Dems on the roof, Taylor Swift in a chopper

Democrats decry the dearth of young folk in their movement. But what happens when the yoots show up?

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A man lived in a small, modest house in a small, modest town, and he was very religious. He prayed, and God loved him.

One day, after it had been raining continuously for a week, a police car with a large megaphone appeared in front of his house. The police officer said through the megaphone, “Hey, you in there, the town is going to flood, you need to go to safety. Evacuate!”

But the man said to himself, I’m a man of God. I pray. God loves me. I don’t need to evacuate.

A while later, the waters had risen and the street was flooded. Water had covered his yard and was seeping into his living room, when a County Sheriff Deputy in a boat came by. “Hey you in there. The town is flooding. I’m here to take you to safety!”

But the man shouted to the deputy, “I’m a man of God. I pray. God loves me. I don’t need to evacuate.” So the deputy paddled away.

A while later, the flood waters had risen several feet, and the man was up on his roof. A National Guard helicopter came by and they shouted down, “Hey you, down there, your house is about to be washed away by the flood. Let me lower this ladder so you can climb up here and be saved.”

“No,” the man shouted up. “I’m a mad of God, and I pray. God loves me. I’ll be fine.”

A while later, the man’s house washed away in the flood and he was drowned. Now, at the Pearly Gates of Heaven, the man was met by Saint Peter. “I have a grievance,” the man said. “I’m a man of God, and I pray. Yet I died in this flood. I want to speak to God and register a complaint.”

A while later, God himself came out to the Pearly Gate and heard the man’s complaint. God responded, “Listen you. I sent you a cop in a car, a sheriff in a boat, and a guardsman in a helicopter. What more do you want?”

Democrats are always asking, “where are the young folks, we are all so old, we have so few youths, we need to somehow reach out to the young!”

Now, God does not sully themselves with politics, I’m sure, but somebody sent us Bernie Sanders. Like him or not, he led the youth to us, but half of us complained and few of us listened or even noticed them. A while later somebody sent us Kamala Harris, who by all accounts energizes audiences of 20-something-year-olds. But I’ve yet to meet an older Dem who does not dismiss her. Now, Taylor Swift has shown up. She’s like a squadron of National Guard helicopters with ladders. But most of what I see is virtue signaling (“Oh, who is that, never heard of her, I’m too sophisticated Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”) or Dems not even noticing the throngs of young folks paying attention to the sense she makes when she speaks to them, or giving credit for her outreach and community work (did you know about that)?

When youth do show up and speak, older folks are quick to correct them, imparting our wisdom, instead of listening carefully. We don’t need more young folks, we need zippers for our mouths so we can listen better, and to have our cataracts removed so we can see them.

Our wisdom is limited, our hearing is bad. Our knowledge is out of date, our eyesight is blurred. Our plans are stale and we don’t move very fast. When younger folks show up on our lawn, we need to react like a grateful host and not a shouty old man.

Singer Taylor Swift recently signed on a QB for the Kansas City Chiefs. [AI image by Leonardo.AI]

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This story is based on the “Parable of the drowning man,” origins unknown. The parable is known to many from the episode "Take This Sabbath Day" from The West Wing.

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