked like he had lost his best friend.

After some obligatory praise for the nation to which he immigrated, Mr. Mamdani said that for “the powerful, America is an arena of supremacy, where only a select few are allowed freedom, where not all are created equal. America, if you ask them, becomes less the more people it welcomes. America, they will tell you, belongs only to those with the right accent or the right shade of skin.”

Mr. Mamdani wrongly equates legal and illegal immigration.

He told a blatant lie. America has a history of trying to right wrongs and has proved the opposite of his claim, through civil rights legislation, landmark court rulings, the presidential election of Barack Obama and even the rise of Mr. Mamdani himself.

It is part of the Democratic Socialists of America playbook to divide us and transform the country in their image.

There is more: “As we mark 250 years, what do we see? We see a city of contradictions within a nation of contradictions. We see the wealthiest country in the history of the world, one where children go to sleep hungry, while the world’s first trillionaire hungers for more.”

Democrats have held the New York City mayor’s office for years, and there have been Democratic presidents. Why have they not fixed this problem, and what does Elon Musk have to do with it? It appears the left would rather have the issue to bash Republicans than to provide solutions.

Mr. Mamdani went on with a depressing litany that makes America look like a developing nation, not the “shining city on a hill” that President Reagan called it. He criticized “oligarchs,” claiming that “we sell our elections to the highest bidder.” He ignored George Soros and his spending on U.S. elections.

The New York Post reports that Mr. Soros “has spent roughly $102.8 million so far in the current midterm election cycle, potentially making him the largest individual political donor to date.”

Mr. Mamdani closed with this line, which seems to invalidate much of what he said before about what he considers evil, poverty and discrimination in America: “What a privilege each of us has to live in a nation that every one of its inhabitants can shape.”

That is the point, is it not? If one gets a good education, adheres to certain moral principles (such as getting married), raises children with love and discipline and avoids illegal drugs and crime, anyone living by these standards can rise to the level of their abilities as long as they persist.

Mr. Mamdani’s negative, depressing view of America tells people they can fail and still receive unending government benefits — a message that encourages slothfulness.

A song by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive,” released in 1944, as America was still in the grips of World War II, expressed the American attitude that has sustained us for 250 years: “You got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative and latch on to the affirmative, Don’t mess with Mr. In-Between. You got to spread joy up to the maximum, bring gloom down to the minimum. Have faith or pandemonium liable to walk upon the scene.”

Accentuating the positive about America is not what Mr. Mamdani and his fellow DSA adherents promote. Socialism has captured the attention, particularly of younger people who know little or nothing about its track record.

That is how democratic socialists are winning primary elections in New York City and beyond. They will continue to win if not enough people explain and expose their extreme agenda.

• Readers may email Cal Thomas at [email protected]. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book, “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (Humanix Books).