WASHINGTON – According to “The Hill,” the Democratic National Committee (DNC) under the leadership of DNC Chair Ken Martin has abandoned its After Action Review (AAR – or autopsy if you prefer) of the disastrous 2024 shellacking.

What?! The Hill reported, “The party, says DNC Chair Ken Martin, needs to move forward, not look back.” That’s right. Good ‘ole Joe and Kamala did a fantastic job last year! For the Republicans!

I’m sorry, did I write that Ken Martin is the DNC leader? Forgive me. He is the epitome of why the Democrats will never enjoy majority control in this nation again. Avoidance is not leadership.

Martin and the DNC leadership are revealing, again, their arrogance. That is the surest recipe for an ongoing string of losses that will, in short order, make the Democratic Party irrelevant.

I’ve conducted many AARs, not only for political campaigns, but also disasters, as part of my professional life was spent working in Community Preparedness and Disaster Management. The most important reason for conducting an AAR is to learn what went right and what went wrong during the management of a disaster. It’s not uncommon for hospitals, for example, to want to skip right over those. It’s bad PR. It’s also deadly. If a hospital won’t examine the times it fails to fulfill its mission, it will continue to have disasters. Then, the cycle repeats. With each disaster, more dust is swept under the rug. It isn’t sustainable, but you can’t tell money-changers running hospitals that.

Clearly, the same is true for Democrats. The point of doing the AAR is to improve your performance the next time an election comes around. By dropping it, the DNC has just inflicted a wound upon itself that could prove mortal. If so, it is deserved.

The last couple of days I’ve written brief articles pointing out how I believe that Donald Trump, MAGA and the whole sick movement is on the ropes. Today I’m not so sure. Again. Any time I think I have the Democrats figured out, they do the opposite of what should be done – they disrespect voters and the people working on the AAR.

I’ve got news for them. People haven’t fallen in love with Democrats all of a sudden. Where they are winning in these mid-cycle elections has much more to do with people simply exhausted with Donald Trump, Mike Johnson, loosing health insurance, a lousy economy and the effort to delay release of the Epstein files.

Now, this AAR the Democrats have just dropped isn’t going to have shocking revelations like those that we are lead to believe will come out of this Epstein scandal. Still, it is likely the report is quite embarrassing for the “honorables” at the DNC. But I have to ask, what could be more embarrassing than losing the presidency to a convicted criminal with the vilest tendencies of any person to be in the Oval Office during my lifetime?

With that in mind, Martin and the DNC are just plowing ahead, thinking they’re the brightest kids in the class and are above us all. That is why the Democrats have been drubbed by the Republicans and will be again. And again. If you are a Democrat and don’t believe me, get out and talk to people; they don’t love you.

I have no idea why Martin is in public service. He is certainly not a professional. No reputable organization that size and with the high stakes mission it has would ignore their mistakes. They would, regardless of how painful it is, complete the review, identify problems and devise corrective action plans. Failure to finish this job is Dereliction of Duty. Is is also a stark reminder that the Democrats have learned nothing. Nothing.

That’s scary because the DNC would have us believe that the entire universe is in peril if they are not the majority party. “Just trust us” is what Martin is saying. I don’t think so.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Congressional Democrats trusted the GOP to actually negotiate in good faith to fund the ACA subsidies beyond the end of this year. That was a horrid mistake by Democrats. Perhaps if they had read the AAR they’ve commissioned, they’d realize they haven’t learned a damn thing. They got outflanked by the GOP. Again.

When you realize bad things are happening to you again and again, you don’t keep doing those things. Or at least that’s what I’ve learned as I approach my 70^th birthday.

I wouldn’t want Ken Martin coaching my grandchildren in youth sports. All they would learn from him is cowardice and avoidance for accepting responsibility for their mistakes. That is a recipe for mediocrity.

And this is why the GOP simply keeps winning. They don’t need to conspire to “take over the country.” The Democrats are handing them the keys.

Martin would make a great hospital CEO. Sweep all bad news under the carpet. But he is the last person that I would look to for bold, strong leadership to move the party forward. He has thrown away his rear-view mirror. In disaster management, one needs full situational awareness. You can’t have that when you can’t see in all directions, and you certainly can’t be prepared for the next disaster.

So, if you’re a Republican and might be concerned about the next election, relax. Just do your thing. The Democratic Party does not pose a threat to you. They’ve already surrendered. But they are too arrogant to know it.

I’ve had enough of this. They’ve lost any hope of getting my vote. I’m sure they don’t care, which is another reason to tell them to kiss off.

This is amateur hour at the DNC.

It is not amusing for those Americans that want to see a robust, exceptional political system that gives us true choices of people wishing only to be public servants. Not yet though. Martin still has oligarchs to keep happy, just like the GOP.

© Michael M. Barrick, 2025. Barrick is a Fellow of the North Carolina Institute of Political Leadership (IOPL) and holds a post-graduate Certificate in Community Preparedness and Disaster Management from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. He has been involved in numerous political campaigns, served in elective office and has been the Safety Officer/Disaster Preparedness Coordinator for two hospitals before his “retirement.”

Clown Photo by Ben Wicks on Unsplash

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