Nobody Counterfeits Something Worthless

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then bad imitation must be the sincerest form of comedy.

If the old saying that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery is true, conservatives should probably feel honored by the modern Democratic Party. After all, Democrats increasingly seem desperate to imitate the language, imagery, and moral certainty of the very Christians and conservatives they spent decades mocking. The problem is that imitation only works when it is believable. A Tudor resembles a Rolex because it at least attempts to copy the craftsmanship and function of the original. What Democrats often produce instead is the political equivalent of a TEMU counterfeit conservative Christian: recognizable from a distance, absurd upon inspection.

The latest example is Texas Democrat James Talarico, who has built a media presence around presenting himself as a kind of progressive evangelical. He quotes scripture fluently, invokes Christian morality, and wraps left-wing politics in the language of compassion and spiritual concern, but unfortunately for the Dems, the performance feels less like authentic Christianity than a focus-grouped attempt to market progressive ideology to culturally Christian voters who are drifting away from the left.

Talarico is hardly alone. Democrats who once sneered at religion as backward now routinely stage photo-op baptisms, quote selectively from the Gospels, and insist that Jesus would naturally endorse the entire modern progressive agenda from expansive government bureaucracy to identity politics. The same party that spent years pushing Christianity out of the public square suddenly rediscovers church language every election cycle when polling shows weakness among working-class believers.

You can see the imitation everywhere. Democrats increasingly try to mimic conservative patriotism after years of treating American symbols with embarrassment or suspicion. Politicians who once avoided the flag now wrap themselves in it. Progressive activists who lectured Americans about systemic evil suddenly speak the language of “freedom,” “community,” and “faith.” Even the aesthetics have shifted. The left increasingly attempts to create parallel versions of conservative institutions: “faith-based” progressivism, “patriotic” socialism, even attempts at masculine imagery after years spent condemning traditional masculinity as toxic.

But what these imitations reveal seems more like insecurity than confidence.

From John Kerry lookin’ for him a huntin’ license to the Kamala Kids trying to sell husband Doug and Timmy Walz as the new masculinity, it’s all fake.

The fact is that nobody counterfeits something that is worthless and nobody spends enormous political energy trying to recreate cultural forms they secretly believe are obsolete. Democrats understand something their activist base often refuses to admit openly: Christianity, patriotism, family stability, and traditional morality still carry enormous cultural legitimacy with ordinary Americans. Working people may not articulate it in academic language, but they instinctively trust institutions and values that have survived generations over ideological fashions manufactured in universities and media newsrooms.

That is why the Democratic imitation always feels slightly off. Christianity without repentance becomes therapy. Patriotism without gratitude becomes branding. Masculinity without responsibility becomes performance art. The result resembles a cheap replica that captures the shape but misses the substance.

Even their attempts at cursing, something they really think regular people do all the time, are cartoonish. When I cuss, there is legitimate spontaneity and emotion behind it, it’s not like I practiced it in a mirror for an hour or two before saying or writing it.

Perhaps that is the real compliment conservatives should take from all this. The left spent decades trying to destroy the moral and cultural foundations of traditional America. Now, watching those foundations retain their power with ordinary citizens, Democrats increasingly find themselves trying to borrow the very imagery, language, and values they once treated as enemies.

A counterfeit Rolex (even Rolex’s Tudor brand) still is not a real Rolex.

One hopes voters eventually notice the difference.