Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

[southernhybrid]

She's not stupid, the problem is she allows her ideology to override rational thought.

Or to put it a slightly different way, she's too idealistic. I prefer someone like Stacey Abrams. She has very progressive views, but she understands that you must work with people who have very different views from your own, in order to accomplish anything. In other words, I'll take pragmatism over idealism any day. If you can't get it all, you take what you can get and keep on trying.

She's not being pragmatic in arguing for her green new deal. The technology isn't there, it can't be done on her timeframe and in practice would make things worse as nuke plants get replaced with fossil fuels.

You must have misunderstood what I said. I never said that AOC was pragmatic. I said that Stacey Abrams was pragmatic.



I agree that AOC's green new deal is too idealistic to happen in the time frame that she has presented it. Sometimes I think it's way too late to accomplish what is needed when it comes to climate change. We should have "woke" up during the Carter administration when he told us to turn down the heat, and when he put solar panels on the WH roof. He, imo, is a man who was way ahead of his times in many ways. But, I digress.

 

[lpetrich]

You must have misunderstood what I said. I never said that AOC was pragmatic. I said that Stacey Abrams was pragmatic.

I think that AOC is a bit more pragmatic than what she might seem like. She hasn't supported primarying half her Democratic colleagues, for instance. She even endorsed an incumbent, Jerry Nadler NY-10, instead of any of his challengers. She initially supported primarying only two of them, Henry Cuellar TX-28 and Dan Lipinski IL-03, two conservative ones. The first primary challenge (Jessica Cisneros) failed and the second one (Marie Newman) succeeded. She supported primarying two more, and I suspect that it because of moral turpitude. Eliot Engel NY-16 she supported primarying because he was very negligent about his district when the coronavirus hit, saying that he would not be back there if he didn't have a primary. This was when she was helping to distribute aid to the people of her district. Richard Neal MA-01 had a different trouble. His campaigners made a big issue out of a sex scandal that turned out to be totally bogus. The first primary challenge (Jamaal Bowman) succeeded and the second one (Alex Morse) failed.

I agree that AOC's green new deal is too idealistic to happen in the time frame that she has presented it. Sometimes I think it's way too late to accomplish what is needed when it comes to climate change. We should have "woke" up during the Carter administration when he told us to turn down the heat, and when he put solar panels on the WH roof. He, imo, is a man who was way ahead of his times in many ways. But, I digress.

I agree. But Jimmy Carter seemed too negative. That was a problem with Al Gore some decades later when he published "An Inconvenient Truth". But wind turbines and photovoltaic cells weren't as developed back then as now. Will future generations remember these technologies as being made practical in the nick of time?


At that same gathering,
Cori Bush on Twitter: "I’m here to say that winning a Green New Deal is a racial justice issue. https://t.co/n51UPbtWOW" / Twitter
She delivered a speech on that occasion saying that issues like endangered species and recycling didn't initially grab her, but that she came to recognize that environmental justice includes issues like air pollution, like a lot of her constituents having asthma. That's mainly from diesel particulates, mainly from trucks. Exhaust filters partially work, however.

Electric and fuel-cell vehicles won't have that problem, though fuel-cell ones might have problems from evaporation of fuels like methanol and ammonia.

 

[lpetrich]

People's Action on Twitter: "President-Elect @JoeBiden has promised to build a climate presidency — and we’re going to hold him to it.

@JamaalBowmanNY #GreenNewDeal #BidenBeBrave https://t.co/mg9T7vxPNl" / Twitter
Jamaal Bowman speaking. He got the New Deal's chronology wrong in that one, but he was correct about how it was good for keeping the economy going. World War II was another factor, because it provoked an orgy of government spending.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, expanded 'Squad' demand Biden deliver on Green New Deal - ABC News


Ocasio-Cortez and the 'Squad' rally for action on climate crisis: 'Dollars don't vote' - YouTube


AOC and squad rally outside DNC to pressure Biden into embracing Green New Deal | Fox News - has:

Sunrise Movement on Twitter: "“We are all here today because of the movement... because at the end of the day, dollars don’t vote, people do” - @AOC

We are going to win a #GreenNewDeal through the power of the people and the power of movements. #BidenBeBrave https://t.co/rYK0lk0yUO" / Twitter

Sunrise Movement on Twitter: "“This is a movement built out of the urgency people feel to protect our planet” - @IlhanMN

We need a #GreenNewDeal. We need Biden and Harris to act. #BidenBeBrave https://t.co/9mJKYjA0zb" / Twitter

Sunrise Movement on Twitter: "BREAKING: @CoriBush, @JamaalBowmanNY, @MondaireJones, @IlhanMN, @RashidaTlaib, @RoKhanna, @AOC, & @EdMarkey are with us at the @DNC demanding a #GreenNewDeal.

@JoeBiden must act on his mandate & deliver for those who delivered for him. #BidenBeBrave https://t.co/V32pkBZD7E" / Twitter

Not quite camping out in Nancy Pelosi's office, however.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Pure assertion. Wind energy and solar energy are now in the exponential phase typical of new technologies, and there is a lot of work on ancillary technologies, like storage and synfuels. I can't say that either is as mature as wind turbines or photovoltaic cells, however.

There is nothing coming down the pike that is adequate for storage. Something that isn't even on the horizon now isn't going to be deployed at that scale in 10 years. It simply doesn't happen even at Manhattan Project effort levels.

 

[lpetrich]

Rep. Pramila Jayapal on Twitter: ""As a result of both successful Democratic primaries and proactive power-building by progressive incumbents, a reformed and strengthened CPC is poised to make progressives a more powerful force within the House than at any time in modern American history." https://t.co/1O9TUNNnlK" / Twitter

House progressives are building something new, exciting, and powerful - Roll Call

It’s not just votes though, it’s how you organize those votes. For years, the CPC has grown in size, but membership has traditionally required little of its members. No more. Just last week, the CPC passed game-changing reforms to its own caucus rules. These rule changes will empower the CPC to organize itself to negotiate and vote as a single bloc on specific legislation to secure progressive improvements or remove dangerous provisions. With just a slim margin in the House, Democratic leadership will need the votes of progressives to pass legislation. The CPC now has the opportunity to use this leverage to ensure bills include progressive priorities.

Something the Right has long done.

The authors argued that this is not "he Freedom Caucus of the left?", because "The Freedom Caucus repeatedly took a “burn it down” approach to lock in wealth inequality and punish immigrants and communities of color."

But to outsiders, it may well seem like some Green Tea Party.

 

[lpetrich]

New York City's lone Republican in Congress takes aim at AOC

After Rose beat a Republican incumbent in 2018 to take the seat, Democrats hoped to keep the delegation all-blue for the long haul. But an increase in turnout among voters backing President Donald Trump boosted Malliotakis. She also hammered at themes of law and order — hitting Rose for attending a Black Lives Matter protest, even though it was peaceful and he has said he opposes defunding the police.

That seems like it's why the Republicans did so well in Congress and why Biden had such a squeaker of a victory - Trump inspiring a lot of turnout among his followers and admirers.

The incoming congresswoman sees a particular foil in Ocasio-Cortez, who was reelected by a wide margin this month to a second term.

With fellow Republicans whose families have roots in socialist and communist countries, Malliotakis, whose mother is from Cuba, is assembling an informal alliance to oppose the lefty “squad” that includes Ocasio-Cortez and Reps. Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib.

Her allies include María Elvira Salazar and Carlos Giménez, both Cuban Americans who ousted incumbent Democrats in Florida, and Victoria Spartz of Indiana who grew up in Ukraine. All three will join Congress in January.

“There is a natural alliance that is forming between people whose families have similar histories to mine,” she said. “People who are rightfully concerned about the direction our nation is moving in and what the socialist squad is peddling.”

NM's last name looks Greek, so her father likely has Greek ancestry. The two women have not spoken, as far as I can tell.

“If she made a big deal about me, I certainly didn’t hear it. So I’m sure that was something she did in her community or her district. I wish her well,” she said.

She misses Max Rose, despite the two Congresspeople sometimes being at loggerheads.

“I’d be remiss if I didn’t honor Max Rose’s service in Congress,” she said. “He was just an incredible colleague, and he and I drove each other crazy, but we were also good friends.”

But Malliotakis said the specter of democratic socialism as personified by Ocasio-Cortez helped her win votes in growing Russian, Chinese, Ukrainian and Korean communities in her district.

“My district does not want socialism, period,” she said. “When you talk about dismantling the economy, destroying capitalism — these are things that are very scary to people who come from other countries, where government has too much control of their lives.”

Yet she wants more cops.

It was with police forces that those bad governments enforced their will, so one has to conclude that there is a such thing as excessive policing.

 

[Swammerdami]

Thank you, Ipetrich for this thread! Although she's far more liberal than I am, I always liked AOC. At first she just seemed fun and photogenic, but I keep raising my opinion of her. She has become a true American heroine, a good antidote to the nastiness of Trump and the entire GOP.

I still wouldn't call her a top intellectual. (She's smarter than 98% of Trump supporters and 100% of her detractors, but that hurdle is laughably easy to beat.) But even if she only got B's in Economics, her ideals and compassion and especially her political savoir-faire make her one of the top stars in Congress today. You can put an ad in the paper and get resumes from hundreds of high-IQ policy planners. But politicians with the sincerity, compassion and charisma of AOC are one-in-a-million.

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

... "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.

It's hard to imagine a good-spirited person who would oppose AOC personally at all. That she receives death threats tells us something extremely sad about a perverse sickness that infects so many millions of Americans. There's more to this infection of irrational hatred than just raw stupidity: Some of the sickos even have enough savvy to post on message-boards.

 

[lpetrich]

The ReidOut on Twitter: ""She (Rep. Ocasio-Cortez) knows how to speak to young voters. I trust her that she actually cares about her constituents.

I don't know if Marco Rubio cares ... Hell yeah, I'd go to war with her."

@joyannreid on #TheReidOut https://t.co/oUb0TF3V5H" / Twitter

Then
Joy WE VOTED!! WEAR A MASK!! Reid ) on Twitter: "I said it and I meant it. Give me a representative like @aoc who fights for the poor and left-behind and the broke student or recent grad who’s drowning in debt over ALL of the useless Republican Senators and their soulless leader who can’t even pass a covid relief bill." / Twitter

Drew Emery on Twitter: "100 reasons to love this but, at it's core is Michael Steele's unintentional exposure of Republicanism. The only defense he has is that constituents fall for their schtick. But it's lies, Michael. You have to look no further than GOP's Covid response to see that THEY DON'T CARE." / Twitter

drmaggiesa 🕶 on Twitter: "@InlawsOutlaws Basically, @MichaelSteele response was, ‘Yes, I would fight with Republicans that supported Trump at my side.” @JoyAnnReid wasn’t having any of it. But, it proves Michael Steele is Never Trump, but not Never GOP. They used and abused him and he’s going back for more. Poor guy." / Twitter

Joy Reid Claps Back at Michael Steele Over AOC - has a transcript of their exchange

 

[lpetrich]

AOC rival, ex-anchor Caruso-Cabrera eyes NYC comptroller run

Caruso-Cabrera, a veteran business journalist, would join a Democratic primary field for comptroller that includes Harlem state Sen. Brian Benjamin, Brooklyn state Sen. Kevin Parker, Queens Assemblyman David Weprin and Brooklyn Councilman Brad Lander.

The former CNBC anchor would be the only woman and Hispanic in the race. Caruso-Cabrera is of half-Cuban descent.

The comptroller is the city’s budget watchdog and chief auditor of city agencies. Caruso-Cabrera said she would use the office to make sure city dollars are spent wisely.

But she said priority number one is helping the city recover from the lingering coronavirus pandemic, which has wreaked havoc on the Big Apple economy and put hundreds of thousands of people out of work.

“We have people lined up desperate to get food,” she said.

That would be happening next year. AOC's good friend Tiffany Cabán is running for City Council that year.

 

[lpetrich]

That gathering that I posted on:
AOC & Progressive Leaders Demand Action from the DNC | LIVE | NowThis - YouTube
Its description:

AOC, CORI BUSH OUTSIDE DNC DEMANDING ACTION: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey speak at a rally outside the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee to demand bold action in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic crisis, and the global climate crisis. They will be joined by Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and Ro Khanna; Representative-elects Cori Bush, Jaamal Bowman, and Mondaire Jones; as well as a coalition of community activists and climate advocates. These progressive leaders, all supporters of the Green New Deal, have frequently called for immediate financial relief during the pandemic, as well as a greater federal support for businesses, schools, and local communities. AOC also served on President-elect Biden’s climate policy panel to help shape his plan to combat the climate crisis, which is a $2 trillion plan that calls for 100% clean electricity in the U.S. by 2035.

AOC said that if one focuses on electoral politics alone, one may end up feeling helpless and cynical. The cure for that is activism, as part of an inside-outside strategy.

 

[Derec]

The cure for that is activism, as part of an inside-outside strategy.

So she is like Jonah Ryan (aka Jon H. Ryan), an "outsider's insider"?

 

[Derec]

That would be happening next year. AOC's good friend Tiffany Cabán is running for City Council that year.

Tiffany Caban is a dangerous extremist. She wants to abolish NYPD and abolish jails. Presumably also prisons but they are run by the state, not the city.

During my near-decade of work as a public defender in New York City, I witnessed the trauma our criminal legal system inflicts on Black and brown, poor, and immigrant communities every day. I have long fought for, and remain committed to, a complete transformation of our criminal legal system and an end to policing and mass incarceration.

Defund, and ultimately disband, the NYPD and replace it with a community-led public safety infrastructure
Fight to close Rikers Island before 2026 and halt the construction of the borough-based jails proposal
Create a citywide bail vouchers program to facilitate the release of incarcerated individuals
Remove police from schools, traffic enforcement, homeless outreach, and hospitals
[...]
Desegregate our schools by advocating for the repeal of Hect-Calandra at the state level, end all discriminatory screens in New York City public schools, and launch a community-led diversity plan for middle schools in Astoria.

She even wants to abolish special public high schools (and she misspelled Hecht-Calandra) because admissions are merit based. She calls that "segregation" but it has nothing to do with it - everybody has equal shot, they just have to do well on a test.

That this unhinged nutjob managed to get within 60 votes of being the Queens DA is really scary. Do better New York! I really hope she does much worse running for city council.

 

[Trausti]

That would be happening next year. AOC's good friend Tiffany Cabán is running for City Council that year.

Tiffany Caban is a dangerous extremist. She wants to abolish NYPD and abolish jails. Presumably also prisons but they are run by the state, not the city.

During my near-decade of work as a public defender in New York City, I witnessed the trauma our criminal legal system inflicts on Black and brown, poor, and immigrant communities every day. I have long fought for, and remain committed to, a complete transformation of our criminal legal system and an end to policing and mass incarceration.

Defund, and ultimately disband, the NYPD and replace it with a community-led public safety infrastructure
Fight to close Rikers Island before 2026 and halt the construction of the borough-based jails proposal
Create a citywide bail vouchers program to facilitate the release of incarcerated individuals
Remove police from schools, traffic enforcement, homeless outreach, and hospitals
[...]
Desegregate our schools by advocating for the repeal of Hect-Calandra at the state level, end all discriminatory screens in New York City public schools, and launch a community-led diversity plan for middle schools in Astoria.

She even wants to abolish special public high schools (and she misspelled Hecht-Calandra) because admissions are merit based. She calls that "segregation" but it has nothing to do with it - everybody has equal shot, they just have to do well on a test.

That this unhinged nutjob managed to get within 60 votes of being the Queens DA is really scary. Do better New York! I really hope she does much worse running for city council.

Abolishing the police is a good idea. No more taxes and I’ll make my own private army. Careful what you wish for.

 

[lpetrich]

The cure for that is activism, as part of an inside-outside strategy.

So she is like Jonah Ryan (aka Jon H. Ryan), an "outsider's insider"?

Is that a satire site?

 

[Derec]

The cure for that is activism, as part of an inside-outside strategy.

So she is like Jonah Ryan (aka Jon H. Ryan), an "outsider's insider"?

Is that a satire site?

Kind of. Jonah Ryan was a character in the TV show "Veep".

Btw, that wizard guy was so Marianne Williamson before Marianne Williamson.

 

[lpetrich]

Lauren Boebert and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: How to Tell Them Apart | Westword

Yes, Colorado's 3rd Congressional District is sending Representative-elect Lauren Boebert to Washington, D.C. Before her election, Boebert took on a lot of roles, from a wannabe model to a restaurateur whose biggest claim to fame was getting shut down by the state to a gun-totin’, QAnon-embracing candidate for Congress. You know, a true stateswoman.

LB bashes AOC a lot, but AOC hardly mentions LB.

Education: LB dropped out of high school and then got a GED. AOC got a "cum laude" (with praise) BA in economics and international relations at Boston University.

Work Experience:

Both Ocasio-Cortez and Boebert began their work life earning a paycheck at least in part in the service industry— AOC as a bartender and server, and Boebert as a caterer and restaurant owner, albeit one who seems to make more money on T-shirt sales than T-bone steaks.

Legal Entanglements: hard to find any for AOC. The most that anyone has found for her is $2,000 in unpaid taxes for a now-defunct business.

Boebert, on the other hand, has legal issues ranging from reckless-driving charges to failures to appear in court, and a 2015 incident where she was detained for interfering with the custody of underage drinkers at a party. But the most applicable comparison is that Boebert, too, has her share of tax issues. Jason Salzman reported in the Colorado Times Recorder that Boebert has been “hit with 8 liens since 2016 totalling $21,841.33,” and while a fraction of that has been paid (which more or less proves that the tax bill isn’t contestable), Boebert still owes nearly $20K.

...
Style
Boebert tried to make hay over a recent AOC magazine cover: “I wonder what brand of socialism allows you to get a $14,000 suit for Vogue photoshoots,” she recently tweeted, adding that she was “looking forward to dismantling your socialist agenda in my finest Macy’s clothes like normal working people.”

LB made a November 2 tweet defining socialism as “the equal sharing of misery."

 

[lpetrich]

Then this juicy tidbit:

Jello Wrestling
It’s exactly what every American thinks Congress needs: to get raunchier. On the notably racist podcast In Hot Water, one of the hosts claimed that Boebert wanted to win her race and go to Washington “to wrestle Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in jello or pudding, and that would be fun to watch because she is a lovely woman.” Boebert could have let that bad and sexist joke pass (along with the casual racism of a follow-up comment about “the Japs”), but instead she embraced it and returned to the joke several times in the interview.

It was an unsurprising move by Boebert, who posed like the swimsuit model she once hoped to be for most of her campaign ads, but not one that will change the way Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responds to Boebert…which, again, is not at all.

Appearing on Racist Podcast, Boebert Joked She'll Jello-Wrestle Rep. Ocasio-Cortez

 

[lpetrich]

For much of November, the NYT had reported the counts for NY-14 with 71% counted. The numbers:

Candidate	Party	Votes	Pct.
AOC	Dem	105,455	68.8%
JC	Rep	46,877	30.6%
MCC	SAM	1,042	0.7%

On Dec. 1, the counts were updated with >98% counted. The numbers:

Candidate	Party	Votes	Pct.
AOC	Dem	152,661	71.6%
JC	Rep	58,440	27.4%
MCC	SAM	2,000	0.9%

AOC got a bump of about 3% from absentee votes, much like what she got in the primaries last June.

JC = John Cummings, MCC = Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, SAM = Serve America Movement party

John Cummings conceded defeat:
Cummings for Congress on Twitter: "Thank you! While we did not prevail in the election, we proved there are New Yorkers and Americans across the country who want commonsense representation and believe socialism is not in our future. I will continue fighting and this journey is far from over. Stay tuned… https://t.co/rynsQLzIjW" / Twitter

From MCC on Nov 7:
Michelle Caruso-Cabrera on Twitter: "New Yorkers are in the streets celebrating Joe Biden’s victory! Congratulations to the President-elect and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris! https://t.co/XHdLdZdDz9" / Twitter

She did not acknowledge her defeat by AOC either in the primaries or in the general election.

 

[lpetrich]

Badrun Khan conceding defeat in the primaries last June:

Badrun Khan on Twitter: "I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the support I received in this race, from my neighborhood, my district, my friends and family, and from #YangGang and #UBI advocates, and all my supporters across the globe. Thanks to all of you! I promise to keep fighting." / Twitter

Badrun Khan on Twitter: "Congrats @RepAOC on your victory. Hope you'll fix housing & education, & reconsider approach to securing true equality for the people. We need a permanent #UBI & VAT to fix our tax code. I do believe you want to help the people! Let's raise their floor, not lower their ceiling " / Twitter


She's considering running for office again.
Badrun Khan on Twitter: "Happy to announce my candidacy for New York City Council in District 26! There is so much work to do...

The People of New York City are suffering. Let’s make sure that work gets done." / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

Bobby Hundreds on Twitter: "This by @AOC. https://t.co/MGL7G1C0JS" / Twitter

In an Instagram Q&A session, someone said to AOC that "I respectfully disagree with you about billionaires. Because, l think you could be a billionaire"

AOC responded

The question of billionaires is less about being a "good" or "bad" individual and more about the immorality of a system and economy that not only allows abuse of everyday people, but financially rewards the powerful who profit off not paying workers a living wage, keeping medicine expensive, profiting off incarceration and war, building unethical and unsustainable food systems, or otherwise hoarding unthinkable levels of wealth for the very few by denying basic dignities of life for the many (aka a living wage, healthcare, peace, worker protections, not burning our planet to death for fossil fuel interests, etc)

If I had a billion dollars (which people need to understand is just not even on the same PLANET as having millions of dollars) while people are dying because they can't afford insulin it's important people understand that those two things are connected. It means I would likely have investments in systems that rely on exploitative models inflated medicine prices, lobbying for low taxes or exploitation wages that mean we can't have universal healthcare, reliance on fossil fuels corps destroying our planet, industries that profit off our carceral system & prison labor or child labor, etc. say that because a billion dollars is "systems" money it is a scale that for the most part you don't get to with wages or savings or being a movie star. It doesn't matter how "good" a person I am or anyone is, that concentration of wealth and level of INEQUALITY is a social ill. Billionaires are a symptom of a society that does not afford people basic elements of dignity. Climate change, lack of healthcare, underpaying jobs, housing crisis, racial injustice & colonization- these are all connected. But also I just don't want a billion dollars. Why would I? That concentration of wealth comes at a cost. And the cost is a destabilizing society.

If people want we can revisit the billionaire question when everyone has healthcare, climate change is addressed, people have actual dignified standards of living, etc.

I like this. She seems very thoughtful.