Most people of a certain age will agree that the early years of "Saturday Night Live" were the best. The skits and characters they created were hilarious and the furthest thing from being politically correct. That was the beauty of it. One of those characters created by Gilda Radner was an elderly hard-of-hearing woman named Emily Litella. Litella would appear on the "Weekend Update" news skit and mangle the day's current topics. Violence on television became "violins on television." After ranting on the topic she misheard and having her mistake pointed out, she would say, "Never mind."
To quote the late, great American philosopher, Emily Litella:
— Randy Clemens™ MJM Strategies Radio 🎼 (@bostonrandy) February 3, 2025
"Never mind." https://t.co/bBbKfPCjO8
Fast forward to 2026, and there is a new Emily Litella in town, the Democrat Party. It may have slid under the radar, but Democrats may have a new strategy, just in time for the midterm elections. It's called the "Oops" strategy. If they now just call one of the many ridiculous ideas they have had in the past "a bad idea," then there will be no memory of it. However, there will be plenty of memories of the results.
READ MORE: Bill de Blasio Discovers Reality: 'Defund the Police' Made No Sense
Recently, former New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio appeared with Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity on Hannity's podcast. The subject of "defund the police" came up, and DeBlasio admitted, "In retrospect, the whole concept of 'defund the police' made no sense." He went on to call it "a mistake."
What were the results of what DeBlasio called merely a mistake? From 2019 to 2021, murders nationwide rose 44 percent, but then fell from 2021 to 2024 by 39 percent as more cops went back to enforcing the law. In the post-George Floyd era, police departments across the country, who were vilified and demoralized, pulled back, making fewer stops and arrests.
Many elected officials who initially were all in on "defund the police" began to realize that no police on the streets was not popular among the public, a.k.a., voters, and backed off that position. For some departments, there are still lingering effects. As of September 2025, the St. Louis Police Department was still down 30 officers from August 2024, and 300 positions remained open. "Oops! Never mind!"
Former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio tells Sean Hannity the “defund the police” movement was a "mistake" and that Democrats “rightfully deserve” criticism on the border. pic.twitter.com/r0oajF6kCz
— Fox News Flash (@FoxNews_Flash) March 18, 2026
Then there is New York Governor Kathy Hochul. My colleague Ward Clark recently reported on Hochul appearing to backtrack on her support for a 2019 climate law that is now raising utility costs, prompting Hochul to seek to delay the full implementation of the law. But Hochul may be a day late and many tax dollars short as more New York residents call it quits in the Empire State. The 2019 law includes such mandates as reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2030 and net-zero emissions statewide by 2050. Once again, "Oops, never mind."
ALSO READ: 'We Need More Time' for Costly Climate Change Law That's Raising Utility Rates, Says NY Gov. Hochul
The climate law debacle is not Hochul's first "Oops, never mind" moment. In 2022, while running for governor, she told New York Republicans to "Jump on a bus and go to Florida where you belong," and "Get out of town." So they did. Now, she recently stated that she needs ex-New Yorkers to return, who are high net worth, to support the "generous social programs" that she wants. She also wants "patriotic millionaires" to go to Florida to "see who you can bring back home." Newsflash, Governor Litella: they are home, and they're not coming back. That get out of town thing? "Oops, never mind."
Kathy Hochul is singing a very different tune now that the NY "tax base has been eroded" and she's in desperate need of people "who are high net worth to support the generous social programs" she wants.
— Julia 🇺🇸 (@Jules31415) March 21, 2026
In 2022, she was shouting at them to "jump on a bus" and "get out of town."… pic.twitter.com/Er3aRLh9Fr
The late author and journalist P.J. O'Rourke may have given the best definition ever of liberalism. He said,
“At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child — miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied, demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless. Liberalism is a philosophy of sniveling brats.”
If they just say "I'm sorry," or "Never mind," all of their childlike buffoonery will just, poof, disappear. What remains is the mess they have created.
