By James Banakis

June 5^th, 2026

Bob Dylan was only 22 years old in 1963 when he wrote his anthem of culture shift. The Times They Are A-Changin’ has always represented a call to awareness regarding shifting and changing social orders. Keep in mind this song was written before the Kennedy assassination which most historians identify as the tipping point between the passive 1950’s and the turbulent 1960’s. The assassination was a point of no return in our historical evolution. The Dylanologists have always obsessively suggested that his song was the beginning of Dylan the prophet and clairvoyant. I’ve never been part of this dumpster diving mentality, but I do appreciate Dylan’s poetic gifts. I also believe in cultural shifts that change us forever.

Once we become aware that there has been a transformational change in our lives, it’s then easy to become Monday morning quarterbacks. It’s always easy in hindsight to see where the momentum shifts. Much like looking back on any relationship gone bad. In real time it’s difficult if not impossible to identify the instant it starts to unravel. This is especially true if one is not capable of self-awareness, or in denial. However, in time and irreversible passage of events, we are finally able identify the tipping point.

Where am I going with this? I believe that we are at a point today of historical, tectonic shift in our national identity and purpose. Perhaps the most significant since 1860. For the last 30 years, we’ve been told that every national election is the most momentous of our lifetimes. They have been on an ever-increasing upward trend. For better or worse, this November’s midterms are going to be the beginning of that shift. Then, the 2028 national election will seal our fate one way or the other.

Victor Davis Hanson refers to the New Democratic Party, as the party of socialism and Islam. He said that they all behave like elite, pampered, insolent adolescents. He warns us that when those on the left tell us what they are going to do when they get into office. We must believe them.

When Susan Rice and James Carville scream and threaten to destroy companies and organizations who have worked with Trump once they return to power, believe them.

When Mayor Mamdani threatens to capture by force, private property and private business, believe him.

When Hakeem Jeffries screams and yells about how they intend to change the rules in Congress, impeach Trump for a third time, and eliminate the filibuster, believe him.

When they say they will eradicate the Electoral College and make Puerto Rico and Washington D.C. deep blue states, believe them.

When they say they will pack the Supreme Court with as many justices as they feel they need, believe them.

When they say they will open the boarders and eliminate I.C.E. thereby allowing all illegal people to vote, believe them.

When they say they need to dismantle the Bill of Rights because it is no longer relevant, believe them.

Why you ask would they do all these things, and the answer is they don’t care about our shared values and traditions. Their sole purpose is their absolute power and complete government control over our lives. The elimination of individual liberty. The absolute abolition of all opposition.

Hanson warns us that we saw an unvarnished preview of their governing methods during the Biden administration. Having states take opposition candidates off the ballot, so we can’t vote for them. Raiding the homes of opposition candidates. Using lawfare in five separate cases to ultimately incarcerate the opposition. Installing the candidate of their choice without a primary and then accusing the opposition of destroying democracy. Hanson calls the New Democratic Party autocratic fascists. He warns that if they regain power this fall this will have been just a preview of what they intend to do.

We know all the Democrats core beliefs poll against them 80 to 20 percent. They know if they run, and say for example we’re for open boarders, and giving government assistance to all that would enter the country, they lose the American people. Most sane politicians would change their policy to align with the prevailing norms. Last week Democrats released a flawed but self-initiated autopsy on the 2024 election. They ignored and attacked it by tossing it aside. Why would they do this instead of correcting apparent mistakes? Because the ideology is their religion and these people do not compromise with their faith. You’ve witnessed this repeatedly, believe them.

Their apparent campaign strategy is to simply and savagely attack Trump, the death of democracy, and ignore the issues. Then appoint a politician who is being used as a puppet, who aided by a sympathetic press will simply fail to address any of their unpopular policies until they get in office.

It’s a strategy as ancient as Homer and the Trojan horse. We saw the blueprint with first the Biden and then Kamala Harris’ campaign.

We now find ourselves at what I believe is beginning of that paradigm shift in history. We are a country of racially dissimilar people who have always assimilated and lived together in the past under legal and canonical documents. The Constitution, The Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence have bound us together even when the nation has proved itself to be imperfect. That’s because those documents have sustained us as a people. They lay out the founding principles of liberty, equality, the pursuit of happiness, the separation of powers, government by the consent of the governed, and basic human rights. This is what makes us unique in all the world. This is why Europe finds itself falling victim to their own socialist Islamic left turn. Without our founding principles, most importantly, our Bill of Rights, they may be doomed.

Bob Dylan’s universal anthem of transformation has withstood the test of time because its warning, while now addressing another generation, still delivers a notice to wake up or be left behind. The time has come to ask ourselves what type of country do we want to be?

I think we want to be a nation that defends our ancient heritage, our individual God given liberties, our shared values, and live up to the principles that have passed as a torch from generation to generation for the last 250 years.

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Jimmy Banakis is a life-long restaurateur.  He was an honorary batboy for the White Sox in 1964. He attended Oak Park River Forest High School, Nebraska Wesleyan University, and Chicago-Kent Law School.  He claims the kitchen is the room he’s most comfortable in anywhere in the world. He published an extremely limited-edition family cookbook. He’s a father and grandfather, and lives in Downers Grove Il.