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 [ POLITICS ](https://www.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=396)

#  The Opposite of “Principled” Is “Progressive”—and the Democrat-DSA Split Proves It

Written by Ken Alpern.

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August 10 2026

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ALPERN AT LARGE - I really do miss the era of the JFK Democrats who once worked with Eisenhower Republicans to unite the majority of our nation.

What’s not to like about embracing moderate principles and an open mind, and to recognize that key issues usually have two sides to them (maybe three or more), so that compromise usually is the best approach to closure for the educated American people.

Then came the beginning of “a little bit more, and a little bit more, and a little bit more”, until finally the response of “NO MORE!” became the most appropriate response to a Left that (from Wilson to Biden) was proclaiming themselves “moderate” and “nonpartisan” when clearly IT WAS ALWAYS ABOUT THE POWER.

“We love the police but want more civil rights for criminals” became “we hate the police, want to abolish the police, and want to give more rights to criminals than law-abiding citizens.”

“Illegal aliens” became “illegal immigrants” and then became “undocumented immigrants” and finally became “citizens” whether they are birthright or snuck across the American border and violated international laws embraced by virtually all nations on planet Earth.

“Workers’ rights and the right to unionize” became “employers have NO rights and have to pay whatever unsustainable minimum wage the state can impose on them.”

The “colorblind approach to supporting civil rights and employment opportunities” became “race is everything, and some races deserve more rights than others because ‘privilege’ made up and declared as truth” against hapless innocent Americans born white or Asian who are as anti-racism as anyone in our planet’s history.

The “homosexuals have the rights to be accepted and have the ability to love and marry without fear” became “there is no such thing as gender or other related properties associated with the XX or XY combination of chromosomes in each and every human being.”

The “income tax won’t be more than 1% of a person’s earnings as per President Woodrow Wilson” became “combined state and federal income tax will be 60-70% or more as per Presidential wannabe Gavin Newsom.”

And so on and so on and so on.

Things kept changing, and liberals became infested with increasingly-left-leaning ideologues who soon became anything BUT liberal (which usually is associated with being educated and open-minded).

Because socialism and communism has NEVER ended up well, and because the so-called Scandinavian socialist countries were NEVER as socialist as American “progressives” claimed they were, and because the “medical care is free in other nations” was and is being morphed into hybrid models of “pay more to get more.”

Energy and environmental policy from progressives who ignore the laws of economics, biology, and physics? Forget it—“follow the science” doesn’t work from people who have no idea of what “science” and “the scientific method” truly are all about.

Enter the spoiled love-child of the Progressive, non-adult, ignorant Left, Hasan Piker.

Enter some mayors, political primary candidates from the Democratic Party who really belong in a new Socialist Party, and now we’ve got many “Democratic Establishment” leaders who studied and remember history to realize that those trying to “out-Democrat” the JFK Democrats will destroy the Democratic Party altogether.

And give President Trump and the GOP some amazing, breathtaking wins this November and in 2028 if things don’t change, thanks to the Democratic fanboys and fangirls in education and other public sector unions, and to a whole bunch of those Americans who either:

- Vote for a living instead of work for a living
- Are so enthralled with the memory of JFK and even Bill Clinton that they vote for the Democratic Party as if it were their favorite sports team

Are there Republicans who’d vote for ANYONE who a declared Republican? Yes, and I’m not a fan of those “sheeple” either. I don’t own a MAGA hat, to my knowledge, but I want a healed United States…

…and not a nation with no Senate, an expanded/packed Supreme Court, no borders, and no police forces.

But this is what happens when too many Americans have (for whatever reasons!) anti-GOP sentiments that eclipse their love of this nation (if ever they did love America), and that they’d rather eat every last one of the keys on their computer keyboard before they’d EVER vote for a Republican…

…who overwhelming dominate the coastal large cities, Chicago, and the decaying urban dystopias that still adhere to a one-party-rule government with ample evidence of an unsustainable form of government and ever-divisive culture.

On a final note, we’ve got a Fidel Castro-loving Mayor versus an aloof Socialist running against each other in what used to be the City of the Angels, and yet large hunks of our voting electorate have been educated and incentivized to think that more of the same is “juuuuuuuuuuuuuust fine”!

Which again proves the point that the opposite of “Progressive” really is “Principled”, and to adhere to an everchanging set of rules means that our nation’s, state’s, and city’s principles have for whatever dogmatic and/or convenient reasons been tossed out the window and into the garbage.

*(Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D, is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and is a proud husband and father. He was active for 20 years on the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) as a Board Member focused on Planning and Transportation, and helped lead the grassroots efforts of the Expo Line as well as connecting LAX to MetroRail. His latest project is his fictional online book entitled The Unforgotten Tales of Middle-Earth, and can be reached at<Ken.Alpern@MarVista.org>. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)*

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