In the past I have often referred to the Democratic Party as the ‘party of treason.’ By this I do not mean that all Democrats are traitors, far from it. Many people are Democrats out of family loyalty, long-time association (such as Georgia Senator Zell Miller, my favourite Democrat), racial solidarity, or general ignorance of political issues. The problem is as such: America’s many loyal Democrats lack a party. The Democratic Party itself is a disloyal institution.

I do mean that as mere rhetoric. The Democratic Party as a whole has become post-American in that, for many Democrats, ideology has come to transcend nationality. What do Howard Dean and his supporters value more: universal health care, or the flag? I suspect that it is the former. There is a certain snobbishness to the creed, Americans are people who drink Budweiser beer, watch NFL games, and shop at Wal Mart. Modern Democrats like to think of themselves as ‘citizens of the world’ and, therefore, regard ‘normal Americans’ with a bit of disdain. Sure, Americans might oppose gay marriage, favor tax cuts, and support the War on Terrorism: but that’s just because they aren’t as enlightened as their social betters.

Democrats regard Americans like some people might regard their retarded cousin. With a shrug and a flush of embarrassment. It’s because, deep down, they don’t really believe that people can look after themselves. That’s why they love activist judges so much. Left to decide on their own, the American people would turn down abortion-on-demand, affirmative action, and gay marriage. But Democrats aren’t willing to respect that decision because they don’t believe that the average American is smart enough to decide whether or not their eleven year-old son should receive state-sponsored fisting instruction (let alone decide how best to spend their own money).

The loyalty many Democrats feel towards America is conditional: based upon the political structure of the country. You can hear it in the members of the Hollywood elite, who threaten to move to France if Republicans win elections. To them, America is only worth being faithful to as long as America is liberal. Rush Limbaugh didn’t announce that he was going to move to Japan if Bill Clinton was re-elected: he fought him. The problem is this: the Democratic Party loves liberalism more than it loves America.

Now, contrary to what some have asserted in the past, this does not mean that I ultimately wish to see a one-party state in America, far from it. Rather, I would like to see the development of a three party system in America, with a Republican majority facing opposition from Libertarians and Paleoconservatives.

I think that there’s little question that neo-conservative Republicanism, Libertarianism, and Paleoconservatism are all expansive enough ideologies to command their own party. Moreover, while each of these creeds has some disloyal adherents, for the most part they are belief systems compatible with traditional American values. Each could even claim their own Founding Fathers. Republicans could easily lay claim to Alexander Hamilton and John Adams, Libertarians to Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Tom Paine, among others. Paleoconservatives might well, with his strong warnings on the dangers of foreign entanglements and well-known moral rectitude, lay claim to George Washington himself.

In any case: Republicanism, Libertarianism, and Paleoconservatism are all, at their base, ideologies with a fundamental basis in Americanism. They were all ‘present at the creation’, so to speak. Modern liberalism, on the other hand, is an alien import. The ideological foundations of the modern left lie in the French Revolution: their ideological father is Karl Marx.

Democrats hope for American defeats in the War on Terrorism because it will help their electoral prospects. This is made clear by their constant posturing, by the Intelligence Committee memo, by their rhetoric, and by their pre-war trips to Baghdad to demonstrate their support for Saddam. They do this not so much because they hate America, but because for them ideology transcends America. ‘Progressive’ policies are, so far as they are concerned, far more important than defending the nation. Democrats don’t defend America’s enemies because they want to harm America; they do it because ‘America’ as a concept for them has lost all meaning. It is merely a vessel for ideology. Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein are merely objects in an ideological pinball game, possibly useful and possibly hazardous.

There’s a scene in the movie The American President, where Annette Benning’s character claims that conservatives are people who, “claim to love America, despite the fact that they plainly can’t stand Americans.” But the truth of the matter is, that description fits the left far more than it does the right. One can simply see the horror in the eyes of Democrats who shudder at the thought of living in the same country as people who go to NASCAR races, visit Civil War battlefields on vacation, and go to Church every Sunday.

The Democratic Party either needs to rediscover its Americanism or it needs to be destroyed. So long as one major party remains in a state where its fidelity to the nation’s cause can be called into question no political system can be long stable. It’s time for the decent, loyal, and patriotic Democrats of the world to take back their party from the Bill Clinton’s and Howard Dean’s citizens of this world that have made it post-American and post-Patriotic.