The progressive left has run headlong into a disaster of its own making. A disaster that could well portend their political demise. A disaster of failed leadership, failed communication, and an innate inability to assess the intelligence of their political battlefield.
We are watching the charge of the liberal Light Brigade.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, wrote “The Charge of the Light Brigade” as a narrative poem in the 1850s:
Cannon to the right of them,
Cannon to the left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered…
From this epic telling, we get the line:
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Written just six weeks after the devastating defeat of the British Light Brigade in the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War in 1854, Tennyson’s recounting outlined a case study in recklessness, disjointed leadership, and poor communication. Britain’s finest charged headlong into heavily defended and well-entrenched forces in what became known as the “Valley of Death.” In Tennyson’s words, leadership had “blundered.” Twenty battalions of dug-in infantry supported by artillery blasted the light brigade with withering fire from three sides. One war correspondent recounted that the Light Brigade was wiped out “by their own rashness, and by the brutality of a ferocious enemy.” Of the 600 men who entered the Valley of Death, less than a third remained combat-effective when the smoke cleared.
The opposing force is said to have thought the British cavalrymen were drunk as they watched the failed charge. “It is magnificent but it is not war,” said a French marshal who viewed the scene. “It is madness.” The charge of Britain’s Light Brigade at Balaclava remains a case study for modern historians of what can go wrong when leadership fails, communications are poor, and there is an inaccurate assessment of battlefield intelligence.
It is no different than watching the progressive left push the Democratic party forward in a never-ending series of losses, all self-inflicted. The right side of the political spectrum is well-organized and riding a wave of popular sentiment. Supreme Court decisions, legislative victories, campaign wins – withering fire from three sides – yet into the valley of death rides the liberal light brigade.
One can certainly look broadly and watch as Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries stood in the well of the House chamber for a record-setting speech of nothingness, only to watch with dead eyes as Republicans thereafter passed the bulk of the Trump agenda in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The world can also look askance at Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) attempting to block the federal government from enforcing the law in his own state with his own National Guard, only to have a three-judge panel from the oft-liberal Ninth Circuit rule against his misguided effort.
The view is seen in red states, too. In Birmingham, Ala., liberal Mayor Randall Woodfin, speaking in an interview with liberal icon Al Sharpton on MSNBC, espoused that his city would not “participate in any administrative dealings as it relates to immigration status,” yet folded like a cheap suit when it was realized that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has the wind at her back to cut funding from sanctuary cities.
New York City Democrats just nominated a radical, Islamic-fundamentalist, defund-the-police socialist to be their mayoral candidate. The Big Apple. The crossroads of the world. A city with an annual budget of $112 billion. If NYC were to become its own country, it would have the 12th-largest economy in the world. Democrats chose Zohran Mamdani – a man who has espoused such progressive nonsense as spending $65 million to provide so-called “gender affirming care” to minors, socializing grocery stores, and taxing whiter neighborhoods at a higher rate than others. “Together, we can tax the rich, heal the sick, house the poor, defund the police & build a socialist New York,” Mamdani wrote in one of his social media posts.
Keep in mind that while NYC may still be a bastion of blue politics, it is also the city that recently acquitted Daniel Penny and swung towards Donald Trump and Republicans in greater degree than any other blue city in the nation. Billionaire entrepreneur Bill Ackman announced on social media that he is already coordinating with other like-minded big-money backers to find and support a write-in campaign candidate who could change the makeup of the election.
Into the valley of death rides the progressive left.
Liberals always overreach. It’s in their nature. Their hubris prevents them from knowing when their bad ideas promote backlash. Ignoring the winds of public sentiment. Disregarding the intelligence of all rational polling and assessments. Lacking in leadership, and working without adequate communications or messaging. We are watching as the charge of the liberal light brigade rides headlong into the valley.
Strongholds of free markets, low taxation, cultural conservatism, and limited government are still very much in the mainstream, holding the high ground in the political and social arenas of today’s culture war.
Conservatives are not the ill-equipped, poorly-led light cavalry charging into the valley of death. Conservatives have the sustainable positions. Conservatives can defend our positions because they are imminently more defensible.
But make no mistake: Much like the British Light Brigade of old, the liberal progressives of today are still a fighting force in the policy arena. They are not to be underestimated, but neither are they to be feared.
Conservatives are well-equipped. We hold the key terrain, and there are far more of us than there are of them. We are winning now, but the fight must be maintained.
But in the meantime – into the valley of death rides the liberal light brigade … and ain’t it fun to watch?
To contact Phil or request him for a speaking engagement, go to www.rightsideradio.org.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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