This essay recently appeared in the Des Moines Register:

Dangerous leftists subsume traditional liberals                    

by DC Larson

Top-shelf Democrats don't represent veteran classical ones. Cultural Marxist predilections prized by elites include transgenderism, Critical Race Theory, sexual grooming of children, and political censorship.

Those examples do not stand alone. Joining them in that company of the damned are disregard of women's rights (in favor of surgically-mutilated female facsimiles), war-profiteering inclinations,  and vogueish skin-color obsessions.

Old-school liberals champion patriotic sentiment, faith traditions, and free expression. Domestic Leftists follow the example of their European communistic comrades, militating against any challenges to The State's totalitarian thinking and sway.

Leftists view traditional liberals as useful idiots to be exploited for their ballot value, but ultimately ignored. Agitation for various interests' rights protections is but a stepping stone; once majority status is realized, minority rights will no longer be a priority. Eventual elimination of the democratic electoral system, in which competing perspectives are allowed equal opportunity, is the Leftist goal.

There are two conceptual standards of morality, the subjective and the objective. In the first, each person decides what best indulges and advances their selfish ambitions. They embrace their own "truth," and insist upon societal respect for their fancy.

The second, objective concept holds morality to be fixed, unchanging, and of Divine authorship. This standard is not susceptible to individuals' manipulations. It recognizes a universal power above mere mankind, one that neither conforms to passing trends nor is altered by secular persuasions. Traditional liberals understand that. 

Many Leftists today speak of "Dr. Martin Luther King," neglecting that he was a reverend who based his important work in Christianity. Needless to write, King would not be welcome in today's Democrat Party elite. Nor would JFK, Tom Harkin, or Robert Ray.

American cultural and political Marxism have roots in ugly 1800s European lunacy. They are now proselytized in ivory towers. The clamp-down ideologies also can be seen in masked and violent Antifa hordes; they swarm streets assaulting opponents, destroying property, and shutting down contrary speech. Conservative voice Candace Owens termed Antifa "the new KKK."

And where are Civil Libertarians? Forgotten are the profound lessons of Norman Dorsen and Nat Hentoff. Today, only Democrat attorney Alan Dershowitz volubly supports constitutional protections for all. His is a commendable instance of a principled person championing rights and liberties regardless of seasonal fashion.

Old-school liberals are vanishing. Those that remain continue pulling vote-levers for Democrat candidates, perhaps out of habit or nostalgia for a reasonable party that no longer exists.. But as the song says, "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory."

Iowa writer DC Larson counts among freelance credits Daily Caller, Western Journal, and American Thinker.