Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

[Harry Bosch]

Then about recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis. AOC says that we can do both, and she pointed to World War II with its massive economic stimulus.

The US didn't formally enter that war until Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. But that attack was such a provocation that it forced the politicians to leave behind trying to balance the budget. Worries about excessive government spending was something that had hobbled the recovery earlier, all the way back to Herbert Hoover. He did a little, but not much, and FDR did more, but not enough.

She wants renewable-energy jobs to have the same good pay and good conditions that many fossil-fuel jobs do.

She thinks that a Green New Deal in place would have made it much easier to respond to COVID-19. There wouldn't have been a shortage of PPE for medical professionals -- it would have been an easy thing to invoke the Defense Production Act to make more of them.

She then talked about introducing her GND resolution and how a big source of campaign money is fossil-fuel interests like the Koch brothers. She also talked about not taking politicians for granted, that it is not enough to elect them. JF then mentioned what happened with Obama: what started as a movement ended up a movie -- the participants in his election campaign then set back and watched.

AOC talked about how coal companies refused to finance their workers' pensions with the money that they got from bailouts. They appealed to AOC's office, not to Mitch McConnell's office.

I didn't see your link for the above? I'm assuming that by bailouts was the "PPP" program? If so, PPP was meant to cover payroll, not fund worker's pensions. Funding pensions is not an eligible expense for PPP.

Gas station secured small business bailout money, then paid for Trump billboards

Why do you call it "bailout money"? The purpose of the program was to encourage companies to lay off their workers during the pandemic and to keep them from unemployment. It's also intended to help companies bridge the gap from the shutdown to recovery. And it's been pretty successful.

Regardless: a company was eligible for PPP if their business "was financially affected by COVID". The author of the story is incorrect when he said that PPP was for small businesses that desperately needed the assistance to keep paying workers. My company was affected by covid. We shut down for 3 weeks. When we restarted, costs went up due to having to reengineer how we manufacture in order to keep everyone separated. But I paid all workers their full pay during the shutdown. Margins are down a little. But my sales are expected to be higher than 2019. I got the PPP. I show it as a liability. It will be shown as "other income" once it's forgiven. It's bolstered my balance sheet, given me reserves and confidence to not layoff anyone even if another shutdown comes.

 

[lpetrich]

Then JF asked AOC how she endures all the hostility that she gets. AOC speculates that it's to wear down progressive people. She said that something that helps her is the grassroots support for her and what she supports. She feels like something that's larger than herself. JF said that that helps her also.

AOC said that she didn't expect to be running for office 10 years ago. She didn't have the social connections, she didn't want to have to schmooze with people outside her social circles, and she'd be all alone doing it. She didn't want to be some consultant-presented candidate. She went through a period of feeling very depressed and helpless, that neither party cared for her. Then she became an activist, and from there, she ran for office. Even if she lost, she'd go down fighting. But she felt a LOT better.

AOC and JF agreed that we have to have some joy in one's activism, singing and dancing and stuff like that. Her first term was all do this, do that, and she seemed to be settling down into a rut. Her "Among Us" Twitch session? She wanted to do things that she considers fun.

Then the "Thrive" resolution. AOC: hope is about work. Different from optimism. She has hope in "the movement".

Did the debates sway anyone? Not much, she suspects. Politics more complicated than the 1D left vs. right spectrum.

Activists who don't want to vote for Joe Biden? We must respect voters' concerns. Some Democrats will try to coddle Trump supporters, but not to those on the left. She doesn't like vote shaming. She also suggests electing the politician who is most vulnerable to one's activism. In this case, Joe Biden. She'd prefer to support a centrist than fight a fascist.

Who inspires her? Everyday people. Like the people of her district.

How to fight disinformation? One will have to fight Big Tech on this issue. Like their quasi-monopolies.

Finally about sexism and misogyny. Some success in challenging sexist and misogynist men. Like women turning away from the Republican Party. By making a statement about Rep. Yoho's nasty remarks about her, she wanted to help change a norm about responding to misogyny, that one ought to meekly submit and that responding to it is worse than the misogyny itself. Though she didn't expect her party to censure him, she decided that she could publicly humiliate him by exposing his conduct.

At the end, AOC acknowledged JF's activism in earlier decades as helping to make possible her career.

 

[lpetrich]

If A.O.C. Is So Heavily Favored, Why Has Her Race Drawn $30 Million? - The New York Times - "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is expected to cruise to re-election, yet the race for her congressional seat is the second most expensive House campaign in the nation."

Noting
Most Expensive Races • OpenSecrets

NY-14: AOC: $17.3M, John Cummings: $9.6M

“I guarantee you 75 percent of his contributors don’t know anything about him,” Tom Doherty, a Republican strategist, said of Mr. Cummings. “I don’t know anything about him except that he’s running against A.O.C. The people that are interested in that race financially are giving because it’s A.O.C.”

...
Mr. Cummings has made heavy digital and cable advertising buys, blanketing his district, which covers parts of Queens and the Bronx, and even some areas outside it. ...

Mr. Cummings has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on mailers, ...

The campaign spent $560,000 on Facebook ads over the last three months, according to Facebook’s ad library, a public database of all ads on its platform. An overwhelming majority of the campaign’s contributors are from outside of New York.

“Long term, this race doesn’t help you build the party that I think we need,” Mr. Doherty said. “That’s not a race that we’re going to win, but that’s where we are at in American politics today.”

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has also spent heavily on Facebook ads, buying $1.6 million worth in the last 90 days. ...

She has also spent campaign funds to support an effort to get New Yorkers to fill out the census and to distribute meals to New Yorkers struggling financially because of the pandemic. One digital advertisement Ms. Ocasio-Cortez ran about census participation in September had 2.1 million views.

Facebook's ad library: Ad Library

Mr. Cummings has used his ads to introduce himself to voters as someone who has lived and worked in the Bronx for decades, suggesting that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez was an outsider who attended schools in Westchester County. He criticized her for opposing Amazon locating a second headquarters in Queens.

As Badrun Khan had done during her primary campaign, portraying AOC as a carpetbagger.

JC hopes to get the votes of "Joe Crowley Democrats". But does anyone in NY-14 miss Joe Crowley? In the MA-SEN primary contest, he supported Joe Kennedy III, but AOC's favorite Ed Markey won. So AOC beat him by proxy.

Checking on AOC's friends:

• MN-05: Ilhan Omar (D) $5.4M, Lacy Johnson (R) $10.1M
• MI-13: Rashida Tlaib (D) $3.8M, David Dudenhoefer (R) $0.9M
• MA-07: Ayanna Pressley (D) $1.9M (unopposed)
• CA-45: Katie Porter (D) $14.8M, Greg Raths (R) $1.3M
• CA-17: Ro Khanna (D) $3.7M, Ritesh Tandon (R) $0.16M
• WA-07: Pramila Jayapal (D) $2.5M, Craig Keller (R) $0.0027M
• CA-25: Christy Smith (D) $5.1M, Mike Garcia (R) $8.3M
• CA-12: Nancy Pelosi (D) $12.1M, Shahid Buttar (D) $1.6M

 

[lpetrich]

AOC on campaign literature back in 2018:
Knock Down the House - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - YouTube - AOC on her mailer vs. Joe Crowley's mailer. Hers stated when to vote for her and why one might want to vote for her - her platform.

His, however, was what AOC called a "Victoria's Secret catalog" with very little substance, not even the date of the upcoming primary election. AOC's bf then called establishment Democrats' consultants "garbage".

Cliff Levy on Twitter: "NEW: @AOC’s Republican opponent, who has almost no chance, has raised $9.6 million in his first bid for office. Republican consultants are using AOC to draw in big money from donors around the US. By @JeffCMays https://t.co/68ytbD5pwm" / Twitter

Streetfilms (986 videos!) on Twitter: "@cliffordlevy @AOC @JeffCMays All his commercials are about or feature her. Must be great to have nothing else to run on." / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "One perk about a GOP motivated by hatred is that it’s irrational and unstrategic.

All these millionsRepublicans are hate-pouring into my race (just for shady DC consultants to scoop up & burn) is less money channeled for them in tight swing races.

Please keep it up! " / Twitter
I like how bemused she sounds. It's such a contrast with Trump's Twitter rage.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "You can see how corrupt it is when you break down spending.

In NY14, GOP is spending on TV, mailers, etc (consultants get a cut of this)

In contrast, we did a $1M census outreach effort that’ll bring in ~$53M in federal funds for the next 10 years & defend # of NY House seats." / Twitter
So she did a good investment.

Emiin-Selch but spooky now on Twitter: "@AOC As an outreach census worker, thank you for that. We got more responses in - California - because they got your emails and saw other adverts.

Thanks!" / Twitter

ATXPDB on Twitter: "@AOC Another example of how the GOP doesn’t give a damn about their voters. How many dollars do they get from people who aren’t rich by demonizing AOC?" / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "We also developed and mobilized a multi-million dollar COVID relief + check-in operation that was used as a model for other Dem House members.

So when people donate on my side, it yields real benefits for people & the party. When GOP hate-donate, they just set money on fire." / Twitter
There's also what a great triumph it would be, doing to AOC what she did to Joe Crowley.

 

[lpetrich]

Andrew Golden on Twitter: "@AOC Same people screaming “we can’t afford Medicare for all or a green new deal” but they’ll literally flush money down the drain in an attempt to “own the libs”." / Twitter

Steve Marinucci on Twitter: "@AOC I really hope in the upcoming generation that you guys can make Fox News irrelevant. It’s the biggest danger to our democracy next to Trump." / Twitter

Smitty187 on Twitter: "@SteveMarinucci @AOC Worse. It created the climate to foster & nurture a 45. New Zealand PM spokesperson recently said they had such a united society because no Faux/Murdoch tv poisons their electorate with lies, anti-science screeds, conspiracy theories or false equivalencies. Faux OANN gotta go" / Twitter

JorrelofKrypton on Twitter: "@AOC "He said he plans to continue meeting voters on the street until Election Day because he believes there may be a local undercurrent of dissatisfaction with Ms. Ocasio-Cortez." This logic is insane. He is uncertain about local opinions and looking for any straws to grasp." / Twitter
He's being very quiet about being a Republican. I'm sure that he knows that he'll have to get votes from Democratic voters. But there don't seem to be very many "Joe Crowley Democrats".

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Gas station secured small business bailout money, then paid for Trump billboards

Why do you call it "bailout money"? The purpose of the program was to encourage companies to lay off their workers during the pandemic and to keep them from unemployment. It's also intended to help companies bridge the gap from the shutdown to recovery. And it's been pretty successful.

Regardless: a company was eligible for PPP if their business "was financially affected by COVID". The author of the story is incorrect when he said that PPP was for small businesses that desperately needed the assistance to keep paying workers. My company was affected by covid. We shut down for 3 weeks. When we restarted, costs went up due to having to reengineer how we manufacture in order to keep everyone separated. But I paid all workers their full pay during the shutdown. Margins are down a little. But my sales are expected to be higher than 2019. I got the PPP. I show it as a liability. It will be shown as "other income" once it's forgiven. It's bolstered my balance sheet, given me reserves and confidence to not layoff anyone even if another shutdown comes.

The point is the money was intended to keep things operating, not pay for political billboards.

 

[Harry Bosch]

Gas station secured small business bailout money, then paid for Trump billboards

Why do you call it "bailout money"? The purpose of the program was to encourage companies to lay off their workers during the pandemic and to keep them from unemployment. It's also intended to help companies bridge the gap from the shutdown to recovery. And it's been pretty successful.

Regardless: a company was eligible for PPP if their business "was financially affected by COVID". The author of the story is incorrect when he said that PPP was for small businesses that desperately needed the assistance to keep paying workers. My company was affected by covid. We shut down for 3 weeks. When we restarted, costs went up due to having to reengineer how we manufacture in order to keep everyone separated. But I paid all workers their full pay during the shutdown. Margins are down a little. But my sales are expected to be higher than 2019. I got the PPP. I show it as a liability. It will be shown as "other income" once it's forgiven. It's bolstered my balance sheet, given me reserves and confidence to not layoff anyone even if another shutdown comes.

The point is the money was intended to keep things operating, not pay for political billboards.

Well, he'll have to demonstrate that 60% of PPP funds were used for payroll. If so, the funds will be forgiven. If he used the PPP money for the billboards, then he'll have to repay the funds over a 5 year amortization period at 1%.

 

[lpetrich]

At NY-14:
Jody Rosen on Twitter: "Huge line at our polling place. Ran into friends. Great vibe. https://t.co/Rf4wJym6mc" / Twitter
then
Errol Louis on Twitter: "Not bad for a ghost town." / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Shout out to everyone voting for the first time this year.

I’ve received lots of messages from people of all ages + backgrounds sharing with me that this is their first time voting.

I’m so proud of you! Congratulations 🗳 " / Twitter

Michael Kobori on Twitter: "“We must choose whether this moment will lead us to regression or evolution, authoritarianism or greater democracy, extraction or preservation. Our greatest choice is to move towards a cooperative, collaborative world that aligns with scientific consensus.” @AOC in #AllWeCanSave" / Twitter

A book is now out: "All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis" - All we can save

The book's contributors:

Essayists: Ayana Elizabeth Johnson ... Katharine K. Wilkinson ... Emily Atkin ... Xiye Bastida ... Colette Pichon Battle ... Jainey K. Bavishi ... Janine Benyus ... adrienne maree brown ... Régine Clément ... Abigail Dillen, JD ... Rhiana Gunn-Wright ... Katharine Hayhoe ... Mary Annaïse Heglar ... Mary Anne Hitt ... Tara Houska—Zhaabowekwe ... Emily N. Johnston ... Naomi Klein ... Kate Knuth ... Kate Marvel ... Gina McCarthy ... Sarah Miller ... Sherri Mitchell—Weh’na Ha’mu Kwasset ... Susanne C. Moser ... Kate Orff ... Jacqui Patterson ... Leah Penniman ... Kendra Pierre-Louis ... Varshini Prakash ... Janisse Ray ... Christine E. Nieves Rodriguez ... Favianna Rodriguez ... Cameron Russell ... Ash Sanders ... Judith D. Schwartz ... Emily Stengel ... Sarah Stillman ... Leah Cardamore Stokes ... Amanda Sturgeon ... Maggie Thomas ... Heather McTeer Toney ... Alexandria Villaseñor ... Amy Westervelt ... Jane Zelikova

Poets: Ellen Bass ... Camille Dungy ... Joy Harjo ... Jane Hirshfield ... Ailish Hopper ... Joan Naviyuk Kane ... Ada Limón ... Louise Maher-Johnson ... Anne Haven McDonnell ... Lynna Odel ... Sharon Olds ... Mary Oliver ... Naima Penniman ... Catherine Pierce ... Marge Piercy ... Patricia Smith ... Alice Walker

Illustrator: Madeleine Jubilee Saito

Some of them I recognize as climate activists, like Naomi Klein and Varshini Prakash, and some of the names may be more familiar from elsewhere, like Alice Walker's.

 

[lpetrich]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "THANK YOU to the artists, musicians, snack and lawn chair providers, and everyday cheerleaders sustaining people’s spirits as they wait at the polls.

No voting line should ever be hours long, but we will overcome injustice and overwhelm the polls. #VoteEarly #MakeItCount 🗳" / Twitter
noting
Kristen Clarke 866-OUR-VOTE on Twitter: "BROOKLYN always shows up.

Love this marching band keeping energy levels high as voters wait outside Barclays Center.

Early voting runs from 10/24 thru 11/1 across NYC. Questions? Call 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683). #MakeItCount #VoteEarly #VoteEarlyny https://t.co/sKtP9CbBwO" / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Just voted! 🗳 https://t.co/UF2T12ICUY" / Twitter

Rep. AOC slams long voting lines, accuses Republicans of voter suppression - YouTube
She was interviewed when she went out to vote today - she said that one shouldn't ignore problems in blue states just because they are blue, like long lines at polling places.

AOC's Interview on CNN's State Of The Union - YouTube
Nice interview. She talked about rumors that Bernie Sanders might become Joe Biden's Secretary of Labor. But she thought that one ought not to make plans too quickly, that one has to win the election. For the House, that means Dems holding on to their seats and winning more seats. About Nancy Pelosi, she said that she'd vote for the most progressive candidate for Speaker, whether it is NP or someone else.

She also mentioned that her excursion into Among Us drove a lot of traffic into IWillVote.com

 

[lpetrich]

NY early voting: Huge turnout at polling sites across New York - ABC7 New York

NY early voting: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez join voters in Parkchester, Bronx - ABC7 New York - got only a brief blurb from her

De Blasio, AOC chide NYC elections board over long waits for early voting

NYCBoardOfElections on Twitter: "Early Voting Cumulative totals!! Please note this includes Day 1
New York - 40,838
Bronx - 30,484
Brooklyn - 61,315
Queens - 40,278
Staten Island - 21,000
Total Number 193,915" / Twitter

De Blasio, AOC chide NYC elections board over long waits for early voting

“Right now we’ve got a problem. The Board of Elections was clearly not prepared for this kind of turnout, and needs to make adjustments immediately,” de Blasio said at his daily press briefing Monday. “Long lines tell people to go home. That’s just the reality.”

About longer hours and more voting machines,

“If the Board of Elections says they don’t have the money, let me say right now, the city of New York will provide the resources,” de Blasio said. “They cannot claim they will not have the resources. This is about doing the right thing and making voting earlier for all New Yorkers.”

...
Ocasio-Cortez, who voted early in the Bronx, said if similar lines were seen in a swing state it would be a national news story.

“There is no place in the United States of America where two, three, four hour waits to vote is acceptable," she said at a news conference Monday. "And just because it’s happening in a blue state doesn’t mean that it’s not voter suppression."

De Blasio said he would “say it a little differently” and did not believe there was any intentional effort to suppress the vote.

“I don’t think there’s a conspiracy at the Board of Elections. I think there’s incompetence at the Board of Elections,” he said.

I agree with Mayor de Blasio here - it's more a fumble than deliberate neglect.

 

[lpetrich]

Dave Wasserman on Twitter: "This is some cold truth from @AOC. If NYC were in a swing state, its election administration would be a national outrage. https://t.co/Hu7nNIR4G4" / Twitter

Dave Wasserman on Twitter: "It's also evidence that major problems w/ election administration that hamper voting access aren't necessarily correlated w/ red vs. blue control of local or state government." / Twitter

Jay .... on Twitter: "@CrtvPrdx @Redistrict To be fair, Republicans controlled the NY state Senate for 75 years until last year. So they blocked plenty of bills that would have reformed the elections. Some have been passed since then. We never had early voting or mailing voting without having an excuse." / Twitter

Craig on Twitter: "@Redistrict @AOC I just voted in NYC this morning. Waited two hours and the line after me was even longer. Was pretty chaotic but glad I got my vote for Biden/Harris in! https://t.co/rHljoRxI0d" / Twitter


Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "It’s not just a matter of long lines either - in this year’s primary, thousands of voters received their mail-in ballots *after* the election.

In 2017, the NYC Board of Elections admitted in court it broke state & fed law by purging hundreds of thousands of voters off the rolls." / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "It should be easy to vote - that’s not a controversial position to have. And we should deeply care about disenfranchisement wherever it happens." / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: ".@brigidbergin reported on this in 2017: https://t.co/qyxq115WyX" / Twitter
noting
City Board of Elections Admits It Broke the Law, Accepts Reforms | WNYC News | WNYC - 2017 Oct 24 - "The New York City Board of Elections is admitting it broke state and federal law when it improperly removed voters from the rolls ahead of the presidential primary last spring, including more than 117,000 voters in Brooklyn."

 

[lpetrich]

Mara Gay on Twitter: "A reminder that the way to fix this is for Gov. Cuomo and the State Legislature to create a nonpartisan body to administer elections, and to set clear standards for those appointees. https://t.co/SETmdWAY8Z" / Twitter

Julia Marsh on Twitter: ".@NYCMayor does not agree with @AOC that long lines are a form of voter suppression:

"I don’t think there’s conspiracy at the @BOENYC, I think there’s incompetence at the BOE," the mayor says." / Twitter
Or else inadequate resources.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Voter suppression isn’t always abt intent. Whether borne out of conspiracy or incompetence, it almost always yields disparate impact on the working class, communities of color, the under-resourced, etc.

And shouldn’t an “incompetent” BOE be recognized as a huge, urgent problem?" / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "We should also shout out & appreciate many of the incredibly hard working poll workers out there who are doing a phenomenal job keeping people’s spirits up in line and working to operate the polls as smoothly as possible given the limitations of the moment. 🗳 thank you!" / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

Maggie Haberman on Twitter: "“She did go to college, right?” Trump says in taunt of @aoc during his second rally in PA, where he hopes to boost turnout of non-college-educated voters in support of his candidacy." / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "I could say yes, but who cares? Plenty of people without college degrees could run this country better than Trump ever has.

As much as GOP cry about “elites,” they’re the ones who constantly mock food service workers, people w/o degrees, etc as dumb. It’s classist & disgusting." / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "I’ve hired people w/o degrees who have done incredible, effective, & strategic work.

The more college costs soar, the more degrees become a measure privilege than competence. Our country would be better off if we made public colleges tuition-free & cancelled student loan debt." / Twitter

I like where she challenged Trump to release his college transcript. She offered to release hers as a comparison.

 

[lpetrich]

AJ+ on Twitter: "Chile voted to replace its dictatorship-era constitution by 78%.

It follows mass protests over inequality. The new one will be written by elected citizens, not politicians. Supporters hope it boosts:
education, health, pension
recognition of Indigenous people https://t.co/pJXgrBbVIF" / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "¡Felicidades, Chile! " / Twitter (Congratulations, Chile! )

Chileans vote in historic referendum on constitution | Latin America | Al Jazeera - "Voters cast ballots on whether to replace Pinochet-era constitution with new charter drafted by citizens."
Celebrations in Chile as voters back rewriting constitution | Latin America | Al Jazeera - "Chileans vote overwhelmingly to tear up dictatorship-era charter in favour of new citizen-written constitution."

Members of a 155-seat constitutional convention will be voted in by April 2021 and have up to a year to agree upon a draft text, with proposals approved by a two-thirds majority.

Among issues likely to be at the fore are recognition of Chile’s Mapuche Indigenous population, powers of collective bargaining, water and land rights and privatised systems providing healthcare, education and pensions.

 

[lpetrich]

John Cummings running for New York's 14th Congressional District against AOC - YouTube
He tried to imply that he does not have much connection with the national Republican Party.

He also criticized AOC for being slow to open a Bronx district office and for being difficult to reach.

AOC and Cummings, battling over House seat, 'see things differently' | National Catholic Reporter

Cummings defines his faith as part of what he described as a life of service, first as an NYPD officer who retired after an on-the-job injury, and his teaching social studies at St. Raymond, a largely minority, all-boys school.

He sings in the choir at St. Frances de Chantal Church in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx, an area, far different, and much more full of middle-class homeowners, than the movie image of the Bronx.

...
Cummings argued that he is better connected to the district, which is roughly 35% in the Bronx, with the rest in Queens.

...
Cummings described himself as a product of Catholic schools in the Bronx, and is quick to add that Ocasio-Cortez graduated from Yorktown High School, in a suburban area 37 miles from the city.

...
They met once, last year.

"She seems like a pleasant person. We just see things differently," Cummings told NCR about his opponent.

...
Ocasio-Cortez is paying little attention to her opponent, a conventional political strategy of candidates expected to overwhelm a challenger. Cummings said he is looking forward to their one debate, planned for October.

 

[lpetrich]

AOC and Cummings, battling over House seat, 'see things differently' | National Catholic Reporter

Ocasio-Cortez described her faith in a 2018 America article. In that Jesuit journal, she pushed for criminal justice reform, stating that as a Catholic she believes in the forgiveness of sins and that Blacks and Latinos have disproportionately suffered from punitive and unjust sentencing in the U.S. criminal justice system.

Zac Davis on Twitter: ".@AOC talking about Jesus in @NCRonline today. (links)" / Twitter
linking to
AOC credits her Catholic faith for positions on health care, environment | National Catholic Reporter
She had a 15-minute phone interview on Oct 21.

The Gospel parable of the Good Samaritan and the biblical stories of healing inspire her view in support of universal health care. Care for the sick and healing is a biblical value, she said, all part of "the stories we were raised with."

...
Her religious sense, she said, makes health care in particular a high priority. It has, she said, caused her to look at the issue in a way that some see as uncompromising. Many health care proposals, she said, take it for granted that millions of people, mostly poor, will remain without health coverage. She said that is unacceptable.

"The right to life is closely tied to caring for one another," she said. "So much of the good work we see is tied to healing in a physical and metaphysical sense. … [For that] reason I am insistent that every human being should have access to a doctor, every human being should be cared for."

She likes Pope Francis's concern for the environment.

"We do know that the Earth is sacred. We do know it is a sacred gift. We have a responsibility to steward it and protect it," she said.

She described climate change as "fundamentally a moral issue" tied to concern for future generations. "Are we willing to make changes to our present lives to protect a future for our children and life on Earth?" she said. That concern for future generations is similar, she said, to Pope Francis' ongoing critique of short-sighted forms of capitalism and consumption.

... She described the Bible as having a formative impact on the way she views her public life.

"I consider myself Catholic," she said, adding that she "grew up in the Catholic faith." Her mother, Blanca Ocasio-Cortez, is an evangelical Christian born in Puerto Rico, and her late father, Sergio Ocasio, was a Catholic and religious education teacher, Bronx-born from a Puerto Rican family.

...
She said she has made a point to explore how faith affects the lives of people. Her own district includes a religious mix of Christians, Jews, Muslims and Hindus.

...
She said she had a strong encounter with faith issues during her college years, "I was trying to figure out the world and my place in it." She explained why her favorite biblical story is that of Jesus throwing out the money changers from the temple in a fit of rage.

"You see Christ as human," she said, noting how she appreciated that he lived "as a human being who could lose his temper."

The story has deep political implications, she said. It's about how corruption happens, not because people are necessarily evil, but via a long process of small decisions seen to be convenient.

The cleansing of the temple, said Ocasio-Cortez, indicates "how a sacred space became co-opted. It happened via incremental decisions by many people." She tied that to an ongoing concern over the impact big money has on how political decisions are made. In the temple of American democracy, she said, the money changers remain at work and they need to be confronted.

 

[ZiprHead]

AOC Says She Woke Up to Stacks of Photos From FBI Showing 'People Who Want to Kill' Her

Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez said she used to wake up to a stack of photos from Capitol police or the FBI of people threatening to kill her as abuse quickly became the norm for her and those in her life.

"I used to wake up in the morning and literally get a stack of pictures that were forwarded by Capitol police or FBI. Like, 'These are the people who want to kill you today,' " AOC told Vanity Fair this week.

The hate extended to her family, including her brother, Gabriel, who would receive calls from the FBI warning him not to open his mail due to bomb threats, according to the publication. Other targets of abuse include the designer of her Cesar Chavez–inspired campaign posters, who would receive death threats, and her former dean at Boston University, who would regularly receive emails calling him the n-word.

These people need to start being arrested, convicted, and best yet, lose their right to own firearms.

 

[lpetrich]

Teen Vogue on Twitter: ".@IlhanMN opens up about surviving Congress with the help of her #Squad (@AOC, @RashidaTlaib + @AyannaPressley): "It is a spectacle. It is insane. But our sisterhood and friendship is real." https://t.co/eFyyBzXVvS" / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "" / Twitter
noting
Teen Vogue on Twitter: "As @safyhallanfarah writes, "Omar and Isra have much in common: a directness, a passion for securing universal healthcare, a just economy, a livable planet, and a belief that the time to act is right now." [url]https://t.co/YnKAkCCY0d https://t.co/IoHNWCMB84" / Twitter[/url]

Representative Ilhan Omar Talks to Teen Vogue About the Squad and Sexism in Congress | Teen Vogue

Alex said something the other day where she was like, 'I wouldn't survive Congress without these four'.… I think for all of us individually that statement is very true. Because we came to Congress with [a] severe spotlight, and without having each other to share the challenges of what that means for our daily lives, to share the challenges of being new representation for our districts who aren't used to being represented by people like us, and to share the challenges of existing in Congress.... I don't know if we would have individually not just survived, but thrived, in the ways in which we have.

"It is a spectacle. It is insane. But our sisterhood and friendship is real.”

Good that AOC has found such good friends in Congress.

 

[lpetrich]

AOC played Among Us and achieved what most politicians fail at: acting normal | Games | The Guardian - "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar livestreamed the video game on Twitch – and by every metric their unusual voter outreach event was a success"

AOC’s stream was as good a sale as any: she fretted over the anxiety of having to play the role of the impostor, nearly giving herself away and saying “nooooo” out loud when she realized she would be the first person evading suspicion. In later games, where she was just a crewmate, she lamented to viewers about how she was “running so behind” on her tasks, and was shocked when an impostor found and killed her little pink avatar.

When another player’s body was found, viewers could speculate with her: who’s the most suspicious player? (“I’m voting early,” she would say when casting her lot against a suspect, using every opportunity to stay on-message). You don’t really have to know a thing about video games to get drawn into the suspense of the game.

But Ocasio-Cortez and Omar aren’t just famous people playing an unusually popular video game; they’re members of Congress trying to get out the vote. And in this, they achieved something most politicians attempt and fail at daily: they looked like completely normal people. They were having fun, accusing each other of being the impostor, cheering when they won, shouting about how they knew all along when an impostor was finally revealed.

The Recount on Twitter: "The best moments from @AOC's Among Us stream on @Twitch last night. https://t.co/13dGGgeWTF" / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

AOC Drags Trump For Using Her Nickname Disrespectfully

Since her initial campaign against Joe Crowley in 2018, the congresswoman has become fondly known as AOC — a popular shorthand often used by her supporters, similar to how people referred to Ruth Bader Ginsburg as RBG. Ultimately, the nickname makes the relationship between constituents and the politician a little more intimate, and acknowledges a kinship as well as her mutual responsibility to the people she serves. But while the nickname shows reverence from some, it’s clear that’s not the intention behind Trump’s use of it.

Instead, Trump — along with other Republicans — only refers to Ocasio-Cortez as AOC as a way of belittling her and not holding her to the same standard of other politicians in office.

Sunrise NYC #VoteWFP on Instagram: “This Moment…”

This Moment

In one week, this election is over - and like @aoc says, it's what YOU do that matters. Will you pledge to build this future with us?

Together we WILL swear in new leaders. Together, we are unstoppable.

Thank you so much to our Congresswoman for getting us this far. You can #CountOnUs to #VOTE like the future is ours.

Now it’s our time. Sign up to vote and take action: wecountonus.org

This is a very beautiful video that uses lots of scenes of AOC in action in various contexts, scenes over the last few years. It uses a part of AOC's online speech after RBG's death. She talked about courage and how it does not feel like courage when one is being subject to something. It only seems like courage in retrospect. When she does something that later seems courageous, she says that she felt great fear as she did that.