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Promoted from the diaries by streiff. Promotion does not imply endorsement.
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The political world went wild over the victory of avowed socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the New York primary in the 14th Congressional District. Let’s give it to her. Although the primary voter turnout was rather low, Ocasio-Cortez won by a pretty huge margin over the entrenched Democratic frontrunner, whom many see as Nancy Palsi’s successor after she retires, implodes, or switches to a recent battery at her robotics factory. Joe Crowley spent 10 to 1 less money than Ocasio-Cortez, which in a way contradicts the Democratic theory that massive money in politics guarantees victory. Good for her; most of her money came from diminutive donations, and she refused to accept money from lobbyists.
Following her victory, Ocasio-Cortez said:
The Democratic Party takes working class communities for granted; it takes people of color for granted. The party assumes that we will vote no matter how dull or half-hearted the proposals are.
OK…no one here is going to argue that Democrats are taking huge segments of the population for granted – working-class families, minorities, women, people from Kansas or the Dakotas, etc. And let’s give Ocasio-Cortez credit for achieving the American dream – rising from a bartender a year ago to become the next representative from New York’s 14th District – something that could only happen in America, not in the hellish socialist country that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez imagines for America.
The problem was that Crowley took the position for granted, and a smart Latina pounced on her the way an upstart named Dave Brat pounced on Eric Cantor in Virginia a few years ago. Crowley was so confident that he actually walked out of the debate. And Crowley’s stumble sent the Democrats into a tailspin. If she’s a sign of things to come, the last time the party went this far to the left, it gave us guys like Hubert Humphrey and George McGovern, so as a conservative Republican, I say let them come!
Her platform is the typical moist dream of socialists around the world:
- nationalization of health care and a single payer system;
- abolition of ICE;
- impeach President Trump (quietly… they’re not allowed to say that publicly);
- Medicare for All;
- guarantee of universal employment;
- free tuition at universities;
- paid family and diseased leave;
- housing as a human right;
- ending the war on drugs;
- “demilitarization” of the police;
- release the prisoners;
- open borders;
- infrastructure modernization, focusing on green energy;
- 100% renewable energy by 2035;
- ending corporate giving and;
- “peaceful economy”, whatever the hell that means.
Lost in the program is how she intends to pay for all of this, since all the money she has extorted from the “rich” to fund these programs will not be paid, especially since the “rich” have the means to set up nice bank accounts and homes outside the U.S. If she and her ilk ever got their way, I am sure the population of the Bahamas, Caymans and Bermuda would enhance.
But let’s be truthful. Ocasio-Cortez, in addition to embracing a socialist vision of America, also knows politics. Democratic politics, specifically, because she hasn’t been shy about playing identity politics. She’s portrayed Crowley, who served his constituents (they kept sending him to Congress), apparently well as an out-of-touch white guy who moved to DC and sent his kids to Virginia schools. In other words, a white guy just doesn’t fit in this Latino-black-Muslim constituency.
Plus, she’s a little crazy. At least as a state representative, Kelli Ward in Arizona investigated constituent complaints about alleged chemtrails, which earned her a call there. Ocasio-Cortez has no excuse. A professional community organizer (yes, another one of those) she said Customs Enforcement officers run secret checkpoints along the Mexican border where human rights abuses are taking place. She blamed Crowley when tear gas was used on protesters in Puerto Rico (note: Crowley represents a district in the Bronx and Queens, not Puerto Rico). Crowley got the message, calling ICE a fascist organization slow in the campaign. Too little, too slow, Joe!
And she’s most likely an anti-Semite. Now, not everyone who speaks out against Israel is an anti-Semite. Some are simply naive of geopolitics, while others are simply brainwashed into believing that Israelis are evil and Palestinians are peace-loving. But the truthfulness with which this candidate speaks out against Israel and for Hamas raises some eyebrows. This is a woman who campaigned on behalf of the working class citizens of the district, but it seems their concerns are on par with those of Hamas.
She justified her defense of the Palestinians with this false moral equivalence: “My background is as an educator, an organizer, and an activist.” “It was morally compelled, because I can only imagine if 60 people had been shot in Ferguson or if 60 people had been shot during a teachers’ strike in West Virginia.” Well, teachers are not terrorists, and there is no consensus on the Black Lives Matter movement. Nor were West Virginia teachers lighting kites or digging tunnels in someone’s backyard. And the protesters in Ferguson were more interested in looting stores for diapers, booze, and wigs.
She says many Jews and Muslims in the neighborhood have called to thank her for speaking out. Of course, she can’t name any of the estimated 29,000 Jews in the neighborhood. Then there’s the matter of Ocasio-Cortez’s massive supporter, Thomas Lopez-Pierre (what’s with the hyphens?). He’s well-known in New York circles as a bigot and anti-Semite. In public forums, Mr. Lopez-Pierre has used the N-word to describe black people and has been a constant critic of “greedy Jewish landlords.” He no doubt has his own copy Elders of Zion hidden under a pillow at night. He bragged about being with Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign and how many leaflets he had handed out. He showed up at her birthday party.
But she’s a smart Latina for a reason. In fact, she prefers to be called Latina, so I guess she doesn’t know what her gender is either. After Lopez-Pierre’s photos surfaced on social media, she posted this pathetic tweet:
Thank you for this opportunity and kindness. I have no idea who this guy is, hundreds of people entered the hall last night open to the public. I absolutely condemn any such bigoted and reprehensible statements.
She’s condemning his statements, not him. In other words, she’ll accept his support but just shut up. And so… she didn’t know who this guy was, and he just walked in off the street. OK, sure. Is the Brooklyn Bridge for sale too?
Drooling from the good people of MSNBC Good morning Joe had not yet dried on her before she began doing interviews with Steven Colbert and Hollywood began salivating over her candidacy. She received an endorsement from Ava DuVernay. The Oscar-nominated director tweeted in response to Trump’s response to Max Maxine Waters: “Ignore women of color replacing the old guard at your peril. Three words: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.” The day she won the primary, Comedy Central’s Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson Wide city tweeted: “Ocasio2018 is official on Broad City! Raising support until the last damn minute.” I haven’t heard the word “damn” used since Yosemite Sam.
Ex New York Times Editor-in-Chief Jill Abramson tweeted: “It kind of pisses me off that @nytimes keeps asking ‘Who is Ocasio-Cortez?’ when it should be writing about her campaign…”
Let’s face it: In a district where Republicans rarely field candidates and where, apart from a 10-year period in the 1980s due to redistricting, no Republican has represented since 1926, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will be the next congresswoman from New York’s 14th district. But it’s a depressed state of affairs that a person endorsed by Democratic Socialists of America, People for Bernie, MoveOn.org and Black Lives Matter will continue to grubby, pollute and defile the halls of Congress. On the other hand, Maxine Waters is still there. They would make a great comedy show together, so I guess that’s always a consolation.
