The setting is 17th century France during the reign of King Louis XIII and the novel that is about that period written two centuries later deals with a swashbuckling trio of three sword-wielding characters who get mixed up with a cardinal, a queen, a duke and a king.

The novelist who penned this piece, Alexandre Dumas, became a well-known figure in his own native country, and his fame soon spread to the U.S. in the late 19th century when "Les trois Mousquetaires" was translated into English and was eventually appropriated by Hollywood (at least a half-dozen films were made of the Three Muskateers, starting as early as the 1920s).

Many have tried to portray the characters as defenders of the people, and several film adaptations have attempted to minimize its thrust as a romantic adventure and instead have subtly emphasized class struggle, equality, or collective unity, giving the story a socialist or anti-elitist flavor.

This was done in the 20th century during times of political tension, the most notable one being a Soviet Union-produced T.V. musical in 1979 entitled, "D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers."

and then …

Just the other evening, it happened again. Three new musketeers: Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and New York mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani appeared on a stage in Queens Stadium before a crowd of 13,000 in New York City beating the war drum of social justice.

Their plan? To empower downtrodden, needy New Yorkers who have been struggling for economic survival in one of America's most expensive cities by bestowing upon them a range of free services that would be funded by liberating wealthy New Yorkers from their wallets.

The general theme, though no one actually quoted Karl Marx, was "From each according to his ability to each according to his needs," 

Even Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul got a taste of the crowd's fervor as she was set to introduce Mr. Mamdani.

"Tax the rich" was their repeated mantra which made the chief executive of New York visibly uncomfortable as she couldn't repeat back those words herself lest she alienate a huge number of deep-pocketed donors or power brokers in the Big Apple, so she waited a few seconds before saying, "I can hear you".

Then it became clear to me, at least, that the whole evening was turning into a made-for-T.V.-movie that had a number of plots and sub-plots which helped to set the stage for the marriage of Dumas characters with another literary champion of the masses.

That is none other than the 14th century folk hero, Robin Hood, the charismatic resident of Sherwood Forest who stole from the rich to give to the poor.

The transformation was complete. No longer were the Democrats socialists-in-hiding. They had thrown open the door and burst from the closet into the glare of the camera, much to the pleasure of New York's underdogs, whose cheers reverberated throughout the stadium.

The Three Socialisteers had emerged, and unlike the groundhog were not about to go back into their hole.

They were on the march and busy laying waste to the disparity between the well-to-do and the have-nothings.

Their solution was a citywide (soon to be state and countrywide) massive welfare program that would make Franklin Roosevelt embarassed at the paucity of his "New Deal" in comparison.

Nay. They had felt the pulse of the people and were channeling Barack Obama's 2008 quote in Columbia, Missouri: "We are five days away from radically transforming the United States of America."

There was no going back. The Three Socialisteers are bound and determined to purge their old Democrat party of any leftover moderates or "bitter clingers" to an outdated philosophy of compromise built on collegiality.

The gloves are now off and political swords are drawn and the path forward is clear, and if it means that they must destroy the village in order to save it, it is but a small price to pay … as long as somebody else pays it.

Stephen Helgesen is a retired American diplomat specializing in international trade. He has lived and worked in 30 countries over the course of 25 years under the Reagan, G.H.W. Bush, Clinton, and G.W. Bush administrations. He is the author of fourteen books, seven of them on American politics, and has written more than 1,500 articles on politics, economics, and social trends. He now lives in Denmark and is a frequent political commentator in Danish media. He can be reached at: stephenhelgesen@gmail.com.

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