Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

[Horatio Parker]

CNN public editor: The network still doesn’t know how to cover ‘the squad’

CNN clearly understands on some level that these four members of Congress are influential. If it didn’t, it wouldn’t run stories like, “Ilhan Omar says Biden isn’t progressive enough to be Democratic presidential nominee” or write of the endorsements for Sanders, “The pick-ups are huge. Some Democratic strategists think that outside of the Obamas, Ocasio-Cortez represents the most influential potential endorsement of the 2020 primary race.”

It’s yet to become fully apparent, at least to this viewer, that CNN appreciates why “the squad” is influential. It isn’t because they make a lot of noise, or because Ocasio-Cortez is much better at Twitter than any other elected member of Congress, or because they curse. It’s because they’ve managed, in their first year on the Hill, to contribute to a change in the kinds of conversations we’re having on climate change, health care, foreign policy, education—the list goes on.

To pretend otherwise is disingenuous. It’s time for CNN to change its conversation, too.

 

[lpetrich]

No one is receiving more negative coverage in America and the world in general than Trump.

What a victim he is!

Also, many if not most of the people within her district who voted for her last time will not next time, providing there's a credible alternative.

I think that it would have to be a better AOC than AOC.

 

[angelo]

"If all voters hear about is AOC, it could put the [House] majority at risk," said a top Democrat who is involved in 2020 congressional races. "he's getting all the news and defining everyone else’s races."
The poll — taken in May, before Speaker Pelosi's latest run-in with AOC and the three other liberal House freshmen known as "The Squad" — included 1,003 likely general-election voters who are white and have two years or less of college education.

These are the "white, non-college voters" who embraced Donald Trump in 2016 but are needed by Democrats in swing House districts.
The group that took the poll shared the results with Axios on the condition that it not be named, because the group has to work with all parts of the party.
The findings:

Ocasio-Cortez was recognized by 74% of voters in the poll; 22% had a favorable view.
Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota — another member of The Squad — was recognized by 53% of the voters; 9% (not a typo) had a favorable view.
Socialism was viewed favorably by 18% of the voters and unfavorably by 69%.
https://www.axios.com/alexandria-oc...020-aeaa3771-f142-4059-b79e-1fed569dfdf9.html

Only voters within her district can vote for her reelection. That her negatives are high in the rest of the country, which is not surprising considering the generally negative coverage, is irrelevant to her reelection. Which IIRC was your point.

Yeah, but the goal from the right-wing is to suggest that Democrats in moderate purple districts are just like Ocasio-Cortez, as in sitting far the left of Marx. And I think their plan is working.

The plan is working because blind Freddy can see it's true!

 

[angelo]

No one is receiving more negative coverage in America and the world in general than Trump.

What a victim he is!

Also, many if not most of the people within her district who voted for her last time will not next time, providing there's a credible alternative.

I think that it would have to be a better AOC than AOC.

Many of the younger generation, the ones who voted and are likely to vote socialist again have not had the experience of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet system of self destruction. Not helped by the mainstream media failing to report the reasons for the collapse of Venezuela or a Cuba, or everywhere else socialism has been tried.

 

[Patooka]

What a victim he is!

I think that it would have to be a better AOC than AOC.

Many of the younger generation, the ones who voted and are likely to vote socialist again have not had the experience of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet system of self destruction. Not helped by the mainstream media failing to report the reasons for the collapse of Venezuela or a Cuba, or everywhere else socialism has been tried.

Why do I have the sneaking suspicion you don't know anyone who grew up in the Soviet Union?

 

[angelo]

What a victim he is!

I think that it would have to be a better AOC than AOC.

Many of the younger generation, the ones who voted and are likely to vote socialist again have not had the experience of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet system of self destruction. Not helped by the mainstream media failing to report the reasons for the collapse of Venezuela or a Cuba, or everywhere else socialism has been tried.

Why do I have the sneaking suspicion you don't know anyone who grew up in the Soviet Union?

You mean it was a socialist utopia?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_killings_under_communist_regimes

 

[Patooka]

Why do I have the sneaking suspicion you don't know anyone who grew up in the Soviet Union?

You mean it was a socialist utopia?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_killings_under_communist_regimes

No it was a fucking nightmare. But only someone so fucking ignorant in how the Soviet Union was would compare Ocasio-Cortez's politics to Soviet Russia. They are nothing alike.

You want to know a fun fact, Angelo? I work with a couple of ex-soviets; one grew up in Belarus (still calls it Byerlrussia), one in Armenia. And my neighbours come from Lithuania and were asylum seekers in the early 80's. So they all lived in different parts of the Iron Curtain. Do you want to know the one thing they all agree on? It wasn't Reagan who brought down the Soviet Union - it was Islam.
I lied; the other thing they agree upon is that idiots in the west who compare everything they disagree with to the Soviet Union are fucking clueless morons.

 

[lpetrich]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Quick Daylight Savings tip: if you worked a late shift last night when the clocks rolled back & had to work an extra hour, make sure you check your paystub this week and get paid for it!
Computers sometimes miss it. Make sure you get paid - don’t let your labor get stolen!" / Twitter


Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "NYC: Did you know you can VOTE EARLY today?
It’s easy, I just did it, and I’ll show you how in this thread https://t.co/ZAioEhI8pL" / Twitter
She showed off a "I Voted Early" sticker on her coat and a "I Voted Early" bracelet.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "1. Find your early voting location. NOTE: It’s not the same as your regular polling location! So look it up since this is new for everyone.
Find yours here: [url]https://t.co/lt9pjNp3hY https://t.co/YPyI73NA2A" / Twitter[/url]
New York State adopted early voting only recently, and this is the state's first early-vote election.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "2. Find out how you’re going to vote! This year we have 5 ballot proposals, including one on RANKED CHOICE VOTING which is pretty cool.
Here’s the NYT breakdown on the proposals. It includes their endorsements & rationale but of course vote as you wish:
https://t.co/gETXK8RG8s" / Twitter
I like ranked choice or preference voting. In fact, I once wrote some code that implements not only instant-runoff vote counting (the usual algorithm), but several other vote-counting algorithms.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "3. Head to your location and vote! Make sure you check the times because they vary.
And if you don’t make it today, be sure to vote on Tuesday!" / Twitter


Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Won’t you look at that: turns out all the chicken littles on raising min wage were wrong!
GOP said the sky would fall if we raised tipped wages to $15/hr w #TipsOnTop.
Turns out both revenue & employment are UP since the #Fightfor15,& way more people are getting a fair shake." / Twitter
noting
The Conversation US on Twitter: "The $15 minimum wage was supposed to hurt New York City restaurants — but both revenue and employment are up (via @UBuffalo) [url]https://t.co/wxXJ7OCILk (cc @AOC #Fightfor15 https://t.co/oRR0gSywO1" / Twitter[/url]

 

[marc]

What a victim he is!

I think that it would have to be a better AOC than AOC.

Many of the younger generation, the ones who voted and are likely to vote socialist again have not had the experience of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet system of self destruction. Not helped by the mainstream media failing to report the reasons for the collapse of Venezuela or a Cuba, or everywhere else socialism has been tried.

Nope, but they are having a direct taste of a repeat of the Gilded Age, and don't care for where it is going... or where it already is for that matter.

Also, they DO have direct experience of the much better standards of European countries.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

What a victim he is!

I think that it would have to be a better AOC than AOC.

Many of the younger generation...

Are getting bankrupted with the cost of college, health care continues to be hard to afford, and saving money is made harder because interest rates are so low, that savings accounts barely (if at all) keep up with inflation. These are new problems that Gen X and before didn't have to deal with in such magnitude 'when they were young'.

The double whammy of low interest rates also affect them in new ways as the price of cars and homes continue to go up again.

 

[lpetrich]

I think that it would have to be a better AOC than AOC.

Many of the younger generation, the ones who voted and are likely to vote socialist again have not had the experience of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet system of self destruction. Not helped by the mainstream media failing to report the reasons for the collapse of Venezuela or a Cuba, or everywhere else socialism has been tried.

Nobody in that generation wants orthodox Marxism-Leninism, though there might be a few exceptions here and there. At least nobody not prominent, and certainly not AOC herself. She once said that, to her, socialism need not mean governments owning everything. IMO, she's rather muddled about capitalism vs. socialism. AOC has also stated that Venezuela doesn't have enough democracy.

Consider the case of Eva Putzova, someone endorsed by Brand New Congress, the organization that helped start AOC's run for Congress. She was born in Slovakia, but I can't find out when. She got a master's degree in the University of Economics in Bratislava in Slovakia, but in 2000, she settled down in Flagstaff AZ. So that would make her born before 1980, meaning that she had spent at least 10 years living under Communist rule there.

Eva Putzova - Brand New Congress

Eva Putzova was born and raised in Slovakia by parents who were local leaders and outspoken activists in the early days of the country’s post-revolution democracy. From an early age, Eva saw how people power can transform communities for the better, and learned to knock down walls and iron curtains, not build them up.

...
Eva decided to run for Congress after Frankie Madrid, a young activist from Flagstaff, was deported to Mexico and took his own life. Knowing the dangers of an autocratic society, she refuses to stay on the sidelines and will bring her “people first” values to Washington.

From the "About" page at Home Page - Eva Putzova for Congress

​Eva was elected to the Flagstaff City Council in November 2014 to a four-year term and was instrumental in:

• increasing the minimum wage to $15.50 per hour
• initiating the City’s first Climate Action Plan
• leading efforts to pass a resolution for Indigenous People’s Day
• approving Flagstaff’s (and Arizona’s) first paid parental leave policy
• passing a resolution to call on Congress to permanently address the legal status of DREAMers and pass comprehensive immigration reform with a clearly defined path to citizenship
• opposing uranium mining and the transportation of the uranium ore and reaffirming Flagstaff as a nuclear free zone.

...
As a policymaker she consistently put people first, and she intends to bring that perspective into Congress. While valuing fairness, inclusion, justice, peace, and democracy, she will champion universal healthcare, tuition-free college, immigration overhaul, and meaningful climate action through proposals like the Green New Deal and Indigenous rights, women’s reproductive rights, and workers’ rights. She will also raise a strong voice against the never-ending wars that cost thousands of lives, bankrupt our economy and make us less safe.

A sort of Eastern European AOC.

 

[lpetrich]

Chris Sommerfeldt on Twitter: "New: @AOC has settled @HikindDov's lawsuit, saying it was "wrong and improper" for her to block him on Twitter.
Hikind is thrilled. "This might be the first time that she actually says, ‘I was wrong.’ It’s great,'" the ex-Brooklyn pol tells @NYDailyNews. https://t.co/hyQhqEtlE0" / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ’sincerely’ apologizes for blocking ex-Brooklyn politician on Twitter, settles federal lawsuit - New York Daily News

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Monday settled a lawsuit accusing her of violating the Constitution by blocking former Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind on Twitter, saying her heat of the moment social media decision was “wrong and improper.”

“Mr. Hikind has a First Amendment right to express his views and should not be blocked for them,” the Queens-Bronx congresswoman said. “In retrospect, it was wrong and improper and does not reflect the values I cherish. I sincerely apologize for blocking Mr. Hikind.”

This is a day before her scheduled court appearance on Tuesday. Dov Hikind had harshly criticized her for calling Trump's detention centers "concentration camps".

“It’s pretty incredible. She’s apologizing,” Hikind told the Daily News. “This might be the first time that she actually says, ‘I was wrong.’ It’s great. It’s a great victory for First Amendment rights.”

He confirmed that she had indeed unblocked him from her account. Yet:

“I reserve the right to block users who engage in actual harassment or exploit my personal/campaign account, @AOC, for commercial or other improper purposes,” she said.

 

[angelo]

Why do I have the sneaking suspicion you don't know anyone who grew up in the Soviet Union?

You mean it was a socialist utopia?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_killings_under_communist_regimes

No it was a fucking nightmare. But only someone so fucking ignorant in how the Soviet Union was would compare Ocasio-Cortez's politics to Soviet Russia. They are nothing alike.

You want to know a fun fact, Angelo? I work with a couple of ex-soviets; one grew up in Belarus (still calls it Byerlrussia), one in Armenia. And my neighbours come from Lithuania and were asylum seekers in the early 80's. So they all lived in different parts of the Iron Curtain. Do you want to know the one thing they all agree on? It wasn't Reagan who brought down the Soviet Union - it was Islam.
I lied; the other thing they agree upon is that idiots in the west who compare everything they disagree with to the Soviet Union are fucking clueless morons.

Like I said. Most younger generation haven't a clue of what brought down the Evil Empire as Reagan called it.

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1989-1992/collapse-soviet-union

This is why far left wackos like AOC are so dangerous to Western democracy and freedom in the USA.

 

[Patooka]

No it was a fucking nightmare. But only someone so fucking ignorant in how the Soviet Union was would compare Ocasio-Cortez's politics to Soviet Russia. They are nothing alike.

You want to know a fun fact, Angelo? I work with a couple of ex-soviets; one grew up in Belarus (still calls it Byerlrussia), one in Armenia. And my neighbours come from Lithuania and were asylum seekers in the early 80's. So they all lived in different parts of the Iron Curtain. Do you want to know the one thing they all agree on? It wasn't Reagan who brought down the Soviet Union - it was Islam.
I lied; the other thing they agree upon is that idiots in the west who compare everything they disagree with to the Soviet Union are fucking clueless morons.

Like I said. Most younger generation haven't a clue of what brought down the Evil Empire as Reagan called it.

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1989-1992/collapse-soviet-union

This is why far left wackos like AOC are so dangerous to Western democracy and freedom in the USA.

That's definitely how the Americans view it. Every ex-Soviet citizen I know has a different story. Basically Мать-героиня broke the Soviet economy, and that caused the collapse, not Bush/Reagan rhetoric.

Anf again, comparing Ocasio-Cortez's politics to the Soviet Union shows you don't have a fucking clue what you are talking about.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

No it was a fucking nightmare. But only someone so fucking ignorant in how the Soviet Union was would compare Ocasio-Cortez's politics to Soviet Russia. They are nothing alike.

You want to know a fun fact, Angelo? I work with a couple of ex-soviets; one grew up in Belarus (still calls it Byerlrussia), one in Armenia. And my neighbours come from Lithuania and were asylum seekers in the early 80's. So they all lived in different parts of the Iron Curtain. Do you want to know the one thing they all agree on? It wasn't Reagan who brought down the Soviet Union - it was Islam.
I lied; the other thing they agree upon is that idiots in the west who compare everything they disagree with to the Soviet Union are fucking clueless morons.

Like I said. Most younger generation haven't a clue of what brought down the Evil Empire as Reagan called it.

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1989-1992/collapse-soviet-union

This is why far left wackos like AOC are so dangerous to Western democracy and freedom in the USA.

Which talks about the events, not the underlying why.

The biggest part of the underlying why is the fax machine. That was catastrophic for Russia because it permitted the distribution of information outside the official channels.

Raygun and Star Wars probably brought it about the collapse a bit sooner, but at great risk. Read about Stanislav Petrov--without him you probably wouldn't be reading this because the birds would have flown the coop in 1983.

 

[lpetrich]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "NYC: There’s still time to swing by your polling place and vote - polls close at 9pm!
This year we have *5* ballot proposals, including bringing ranked choice voting to NYC!
Find your polling location & read up on the proposals in the thread below. Takes just a few minutes " / Twitter

Knock Down the House - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - YouTube - a snippet from it where AOC and her bf Riley Roberts discuss campaign mailings, AOC's and her opponent Joe Crowley's. Hers is useful: it has the primary date and what she wants. According to AOC, his is a "Victoria's Secret catalog" with very little useful information outside of being anti-Trump and promising pork. Something that RR dismissed as "scary" and evidence that Democratic Party consultants are "garbage".


Checking on Amazon, I've found several books on AOC. Some of them are still in the works, but there are plenty that have been published. Like a children's book with letters of the alphabet and explanations of words that go with them, like C for Congress with a short explanation and a picture. Something like a book that AOC herself was apparently working on in her Brook Avenue Press book-publisher years. I've also found collections of quotes from her interviews and from her tweets, as well as an appreciative biography.

I've found a rather negative biography also, from someone who seems to think that she is a phony who is being propped up by some tech guys. This biographer also finds that a lot of people associated with her are reluctant to be interviewed by him.

 

[lpetrich]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Stumps For Cori Bush In St. Louis: Video | St. Louis, MO Patch - "Bush has been compared to the progressive Ocasio-Cortez, who pulled off a stunning upset in New York's Democratic primary last month." (at the time that that was written)
Describing how she was taking a very daring risk in running for office and how CB was also doing so.

She also described how reporters planned to visit her on the day of the primary election and how they stood her up. Instead, they reported on Joe Crowley. She described how the last two weeks were a big push for her and her campaigners, going door to door and phone banking to get additional votes.

In the primary, CB got 36.9% of the vote, as compared to incumbent William Lacy Clay's 56.7%, Joshua Shipp's 3.4%, and Demarco Davidson's 2.9%. A respectable performance, even if not a victory. She is now running again.

In her speech, CB said that you ought to care about your community if you wish to run for office. It's better if you end up with some fan club that wants for you to keep going.


Bloomberg on Twitter: "JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon tells CNBC that Elizabeth Warren “uses some pretty harsh words" that "some would say vilifies successful people” https://t.co/yyG29MRZYm" / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Y’all, the billionaires are asking for a safe space - you know, in addition to the entire US economy and political lobbying industry." / Twitter

 

[angelo]

No it was a fucking nightmare. But only someone so fucking ignorant in how the Soviet Union was would compare Ocasio-Cortez's politics to Soviet Russia. They are nothing alike.

You want to know a fun fact, Angelo? I work with a couple of ex-soviets; one grew up in Belarus (still calls it Byerlrussia), one in Armenia. And my neighbours come from Lithuania and were asylum seekers in the early 80's. So they all lived in different parts of the Iron Curtain. Do you want to know the one thing they all agree on? It wasn't Reagan who brought down the Soviet Union - it was Islam.
I lied; the other thing they agree upon is that idiots in the west who compare everything they disagree with to the Soviet Union are fucking clueless morons.

Like I said. Most younger generation haven't a clue of what brought down the Evil Empire as Reagan called it.

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1989-1992/collapse-soviet-union

This is why far left wackos like AOC are so dangerous to Western democracy and freedom in the USA.

That's definitely how the Americans view it. Every ex-Soviet citizen I know has a different story. Basically Мать-героиня broke the Soviet economy, and that caused the collapse, not Bush/Reagan rhetoric.

Anf again, comparing Ocasio-Cortez's politics to the Soviet Union shows you don't have a fucking clue what you are talking about.

AOC is preaching from the very same prayer book as used by the far left/Marxist aficionados, as is plainly visible by any rational person reading this thread.

 

[lpetrich]

Ocasio-Cortez says she'll win reelection by 'kicking ass' at her job

“I always feel like the best way for me to run is to really kick ass at my job,” she told reporters Wednesday night when asked about her primary challenger. “I aspire to do it better than anyone who’s tried to hold this seat before.”

That's better than bragging about how one's the best in everything. A LOT better. I also think that she's likely to win. However, she isn't taking her job for granted - she has been one of the biggest fundraisers so far.

“I continue to run with the same integrity that I ran the first time around. I don’t take corporate money,” she said ahead of a town hall meeting Wednesday at a public school in Pelham Bay in the Bronx. “I’ve never accepted corporate PAC money since I’ve entered into office. I haven’t taken a single meeting with a corporate lobbyist.”

She hasn't needed to, but being a celebrity has helped a lot in her fundraising.

There is now a wide-open contest in a neighboring district, NY-15 in the South Bronx, because Rep. José Serrano is retiring. Among those running is a certain Rubén Díaz, noted for making antigay remarks.

“Coming from grassroots politics myself, I’m very conscious of not trying to put my finger on the scale too early in the race,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I think it’s really important to allow the movements and the campaigns to blossom ... and then to kind of honor that later on with a potential endorsement.”

AOC wants someone with a fan club, it seems. Like she did for Tiffany Cabán.

Fun fact: AOC originally filed for running there and had to get her paperwork switched to NY-14.

 

[lpetrich]

AOC recently held a town-hall meeting in a Bronx high school, and the full video if it was at facebook.com / RepAOC

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez discusses Trump impeachment, legislative pack - her Just Society legislation.

Ocasio-Cortez addressed the audience at P.S. 71 in Pelham Bay, saying President Donald Trump has proved he cannot hold office without breaking the law.

... Ocasio-Cortez said Fox News' Tucker Carlson recently criticized her for being "anti-police" after saying those who can't afford a subway fare should not be criminalized. She denied that, say instead that it's anti poverty, which was the basis of the town hall discussion.

... "The situation we're talking about is very serious, and we're talking about the rule of law in the United States of America, and it's not an exaggeration to say if we don't hold these crimes accountable, the very integrity of our country is at stake," says Ocasio-Cortez.

... It has been a year to the day since Ocasio-Cortez was elected to office, and she called the last year a crazy one.