‘Tis the best of times…’Tis the worst of times

The Democrats win the skirmishes but will they win the war?

‘Tis the best of times

Zohrab Mamdani is a Muslim. He is married, 34 years old and has never held a job. He initially refused to renounce “the global intifada,” whatever that means, and then backtracked and said it isn’t what people think it is. We still don’t know what it means. If elected mayor, he promised to arrest Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu for war crimes, if he sets foot in New York City. He calls himself a democratic socialist, which is basically a modern spin on an FDR style socioeconomic reform. He wants rent control, free buses and government operated grocery stores.

Mamdani won the elections last week, becoming New York’s first immigrant, Muslim mayor. He beat out a dynastic scion, Andrew Cuomo, who was the governor of New York, like his father before him. The Cuomos believed themselves to be the Kennedys of NYC until last week.

Mamdani won slightly more than 50% of the vote, settling any questions about the legitimacy of his mayorship. The last time someone received more than a million votes for mayor in  New York was back in the 1960s. Mamdani, who was polling a mere 2% in February 2025, ascended to the highest office in the greatest city in the world by November.

Like him or hate him, you’ve got to take a minute to appreciate Mamdani’s impressive win.

There are a lot of reasons why he won but the most important reason may have to do with his opponents demonizing him. They said he would bring Sharia law to NYC. The Republicans who are friends of Putin called him a commie. No one cared, especially the beleaguered Gen Z and millennials of the city who are struggling to keep up with inflation, pay rent and buy homes. The Democrats did the same to Trump, demonizing him from 2016 onwards.

Fear mongering doesn’t work any more. A third of New York Jews voted for a Muslim. The odds of Mamdani imposing sharia law in NYC are about the same as the odds of Trump cancelling his Big Mac and fries order on any given day. Let’s hope he brings in the Shakira law.

The democrats also won every other election last week- two governor seats and a whole bunch of other meaningless skirmishes, all of which they were SUPPOSED to win.

But ‘‘tis also the worst of times.

Tuesday’s victories can be misleading for the Democrats. Sure, Trump was on the ballot and the elections were a referendum on his pathetic performance in office since January. Trump in fact endorsed the loser Cuomo in NYC. Sure, the democrats won a bunch of skirmishes around the country but they risk losing the war that is coming in the 2026 mid term elections for congressional majority. For one, democrat voters may have blown off steam and prematurely vented their anger. They may be spent and not show up next year. The republican turnout may end up being stronger next year, stung by last week’s losses.

More critically, the Democrats continue to meander without leadership. They haven’t yet had the BIG INTERNAL FIGHT among themselves to decide their platform for next year. Should they go all Mamdani-style socialist or should they be more moderate? Maybe this will be settled in the primaries. Let’s see.

Trump,in the meanwhile, is demolishing the east wing of the White House to build a ballroom. Have you seen Trump dance? He moves his hands like he is jerking off two guys at the same time. It’s not clear why he needs a ballroom.

On a serious note,

I want to speak to my fellow Democrats. The future is here for the party. And it looks a lot like some form of socialism that Mamdani talks about. You may recoil at getting behind a socialist. But, remember these are all mere words and terms. The people asking for lower grocery prices, rents and wanting to be able to buy homes is not socialism. These have been the basic needs of humans over the millennia. Don’t fall for it when someone calls your guy or gal a socialist or a commie. It’s simply not true.

Also remember: there is absolutely nothing wrong with winning. I know many of you have a deep seated desire to lose by your way, which involves a bunch of senile white men singing kumbaya and pretending that they’re saviors of our liberties. The truth couldn’t be further from that. Biden did nothing for civil rights. He stoked wars and let 4 million illegal immigrants into the country, and refused to abdicate until it was too late. I wish we had had a No Kings protest in November of 2023. We might have fared better against Trump in 2024.

I’m convinced that a strong dose of populist socialism is the only antidote to MAGA. It’s time for the moderates to cede way to the young Turks of the party. It’s time for fresh, new blood. Their words may scare you but they’re the ones who can and will beat MAGA.

You may say, “I didn’t come all the way from India to live in a socialist country.” But we didn’t come all the way from India to live in a right wing anarchy, which is dismantling institutions and openly encouraging the end of democracy either.

War is coming next year. It won’t be for the faint of heart. Save your energy. Spend it thoughtfully. Don’t waste it on inanities that Trump wants you to. He wants to wear us down before the big fight.

If we lose our nerve and refuse to get behind our progressive friends in the party, we will lose everything. Anyone who disagrees with this should speak up now. Let’s get the squabbling over with pronto.

Shots have been fired in Gotham and they are ringing all around the world.

Have a great weekend!