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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Thread (11 Viewers)

caustic said:
Some writers from Reason were among the first to circulate the video, though it’s hard to tell now that the OP nuked his account.
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Yeah, I'm going to need to ask for a link for that one.  It's very hard for me to imagine anybody at Reason having a problem with a college student dancing.  

Edit: Here you go.

Are Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's supposed enemies on the right secretly working to make her look cool? Because that's the impression you might gather from a series of weak-sauce attacks on the young congresswoman from New York, who was sworn in to office earlier today.

On Wednesday, an anonymous Twitter account affiliated with QAnon, a far-right conspiracy theory, released video footage purportedly from Rep. Ocasio-Cortez's high school years (though her "Boston University" t-shirt suggests it was filmed while she was a college student). "Here is America's favorite commie know-it-all acting like the clueless nitwit she is," the anonymous account promised.

In a word, nope:

Here is America's favorite commie know-it-all acting like the clueless nitwit she is...
...High School video of "Sandy" Ocasio-Cortezpic.twitter.com/s723Vga9zF

— AnonymousQ (@AnonymousQ1776) January 2, 2019

Not that this video needs any additional context—she's dancing, who cares?—but it's actually a reenactment of a parody of a famous scene from the beloved 1985 film The Breakfast Club, in which brat pack actors Molly Ringwald, Emilo Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, and Ally Sheedy find themselves dancing in detention. In the late 2000s, various young people paid tribute to the scene by filming similar dance routines set to the Phoenix song "Lisztomania." (The first to do so was a group of friends that included Reason's own Elizabeth Nolan Brown, of all people.) Ocasio-Cortez's video looks pretty much like all the others; if anything, it's kind of adorable.

The video's leak follows weeks of attempts by some conservatives to paint the democratic socialist darling as inauthentic. The Gateway Pundit dug into her high school activities and treated the discovery that she used to go by the nickname "Sandy" as some kind of dark revelation. The article by Jim Hoft also attempted to undermine AOC's working-class credibility by pointing out that she attended an elite school in Yorktown rather than a struggling school in the Bronx. The Daily Wire's Michael Knowles has also advanced this line of argument, noting that AOC lived in relative comfort for most of her upbringing. But while Ocasio-Cortez may have occasionally overstated her working-class roots, she has always been relatively upfront abourt her time in Yorktown, and contrasted this privilege with what she encountered when she would visit the Bronx. Moreover, she did face economic insecurity after the death of her father, which forced her and her mother to work odd jobs in order to stave off foreclosure.

And then, of course, there was conservative writer Eddie Scarry's infamous creepy tweet in which he posted a picture from right behind Ocasio-Cortez, claiming "that jacket and coat don't look like a girl who struggles."

Conservatives who obsessively comment on Ocasio-Cortez's wardrobe and dance video are feeding into the narrative that the right is anti-women and doesn't treat them seriously. Bafflingly, they are also attacking her strengths. Being a young person with a sense of style is a good thing! Occasionally unwinding, dancing, and livestreaming dinner while taking questions from constituents: also good.

Stop wasting time on these personal attacks and criticize Ocasio-Cortez's socialist ideas instead. Explain why they are unaffordable and unworkable. For an example of going after Ocasio-Cortex the right way, see this post from my colleague Peter Suderman, who notes that by opposing pay-as-you-go accounting, AOC and her allies have signaled they won't even try to pay for their progressive policies.

But don't be surprised if deriding Ocasio-Cortez for, uh, having danced one time actually makes her more popular. If it's a personality contest, AOC has just about everybody in politics beat.
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timschochet said:
Her two initial proposals have been rejected. Frankly they were unrealistic. She wants a “Green New Deal” that will eliminate fossil fuels in 10 years, a special committee to work on it, and no Democrat to take any money from fossil fuel companies. The last part may come about, but 10 years is undoable without gutting our economy and getting the Democrats thrown out of office, and Pelosi knows this. Dealing with climate change is a huge problem, perhaps impossible, because the American public will not tolerate punishing themselves to the degree that people like AOC is is demanding. It’s just that simple. 

Her second proposal, eliminating Paygo, makes a lot of sense to me. But again Pelosi knows that the Republicans will jump on this like nothing before and will have a point of attack that a lot of the public will agree with. You can’t eliminate paygo unless and until you have a majority in House and Senate, a Democrat in the White House, AND a mandate from the public to spend in certain areas. So again Pelosi was correct to shoot it down. 

0-2. But AOC is new at this. She’ll get the hang of it. 
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Isn't that just pandering to her base?

 
msommer said:
Isn't that just pandering to her base?
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I hope not. At least so far she doesn’t strike me as a cynical politician. Naive and idealistic and young sure. But honest. Hard not to like her, even though I’m forced to reject many of her proposals. 

 
timschochet said:
I hope not. At least so far she doesn’t strike me as a cynical politician. Naive and idealistic and young sure. But honest. Hard not to like her, even though I’m forced to reject many of her proposals. 
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What's not honest about her actions so far? She is for a green revolution and probably said she'd introduce legislation during her campaign - promise held. Likely same with Paygo. So delivering on her campaign promises. Not her fault that Nancy's not really progressive

 
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timschochet said:
I hope not. At least so far she doesn’t strike me as a cynical politician. Naive and idealistic and young sure. But honest. Hard not to like her, even though I’m forced to reject many of her proposals. 
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The 10-year plan, while ambitious, is a huge step in the right direction. Can’t start in 2030 and ask ourselves why we didn’t start in 2020. Moving away from fossil fuels and into green energy is already happening and has been happening for some time in other countries. Her plan may expedite some ideals but it’s not some draconian end to fossil fuel usage. Her plan should be getting much more notice than it is and people should be much more accepting of it than they are. 

 
Mario Kart said:
The 10-year plan, while ambitious, is a huge step in the right direction. Can’t start in 2030 and ask ourselves why we didn’t start in 2020. Moving away from fossil fuels and into green energy is already happening and has been happening for some time in other countries. Her plan may expedite some ideals but it’s not some draconian end to fossil fuel usage. Her plan should be getting much more notice than it is and people should be much more accepting of it than they are. 
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It isn't a plan.  It's just a set of fanciful ideas

 
Guinis72 said:
Man, it's crazy how scared the GOP is of her.
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I don't think that's it. The GOP needs a bad guy, and recently it's been a series of women. Hillary is gone but now it's Pelosi, Warren, and Cortez. 

IvanKaramazov said:
On Wednesday, an anonymous Twitter account affiliated with QAnon, a far-right conspiracy theory, released video footage purportedly from Rep. Ocasio-Cortez's high school years (though her "Boston University" t-shirt suggests it was filmed while she was a college student). "Here is America's favorite commie know-it-all acting like the clueless nitwit she is," the anonymous account promised.

In a word, nope:

Here is America's favorite commie know-it-all acting like the clueless nitwit she is...
...High School video of "Sandy" Ocasio-Cortezpic.twitter.com/s723Vga9zF

— AnonymousQ (@AnonymousQ1776) January 2, 2019
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It's just interesting to me that this supposed, alleged, anonymous populist account is actually pushing a theme very much intended and wanted by Republican strategists. 

It is, yeah, abundantly stupid though. She's likable, she's smart, and technically being a deep blue NYC district she would ordinarily not get much coverage, but instead it's the GOP that insists on pushing her out. But she's a blank slate for America, seeing her for the first time... is just going to open up millions to knowing her and liking her.

 
Sand said:
It isn't a plan.  It's just a set of fanciful ideas
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That's just it though. The GOP used to do battle on ideas. AOC is a self described democratic socialist in the Bronx. Do they ignore her? No. Do they address her ideas? No. They post a video of her from college acting like a happy college girl and they mock that, using a surreptitious anon account to do so. - This reminds me of the Trump WH response to Romney's op ed - Trump insulted him. That's the GOP's approach these days, not ideas.

 
I hope that video gets 100 million views, keep spreading it Q!

I'm willing to bet I wasn't the only one who fell in love watching it...

 
SaintsInDome2006 said:
That's just it though. The GOP used to do battle on ideas. AOC is a self described democratic socialist in the Bronx. Do they ignore her? No. Do they address her ideas? No. They post a video of her from college acting like a happy college girl and they mock that, using a surreptitious anon account to do so. - This reminds me of the Trump WH response to Romney's op ed - Trump insulted him. That's the GOP's approach these days, not ideas.
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It's literally all they have

 
The 2020 election is, unfortunately, going to be another nailbiter, I think. Neither side can afford a big misstep but the GOP has less room for error -- from 2014 to 2018, voters aged 18-44 swung nearly 30 points towards the Democrats. They are the Blue Secret Weapon and if the pubbies piss them off or even just can't appeal to them in some way, they are just shooting themselves in their own feet.

 
OrtonToOlsen said:
krista4 said:
I know I"m way late to this party, but I've been :lmao:  for half a day that anyone thought this video would make her less appealing.  ####, now I adore her, too.
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“At least she wasn’t slow-dancing.”

-John Q Southernbaptist
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gotta dance arms fully extended to leave room in there for the holy ghost brohan take that to the bank 

 
Sand said:
Mario Kart said:
The 10-year plan, while ambitious, is a huge step in the right direction. Can’t start in 2030 and ask ourselves why we didn’t start in 2020. Moving away from fossil fuels and into green energy is already happening and has been happening for some time in other countries. Her plan may expedite some ideals but it’s not some draconian end to fossil fuel usage. Her plan should be getting much more notice than it is and people should be much more accepting of it than they are. 
Click to expand...
It isn't a plan.  It's just a set of fanciful ideas
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republicans against ideas since 1854 take that to the bank brohans 

 
According to some, another fanciful idea is to vote against a pedophile. I think it's a realistic goal for all of us :thumbup:

 
Dinsy Ejotuz said:
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

You can't have big change without bigger ideas.  Nice to see people in the Dem Party coming up with some for a change.  (Bernie, AOC, etc)
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Exactly.

And these are things people actually want.

They're only considered "unrealistic" by people who are against them. Universal Healthcare and a new green deal are not impossible feats. Not by a long shot.

 
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Reactions: SWC
Dinsy Ejotuz said:
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

You can't have big change without bigger ideas.  Nice to see people in the Dem Party coming up with some for a change.  (Bernie, AOC, etc)
Click to expand...


Also nice to see Republicans shooting themselves in the foot, amplifying someone whose ideas probably never would have reached their base normally. The more Republicans decide to draw the line at her proposed policies, the more room centrist Democrats have to shift that way without being demonized.

They're moving the goalposts on themselves and giving progressives a shorter field, essentially, because they're so afraid of her. Or maybe a better analogy would be to say they're busy stacking the goal line because they're terrified of giving up the TD when the Democrats are still on their own 35 with some of this stuff. You basically concede the middle ground and all compromises in the center when you frame the national conversation that far to the left. Similar to the way Bernie being in the spotlight dragged Hillary to the left in the primaries until some of his ideas became way less radical to most of America, AOC is shifting the national conversation towards her ideas just by existing. She was sworn in yesterday. It's kind of remarkable. 

 
SaintsInDome2006 said:
That's just it though. The GOP used to do battle on ideas. AOC is a self described democratic socialist in the Bronx. Do they ignore her? No. Do they address her ideas? No. They post a video of her from college acting like a happy college girl and they mock that, using a surreptitious anon account to do so. - This reminds me of the Trump WH response to Romney's op ed - Trump insulted him. That's the GOP's approach these days, not ideas.
Click to expand...
Define "they".  Specifically.  From what I read in this thread there was one random actor who posted something on the twitters.  Then a Reason article came out about it that was actually quite good, IMO.  Seems to be manufactured outrage.

And DJT is a pro at being a jackass.  No need to bring up something proven 1000x over.  I happen to agree wholeheartedly with Romney.

 
Skoo said:
Exactly.

And these are things people actually want.

They're only considered "unrealistic" by people who are against them. Universal Healthcare and a new green deal are not impossible feats. Not by a long shot.
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You're getting two very disparate items combined into one rollup that makes no sense.  There are a lot of ideas in her Deal and they're all separate entities.  Treating them as one blob is silly.

For example, UHC is very doable.  Very expensive, but really we have all the infrastructure in place.  However, the items in the Deal associated with power source, delivery, and structure modification are complete fantasy land.

 
Skoo said:
Exactly.

And these are things people actually want.

They're only considered "unrealistic" by people who are against them. Universal Healthcare and a new green deal are not impossible feats. Not by a long shot.
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The specifics of her “new green deal”, to the extent that she’s explained them, are unrealistic and probably impossible. 

Lets unpack this. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a “Manhattan Project” like effort to combat climate change. I honestly believe the public might be ready for it, or close to it. But they won’t tolerate too much sacrifice. You’ve got to find a way to do it that doesn’t involve too much pain. Otherwise you’re just spinning your wheels. 

 
Sand said:
Define "they".  Specifically.  From what I read in this thread there was one random actor who posted something on the twitters.  Then a Reason article came out about it that was actually quite good, IMO.  Seems to be manufactured outrage.

And DJT is a pro at being a jackass.  No need to bring up something proven 1000x over.  I happen to agree wholeheartedly with Romney.
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I agree with your first paragraph. This seems like made up outrage. 

As for the second, Trump is the GOP. There is no significant part of the GOP outside Trump.

 
timschochet said:
I honestly believe the public might be ready for it, or close to it. But they won’t tolerate too much sacrifice. You’ve got to find a way to do it that doesn’t involve too much pain. Otherwise you’re just spinning your wheels. 
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Note the yellow vest protests in France.  Those were essentially a protest over this very thing.  

 
timschochet said:
The specifics of her “new green deal”, to the extent that she’s explained them, are unrealistic and probably impossible. 

Lets unpack this. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a “Manhattan Project” like effort to combat climate change. I honestly believe the public might be ready for it, or close to it. But they won’t tolerate too much sacrifice. You’ve got to find a way to do it that doesn’t involve too much pain. Otherwise you’re just spinning your wheels. 
Click to expand...
Just to amplify this a bit, we already know one really good way to reduce carbon emissions: impose a carbon tax.  This is completely standard, Econ 101 stuff that generates essentially no controversy whatsoever among economists.  It's a settled issue among people who know what they're talking about -- no Manhattan Project necessary here.

And yet voters in France -- France! -- just freaked out over the imposition of a carbon tax.  That's what we're up against.

Edit: Or, what Sand just said.

 
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IvanKaramazov said:
Just to amplify this a bit, we already know one really good way to reduce carbon emissions: impose a carbon tax.  This is completely standard, Econ 101 stuff that generates essentially no controversy whatsoever among economists.  It's a settled issue among people who know what they're talking about -- no Manhattan Project necessary here.

And yet voters in France -- France! -- just freaked out over the imposition of a carbon tax.  That's what we're up against.

Edit: Or, what Sand just said.
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so make it carbon fee and dividend.

 
Yes, France (And Greece before that) are good examples of the fact that, whatever sacrifices our grandparents endured, we’re not going to give up our pleasures in the name of some future gain. We need to come up with a different plan. 

Actually it’s not too complicated; if we’re going to address this problem, here’s what has to happen: somebody (probably the federal government but I suppose it could be a brilliant innovator) has to come up with an alternative to fossil fuels and then they have to hand it to us (the public) on a silver platter, in the same way we were handed laptops and smartphones: in which we don’t have to make any effort at all. 

 
Sand said:
Define "they".  Specifically.  From what I read in this thread there was one random actor who posted something on the twitters.  Then a Reason article came out about it that was actually quite good, IMO.  Seems to be manufactured outrage.

And DJT is a pro at being a jackass.  No need to bring up something proven 1000x over.  I happen to agree wholeheartedly with Romney.
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You must not have Facebook.  The memes bashing her are growing to Hilary-like numbers. It's hilarious.

 
timschochet said:
Yes, France (And Greece before that) are good examples of the fact that, whatever sacrifices our grandparents endured, we’re not going to give up our pleasures in the name of some future gain. We need to come up with a different plan. 

Actually it’s not too complicated; if we’re going to address this problem, here’s what has to happen: somebody (probably the federal government but I suppose it could be a brilliant innovator) has to come up with an alternative to fossil fuels and then they have to hand it to us (the public) on a silver platter, in the same way we were handed laptops and smartphones: in which we don’t have to make any effort at all. 
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And AOC is the one being unrealistic here?

I'm not saying her plan is perfect; I'd be lying if I said I knew all the pros and cons.

What I'm saying is that it's a starting point, and that we need to stop dismissing this stuff out of hand because it seems too difficult.

That's exactly how we got to this point. The right screamed about how it was "too expensive" to start using renewable sources of energy, and everyone went along.

We created the airplane, the automobile, and countless other world-changing inventions. I have no doubt we can figure this out if we really want to.

 
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timschochet said:
The specifics of her “new green deal”, to the extent that she’s explained them, are unrealistic and probably impossible. 

Lets unpack this. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a “Manhattan Project” like effort to combat climate change. I honestly believe the public might be ready for it, or close to it. But they won’t tolerate too much sacrifice. You’ve got to find a way to do it that doesn’t involve too much pain. Otherwise you’re just spinning your wheels. 
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I just want it on the record, that I am against ICE-nine as a solution.  But I might be willing to let some of my taxes go to the building of a large, perpetually moving train.

I'm firm and flexible.

 
timschochet said:
Yes, France (And Greece before that) are good examples of the fact that, whatever sacrifices our grandparents endured, we’re not going to give up our pleasures in the name of some future gain. We need to come up with a different plan. 

Actually it’s not too complicated; if we’re going to address this problem, here’s what has to happen: somebody (probably the federal government but I suppose it could be a brilliant innovator) has to come up with an alternative to fossil fuels and then they have to hand it to us (the public) on a silver platter, in the same way we were handed laptops and smartphones: in which we don’t have to make any effort at all. 
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we don't need a new alternative.  the current alternatives (at least for electricity generation) are already price competitive. 

 
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Sand said:
Define "they".  Specifically.  From what I read in this thread there was one random actor who posted something on the twitters.  Then a Reason article came out about it that was actually quite good, IMO.  Seems to be manufactured outrage.

And DJT is a pro at being a jackass.  No need to bring up something proven 1000x over.  I happen to agree wholeheartedly with Romney.
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Fox News has been going nuts about her since the moment she was elected.

 
Skoo said:
We created the airplane, the automobile, and countless other world-changing inventions. I have no doubt we can figure this out if we really want to.
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If our leaders had told the public that the only way to create the airplane was to have a huge tax on all other forms of transport that would affect every American, the airplane never would have been invented. All of the items you’re talking about were handed to the average person without any effort on his or her part. Which is my whole point. 

 
Sand said:
I do and must have better friends.  I don't get any of that crap in my feed.
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Man, I'd much rather have your friends.  I've unfollowed many-a red hat.   Just the obnoxious ones who think they need to post 20 times a day about it.  But anyway, it was the same thing last year when Oprah gave a political speech and there was buzz that she may run for president.  For the next week, the righties were posting meme after meme in an attempt to bash her.  They are a very transparent bunch. They'll tell you exactly who's scaring them at any moment.

 
jamny said:
Exactly. My FB friends are probably 50/50 left vs right and I haven't seen a single meme of her since probably before Christmas.
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I 100% don't believe you.  It just doesn't fit your narrative. Trump supporters are the exact same regardless of the region. Every rally is a snapshot of the last dozen.  If I have a dozen idiots bashing her, we all do.

 
timschochet said:
Not in terms of the conversion. The conversion has to be handed to us free too. 
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Probably needs it's own thread, but is there one (maybe up to 3) things that every day people can do, that the government can incentivize, that would have a marked improvement, be good PR, easy to implement, and be a stepping stone for greater projects later?

 
JuniorNB said:
I 100% don't believe you.  It just doesn't fit your narrative. Trump supporters are the exact same regardless of the region. Every rally is a snapshot of the last dozen.  If I have a dozen idiots bashing her, we all do.
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My narrative?

I don't care if you believe me. I just took the 4 biggest vocal Trump supporters I know and scrolled back their timeslines on FB back to Christmas and did not find a single AOC meme. I guess that's why I'm not getting the fear that so many seem to think there is. I only get that here.

 
timschochet said:
If our leaders had told the public that the only way to create the airplane was to have a huge tax on all other forms of transport that would affect every American, the airplane never would have been invented. All of the items you’re talking about were handed to the average person without any effort on his or her part. Which is my whole point. 
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Divert some of the 700 billion for defense to renewables research, make renewables more affordable than fossil fuels, doesn't cost the tax payers an extra penny. A "huge tax on all other forms of transport" isn't the only option.

Sure, it's not as simple as that but again my point is that it's far from impossible. That's just what we've been told by the mouthpieces for the fossil fuel industry.

We are still the wealthiest and most powerful country on earth. It can be done if we want it.

 
Skoo said:
Divert some of the 700 billion for defense to renewables research, make renewables more affordable than fossil fuels, doesn't cost the tax payers an extra penny. A "huge tax on all other forms of transport" isn't the only option.

Sure, it's not as simple as that but again my point is that it's far from impossible. That's just what we've been told by the mouthpieces for the fossil fuel industry.

We are still the wealthiest and most powerful country on earth. It can be done if we want it.
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Oh I agree. And I kind of like your idea. I don’t like Ms. Cortez’s ideas so far. (Though, as other people have noted, I very much like that she’s focusing on the issue.) 

 
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