In Wednesday evening's Democratic presidential debate circus, the left's favorite darlings turned on one another with a selfish vengeance, which was a positive development for the country and mildly entertaining. The glorious infighting continued among progressive commentators.
This acrimony, coupled with the public exposure of the left's crazy ideas, surely diminished the party's image among sane voters. The more leftists reveal their inanity and extremism, the better for President Trump and the nation. As one lifelong-Democrat African American caller told Rush Limbaugh the day after the debates, "The Democratic Party is no longer recognizable to me."
The consensus was that frontrunner Joe Biden was verbally awkward, tripping over numbers and phrases, and providing confusing instructions to viewers seeking to sign up for text message updates from his campaign. While fellow Democrats gave Biden a pass for his politically incorrect comments during his term as vice president, he got no such slack for his debate faux pas.
To be fair, however, you don't have to do much these days to run afoul of progressive thought police. All it took was for Biden to tell Kamala Harris as she was introduced to the stage, "Go easy on me, kid." Biden was obviously referring to Harris' aggressive attacks on him during the previous debate and playfully, even deferentially, asking her to soften her blows.
Virtue-signaling liberals were compelled to evince indignation. BAFTA Award-winning television writer Dominic Mitchell tweeted, "Kid? She's a grown woman Biden. Come on, man. Don't be such a sexist wuss straight out of the 1950s." Another Twitter user said Biden used a "single sentence quip intended to simultaneously diminish Harris and characterize her as overly aggressive. He'll say it was a joke, which is what his supporters will claim while belittling critics as humorless and aggressive. Women know it well." Rev. Laura Everett was harsher, tweeting, "'Go easy on me, kid' may pass to some as folksy banter, but underneath is centuries of sexism and racism, and a presumption of privilege where niceness avoids critique."
Far be it from me to defend Joe Biden, but does anyone really believe he intended condescension and sexism there? Yes, I realize the thought police don't care what he meant and are eager to see subconscious slights where none were intended. But give me a break. Biden was just being Colloquial Joe. Period. Even Harris told CNN's Anderson Cooper she wasn't bothered by it.
But let these progressives strut their feigned outrage over such contrived conflicts instead of addressing substantive policy issues that might actually impact Americans' lives. This is who they are, and voters deserve to see that.
It's probably a good thing for Harris that she wasn't too vexed over Biden's alleged patronizing because she committed a worse violation along those lines against Tulsi Gabbard after Gabbard attacked her record as attorney general of California. Instead of addressing the substance of Gabbard's complaint, Harris rudely dismissed Gabbard personally during an interview with Cooper, referring to herself as a "top-tier candidate" and to Gabbard as being "at 0 or 1% or whatever she might be at."
Democrats also did the nation a rare service in, once again, revealing their certifiably insane policy positions, from health care to the environment. And as if to make sure voters wouldn't dare doubt their extremism, they all circled the wagons when any among them strayed from the party line and questioned the practicality of their proposals. When debate moderators or rival candidates challenged contenders to justify the financial cost of their plans, they were quickly accused of invoking "Republican talking points." We saw this from Crazy Bernie, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Julian Castro. Excellent. Any time a Democrat pretends to brush up against reality and common sense, another one savages him or her for acting like a Republican. I dare say Republicans have no problem with that image.
To further illustrate that there were no holds barred last night, the contestants were apparently so determined to knock front-runner Biden off his lofty perch that they attacked the policies of their idol, former President Obama, the man Biden served so faithfully. MSNBC's Joe Scarborough was none too pleased that these upstarts criticized Obama's agenda, including his immigration and health care policies. "It is insanity, my friends," said Scarborough. "We were sort of in a Never-never land last night in that debate. It was bizarre." Scarborough said many Democrats were furious at these candidates for "trashing Barack Obama's legacy. ... Give me a break. What's wrong with you people? You're going up against Donald Trump, and you're talking about defending Obamacare as Republican talking points? Who is advising you?" Co-host Mika Brzezinski agreed, saying this turn of events must have pleased Trump.
You're right, Mika. All Republicans have to be pleased and looking forward to more of the same.
David Limbaugh is a writer, author and attorney. His latest book is Jesus Is Risen: Paul and the Early Church. Follow him on Twitter @davidlimbaugh and his website at www.davidlimbaugh.com.