American politics once revolved around ideas — tax reform, national defense, energy independence, health care. But one side of the aisle has abandoned the work of persuasion for the theater of grievance. The modern left no longer campaigns on what it can build but on what has supposedly been done to it.Victimhood has become the left’s organizing principle. The emotional currency of grievance has replaced the intellectual currency of ideas. That shift isn’t just cynical; it’s corrosive. It undermines the American spirit of self-reliance, accountability, and perseverance — the virtues that built this country in the first place.Let others compete for who has suffered most. America’s story has never been written by its victims — only by its victors.Consider New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. Last month, he delivered a tearful campaign speech recalling how his “aunt stopped taking the subway after 9/11 because she didn’t feel safe in her hijab.” The story went viral. Media outlets rushed to elevate it as another morality play about post-9/11 Islamophobia.Within days, however, fact-checkers discovered that the “aunt” didn’t live in New York City — and wasn’t his aunt at all but his father’s cousin. The story collapsed, but the damage was done.Even if the tale were true, Mamdani’s framing was an insult to truth. His version turned the “victim” of 9/11 into someone who merely felt uncomfortable. The real victims were the firefighters who ran into burning towers, the police who breathed toxic dust for months, the passengers of Flight 93 who fought back knowing they would die, the families who never saw their loved ones again. To recast that national tragedy as a story about personal unease is moral inversion.Privilege posing as persecutionMamdani is no symbol of oppression. He was born in Uganda to two global elites: filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani. Educated at elite institutions, including Bowdoin College in Maine, he embodies privilege — not persecution.He’s not alone. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has built her career on the same inversion. A graduate of Boston University, raised in a comfortable Westchester suburb, AOC is a product of the meritocracy she derides. Her father was an architect; her family owned a home. Yet her political persona depends on playing the perpetual underdog — the marginalized woman of color silenced by “the patriarchy.”When criticized, she doesn’t answer with arguments but with emotion. Dissent becomes “hate.” Opposition becomes “bigotry.” As Newsweek once put it, “AOC’s weaponized victimhood undermines women.”Grievance as statusThis inversion — privilege masquerading as oppression — reveals something deeper about the left’s political psychology. Victimhood now confers moral authority. The more wounded you appear, the more virtuous you become. Pain is power.But grievance politics reshapes the citizen’s role in democracy. Instead of the proud American who builds and contributes, we get the dependent petitioner, perpetually wronged and perpetually in need of government rescue. The state becomes therapist and provider, not guardian of liberty.That’s why so many progressive campaigns sound like group therapy sessions. The message isn’t, “Here’s how we’ll improve schools or secure the border.” It’s, “Here’s who hurt us, and here’s who must atone.” The goal isn’t reform — it’s retribution.The vanishing of virtueWhen politics becomes a contest of feelings, truth and accountability vanish. Success is no longer measured by safer streets, better jobs, or stronger families, but by how “seen” or “unsafe” someone feels. Emotional satisfaction replaces objective progress.But the American promise was never about comfort. It was about courage — the willingness to build, to sacrifice, to endure. This nation doesn’t owe its strength to grievance but to grit.Think back to 9/11. The real victims weren’t the politically convenient ones. They were the firefighters who ran toward the towers, the police who never came home, the husbands and wives who never got to say goodbye, the children who grew up without parents. To twist their sacrifice into a sermon on discomfort dishonors them.RELATED: The left’s new religion has no logic — and AOC is its perfect preacher Photo by Bloomberg / Getty ImagesFrom grievance to gratitudeThe contrast couldn’t be clearer. One version of politics says, “I was wronged, therefore I deserve.” The other says, “I was blessed, therefore I will serve.” The left has built a moral economy where pain is currency. Conservatives must offer a different creed — one grounded in purpose, gratitude, and resilience.Freedom, not fairness, defines America’s promise. Adversity refines character; it doesn’t define it. As the nation nears its 250th birthday, we should remember who we are — a people forged by hardship and lifted by hope.Let others compete for who has suffered most. We’ll compete for who can spread the most good. America’s story has never been written by its victims — only by its victors.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris is calling for the voting age to be lowered to 16, arguing that Generation Z — a group she says has grown up under the shadow of the “climate crisis” — deserves to have a stronger political voice.“I think we should reduce the voting age to 16. I’ll tell you why. So Gen-Z, they’re age about 13 through 27. They’ve only known the climate crisis. They’ve coined the term ‘climate anxiety’ to describe fear of not only being able to buy a home, but fear it’ll be wiped out by extreme weather, but fear of having children,” Harris said on “The Diary of a CEO” podcast.“They know everything that’s happening right now is going to impact them more than anybody older than them for the most part, in terms of how these systems work. If they’re voting, right now, at 16 and up, they’re going to be talking about the importance of climate,” she added.BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales sees right through Harris’ charade, saying there’s a “reason why they have infiltrated the education systems,” and it’s simply an attempt to “brainwash the youth.”Especially considering the fact that recently, Harris boldly asserted that the youth are “stupid.”“What else do we know about this population, 18 through 24? They are stupid. That is why we put them in dormitories and they have a resident assistant. They make really bad decisions,” Harris said in a speech, which drew laughter from the audience.“And there it is. Really bad decisions like voting for Democrats and Democrat policies. This is why the Democrats are importing their voters from other countries. This is why they advocate for lowering the voting age,” Gonzales comments.“Because anyone with two functioning brain cells who can communicate and understand the values and principles upon which this country was founded understand that their policies are simply r*****ed,” she continues.However, Gonzales points out that while Harris is still fearmongering about climate change in hopes that the youth will take it as gospel — even Bill Gates has taken a step back from climate alarmism.“The guy who was pushing that message for years, one of the main ones, Bill Gates, he’s like, ‘Actually, it’s not — we’re just not going to do this anymore,’” Gonzales says.“In fact, he even wrote this big essay encouraging his rich friends to shift resources away from the battle against climate change and into like, ‘let’s help the starving kids,’ which I would also caution you about that because Bill Gates is an evil son of a b***h. So don’t trust a word of what he says,” she continues.“Now why the flip? Because it was all a lie. The climate-change hoax was specifically to control this narrative, to get people fearful and anxious and scared,” she says, adding, “I mean, I would be scared, too, if I actually believed that the world was going to end.”Want more from Sara Gonzales?To enjoy more of Sara's no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Golf and PGA Tour legend Gary Player is still playing as he turns 90.The South African was the first international player to win at the Masters in 1961, and a star was born. Even though Player broke the tournament's rules by taking the prized green jacket back home with him in 1962 despite losing to Arnold Palmer — only the reigning champion can take the jacket home, for that year only — a lifetime later, he is still making headlines.'I really suffered a lot. A lot.'In April, Player shocked the crowd in Augusta, Georgia, teeing off at 89 years old and finishing his shot with a signature high kick."I'm standing here for the 67th time, and I think the word is gratitude, just being here," Player said at the time.He turned 90 years old on Nov. 1, and now one of the sport's oldest stars is sharing his secrets to living a long life."Under eat. Exercise. Read. Prayer/meditate. Love. Ice bath. Gratitude. Sleep. Laugh a lot. Keep busy. Friends. Do things you don't want to do," he said recently.The secrets were not his, though. While he may have the rules written on a laminated card in his wallet, he once received the advice from a gerontologist as a list of 12 keys to living to 100."All the gerontologists varied to a degree, but basically what they all agreed on to live a long time is under eat," Player told Golfweek. "Everybody's eating too much. Obesity, which is killing them."Publicly declaring that living to 100 is now his goal, Player shared more of his regimen for good health.RELATED: Justin Bieber confesses Christian faith in candid livestream Arnold Palmer (L) presents Gary Player (R) with the green jacket at the 1961 Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. Photo by Augusta National/Getty Images Working out or playing golf as many days as possible is part of Player's plan. Weight training, walking the beach, and swimming are included."But not far out," he said. "Because I'm very wary of sharks."The thought of living to 100 is in Player's head "every day," he explained, saying he thinks he will get there so long as he does not contract a disease. "[It] can happen because the food is all sprayed, you know, and it's the things that prevent you from becoming a hundred."Player opened up about his younger years in South Africa, saying that when he was a kid he thought of golf as nothing more than a "sissy sport."Soccer, rugby, and cricket were more revered in his eyes."When you experience what I experienced as a young man, which is living like a junkie or a dog ..." he told the outlet. "I went to this great school, which really helped me, but I'd go home at night, nobody there, cook my own food. I'd get up at 5:30 in the morning to travel to school."When he eventually started playing golf, Player said he made a promise to himself that if he ever became a champion, he would help others in a similar situation.He continued, "So I really suffered a lot. A lot. I lay in bed for two years on and off wishing I was dead, crying in bed. That was the greatest gift bestowed upon me ever. And that's what made me a world champion."RELATED: NBA coach, former player arrested in Mafia-tied nationwide gambling bust Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images Player has 24 wins on the PGA Tour and 22 wins on the PGA Tour Champions. He has victories in nine majors, winning three Masters: 1961, 1974, and 1978. He also has 118 international wins.Player was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.Through all his success, Player says he knows why people die — it comes from retirement."I think people retire too early," he said. "To me, it's a death warrant," he explained. "They say, 'I've worked hard; I'm going to take it easy.' And yes, literally, they do. They go home and they sit there and they overeat and they watch television and they die within three years."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

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