Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has risen to prominence for promising to tell truth to power. However, this week she showed that she could spin and shill with the best of them. Previously Ocasio-Cortez accused Speaker Nancy Pelosi of singling out four women of color. That would seem by definition a charge of racism. Now however she insists that Pelosi did single out women of color but was not a racist. At the same time, the “squad” is warning Pelosi not to do it again.
Ocasio-Cortez and Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley were interviewed on “CBS This Morning” by Gayle King. Tlaib chastized Pelosi again for criticizing women of color: “Acknowledge the fact that we are women of color, so when you do single us out, be aware of that and what you’re doing, especially because some of us are getting death threats. Because some of us are being singled out because of our backgrounds, because of our experiences and so forth.”
I am not sure of the “so forth” but the point seems to be the same: as women of color, these politicians should be somehow protected from such criticism. The “squad” as they like to call themselves has been attacking Pelosi and asserting that it has a different vision for the party. All of that is fair game and entirely appropriate. However, it also means that they can be criticized as “the squad.” Yet, when Pelosi responds with her own criticism, the members object that it is somehow inappropriate given their status as women of color.
There is no question that these members have been subject to terrible threats and attacks, including the disgraceful recent criticism by President Trump. However, they have chosen to advocate as a group and it is hardly surprising that they would be addressed as a group. Unlike Trump, Pelosi was not addressing them as women of color but a defined “squad” of members who are charting their own divergent path from the leadership.
Equality means that race or nationality of these members is neither a basis for special criticism or immunity from criticism.
What do you think?
The politicians have their way of manipulating people to meet their agenda. I hope the debate not inherently a target to raise Cortez personal profile.
I think Ocasio-Cortez is old school, no such thing as bad publicity. She has made disturbing statements that are glossed over. The press is complicit. 18-35 is the best age group for advertising rates. Cable TV portrayed 2018 as the rise of the left. It wasn’t. Press blamed Nancy Pelosi when Ocasio said she was hard on young women of color. Ad rates shade the news we see and hear to a disturbing degree.
What? Botox isn’t a color?
tell her we now have video tape.
When you make a moral accusation of another person – when you call them a racist, sexist, hateful, a liar. You are betting your morality against theirs.
There is no room for forgiveness with respect to a moral accusation.
The accusation is either correct – or YOUR actions are not moral.
This is significantly different from differences of fact, or differences of opinion.
The the moral bomb lobbing of current public discourse is itself immoral.
“You are betting your morality against theirs.”
This is a very interesting way of thinking about this. These days, there are a lot of gambling addicts very deep in debt and continuing to double down.
One little known but true about the Apollo 11 landing. Most don’t realize that upon landing they were the first to discover alien life forms and were able to track them. When the Astronauts left the moon the aliens also departed. Then they disappeared. Upon arriving back on earth there was no sign of aliens.
How do we know? because the Astronauts were the first known alien life forms on and too the moon.
That’s the kind of stuff that will be thrown at you, written about elsewhere in this edition. But it’s not hard to figure out who. This falls alien life forms are known as politicians and the proof is called propaganda. Same batch that promised DACA citizenship and then blocked it four times since 2017.
Difference is our Astronauts could make the claim, but didn’t whereas the other alien form I wrote about can’t make the claim but will.
Just substitute Constitutional Republic for moon and Socialists for aliens.
What’s that got to do with Ocasio? Are you joking me?
THIS is the tweet of Trump’s that is purportedly Racist.
“So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how….”
You can agree or disagree with the remark – but I see no racial element to it.
To conclude that it is racists REQUIRES layering on your personal beliefs. It requires concluding that there is some unspoken subtext.
It requires exactly the same nonsense as AOC ranting at Pelosi.
It requires presuming that you can not criticize “the squad” BECAUSE they are women, or BECAUSE they are minorities.
It requires presuming that AOC, Omar, Presley, and Ilbran are free to say whatever offensive things they wish and are entirely immune to criticism BECAUSE they are women or minorities.
That is nonsense. That is indistinguishable from the “racist” garbage that those like Richard Spenser constantly spray.
This kind of PC crap was a major factor in Trump winning in 2016.
Why are those on the left doubling down on it.
There is nothing in Trump’s remarks that more than one hundred millions of americans do not think, and many have said. When you claim Trump is racist, you are labeling much of the country as racist.
I would note that after Trump posted this tweet there was massive outrage and screetches of “racism, hateful, hating hater” – but very very very few of these actually cited the text of the tweet itself.
The left and the media continues to presume that americans are too stupid to judge Trump’s or anyone’s words ourselves – that we must be told what is racist, that it is beyond our own ability to recognize racism when we see it.
I do not share the opinion expressed in Trump’s tweet – but my mere disagreement does not make the tweet itself racist.
P{rof Turley,
I’m not crawling up your azz for the fun of if. Sorry, but we are each on one side or the other or we’re a dead stunk on the center line of the road.
So Sorry but are you standing with the Commie/Nazi American hating trash or are you going to stand with pro Americana Trump supporters.
No disrespect meant, It’s an easy question, but I suspect your answer back to fix your home country . If you need travel funds please let me know, I will help your family.
I’m not trying to be cute or mean but the trash is attempting to bring violence here in the US within the next 1 1/2 yrs & whats your plan about al of that?
Regarding above:
It appears that Oky1 has a drinking problem. One should realize there’s not much to do in Oky’s Oky town. Ironically Oky refers to perceived political enemies as ‘trash’. Yet the comment is so poetically trashy, it could be a Country & Western song.
Your explanation leads me to ask what type of problem Hillary has? Oky refers to violent people as trash. I think he has a point. Hillary wishes to refer to half the nation with hard working people as deplorables. With your type of logic where does that leave you? Not in a good place I suppose.
Your criticism’s are apt – are you cognizant that they work as well or better regarding pretty much all of washington and the media ?
All over the internet, the media, and everytime a politician opens their mouths, what comes out is moral condemnation of political enemies.
We have entirely skipped questions of fact, or opinion.
It is completely irrelevant what the facts are. It is not even relevant what was actually said – you are my political enemy, therefore you are trash – morally bankrupt, racist, mysoginist, a hateful hating hater.
AOC and “the squad” have been spraying moral accusations at the entire planet – Trump, Pelosi, Jews, everyone who disagrees with them. Anyone who MIGHT disagree with them. They make no effort to address actual issues – they have self appointed themselves as morally correct, and therefore facts do not matter.
And in the midst of this spitball fight between “the squad” and most of the planet, Trump has the audacity to suggest that maybe they should prove that they are actually capable of solving real world problems – someplace where the REAL problems are so much greater than the imaginary ones they are fighting in America – and that is racist ?
Correction Okie, pro-Russian Trump supporters.
Anon, you might not realize it but there are very few pro-Russian Trump supporters. Those that deal under the table with the Russians are Democrats in high places. But here you are calling for globalism and not trying to even talk to the Russians.
“pro-Russian Trump supporters” are about as common as phlogiston.
TRUMP RIPS CONGRESSWOMEN AT RALLY
CROWD EXPLODES IN CHANTS OF “SEND HER BACK”
President Donald Trump doubled down on the go-back-to-where-you-came-from trope during a Wednesday rally in Greenville, N.C., laying into the four progressive House members who have styled themselves as the foil to the Republican president.
During his first rally since officially relaunching his re-election campaign, Trump spent more of his initial energy focusing on the four new Democratic members — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan — than his assorted 2020 presidential opponents. The rally was a campaign distillation of the racist tweets he had sent Sunday where he insisted the four members “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”
“They are always telling us how to run it, how to do this,” Trump said Wednesday of the Democratic freshmen. “You know what? If they don’t love it, tell them to leave it.”
Save for the occasional heckler, the crowd at East Carolina University seemed to enjoy his new campaign themes, chanting “send her back” and responding to other encouragement to make itself heard. It echoed the way crowds on the 2016 campaign trail delighted in chanting “lock her up” when Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton was mentioned, except none of the four congresswomen is running against him.
Most of Trump’s complaints about the members were recycled attacks that have already garnered criticism for taking the members’ words out of context. Trump accused Pressley of trying to monopolize the narratives of people of color and claimed Omar minimized the 9/11 attacks while sympathizing for Americans trying to join ISIS.
Trump mocked Ocasio-Cortez’s name, saying “I don’t have time to go with three different names. We will call her Cortez. It takes too much time.” He also called her proposed Green New Deal a failure.
But the reaction to the old attacks was reshaped following Trump’s Sunday tweets. When Trump mentioned Omar, the crowd exploded in chants of “Send her back!” One attendee shouted out: “Let’s get rid of her!” Omar was born in Somalia and came to the United States as a child.
While Trump also went after his 2020 Democratic opponents, reviving the taunts “Sleepy Joe” and “Pocahontas” for rivals Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the four freshman Democrats — who have been branded as “the Squad” — were the primary initial targets.
Edited from: “Send Her Back: Trump Batters Dem Congresswomen On Campaign Trial”
This evening’s Politico
Regarding Above:
It appears that “Send Her Back” has replaced “Build The Wall” as a rally cry for Trump supporters; a dubious but not unexpected transition.
Trump might as well have called on ‘patriots’ to shoot at those congresswomen. It seems he came oh-so-close to saying exactly that. Those congresswomen might be perfectly justified in seeking Secret Service protection at this point.
It’s bizarre that an American president is jeopardizing the lives of elected representatives. Perhaps that’s what Trump supporters envisioned when they said they wanted Trump to ‘shake things up’. But ‘no’, this isn’t a racist movement; not in the Fox News bubble.
“It seems he came oh-so-close to saying exactly that”
Shades of 1984. It no longer matters what was actually said – only what YOU think someone else came close to saying ?
So we are guilty of “thought crime” – based on YOUR guesses as to the rest of our thoughts ?
All these people are public figures. They ALL get death threats all the time – left, right. Do you think Mitch McConnell, or Trump, or Nunes do not get death threats ? In fact some nut job actually tried to kill republican congressmen not all that long ago. I could say “some left wing nut” – but that would be wrong. Mentally disturbed people sometimes adopt leftist justifications for they addled choices – and sometimes right ones, and sometimes odd synthesises. These people are derranged – no ideology is responsibile for them.
But the organized political violence of groups like Antifa can not be explained by mental disorders.
AOC and Gertz and any other person receiving death threats should report them and law enforcement should deal with them – independent of politics.
I have problems with alot of Trump’s remarks – but half the left has openly speculated about Trump’s violent end. If we are going to lock people up for 5 times removed claims of incitement to violence – half the democratic party would be in leavonworth.
Regardless, your arguments would have more merrit if they did not drip in hypocracy.
I am not prepared to censor anyone.
But anyone arguing for the censorship of one side, is drowning in hypocracy.
Dear, you are very caught up in Trump. I did not support Trump. I chastened Ocasio for saying on camera, google it. last Friday “Pelosi has a problem with young women of color, the Manu Raku of CNN said, oh it is racist, AOC said OH NO. Ridiculous if you bother to check the material before sending me a rant about death threats. I think Ocasio should be censured by the Congress for “strongly insinuating” The Speaker is ageist, sexist and racist. I don’t think she is. There are a lot more than 4 young women of color in the House. Ocasio presumes to speak for all of them. She does not.
More head scratching:
—–
“New EU Commission President Wins “Election” in Which She Was the Only Candidate By Just 9 Votes… “European Parliament votes by 383 to 327 to confirm Ursula von der Leyen (EPP) for a five year term as European Commission President,” tweeted Europe Elects. Why it was called an “election” at all is baffling because von der Leyen had zero competition, but she still only just managed to squeeze through. …
“This is the EU’s idea of democracy,” remarked Raheem Kassam. “One candidate. No mandate. She now wields executive control of one of the world’s largest power blocs. This is Soviet level stuff.”
Indeed, the only choice on the ballot paper was which language to read it in.
Totally absurd and a reminder of why the UK voted for Brexit.”
Something to scratch your head about.
———
“Woman Designs Chair to Prevent “Manspreading”
By forcing men to sit like they don’t have balls.
A British woman has been awarded for designing a chair that prevents “manspreading” by forcing men to sit as if they don’t have any balls…. But here’s the kicker; Laurel has also designed a chair which encourages women to engage in the very same behavior she complains about the men doing….”
She can join the same club Anon and Peter belong to.
Poll: Clear Majority of Mexicans Say Migrants Should Be Deported Back to Their Home Countries
“A new poll conducted by the Washington Post found that the clear majority of Mexicans think migrants should be deported back to their home countries.
The survey, which was conducted in partnership with Mexico’s Reforma newspaper, found that Mexicans are “deeply frustrated” with immigrants traveling through their country from Central America.
6 in 10 Mexicans say migrants are a burden on their country taking jobs that should belong to citizens, the poll found.
55 per cent of Mexicans also support deporting migrants who go through Mexico to the United States, compared to just 7 per cent who want to give them residency in Mexico. …”
“Will Democrats say Mexicans are racist now?”
Wait. Did Poland refer to Hitler as an “immigrant” in 1939? Were the Manson Family members “migrants” or “visitors” when they entered the Tate/LaBianca residences? These current illegal border crossers are illegal alien invaders which must be repulsed.
Allhysteria O’crazio Corkheads
Enough hysteria and incoherence.
Repeal the 19th Dumbmendment
(the “Reconstruction Amendments” were corruptly and improperly ratified, and are illegitimate and unconstitutional having been forced through at gunpoint under the duress of postwar military occupation and deliberate intimidation).
President Trump must seize power and rule by executive order and proclamation to “Save the Republic” as Abraham Lincoln seized power and ruled by executive order and proclamation to “Save the Union.”
AOC Is the Gift That Keeps Giving
ICE isn’t enough. She wants to do away with the Department of Homeland Security.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez doesn’t think much of the agencies that keep America safe. New Yorker editor David Remnick recently asked about her call to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Couldn’t ICE be reformed? No, replied the freshman Democrat. “The core structure of ICE” and “the entire Department of Homeland Security” are “large threats to American civil liberties.”
Mr. Remnick asked: “Would you get rid of Homeland Security, too?” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez replied, “I think so, I think so.” She called the department’s formation one of the George W. Bush administration’s “egregious mistakes,” described her call for its abolition as “a very qualified and supported position,” and added: “We never should have created DHS.”
The idea of abolishing the Department of Homeland Security is moronic, stupid, naive and dumb. Should the U.S. really shut down the agency in charge of air-transportation security, so hijackers armed with box cutters or bombs can board planes? Do Americans want our borders to be left unprotected against illegal aliens, traffickers, drugs and terrorists? Would America be safer or more free without capabilities like disaster emergency services, terrorism-prevention fusion centers, biological-warfare defense, the Coast Guard, programs to stop domestic deployment of weapons of mass destruction, and protective services for government facilities? All these are Homeland Security functions.
If Ms. Ocasio-Cortez doesn’t believe the department is needed to keep America safe, I told Fox News Channel’s Martha MacCallum last week, the congresswoman should talk to the Democratic chairmen of the House Homeland Security and Intelligence committees. She should talk to the police department of the city she represents. The NYPD will tell her the Department of Homeland Security has helped foil terrorist plots against the Big Apple.
If AOC remained intent on abolishing the department, I suggested she visit with constituents who lost a loved one on 9/11. Ask if they believe Homeland Security should be abolished so that other American families might suffer the pain they have. The department’s creation was a great bipartisan accomplishment, I told Ms. MacCallum—a new way to meet the 21st century’s challenges. Those challenges haven’t gone away, whatever Ms. Ocasio-Cortez thinks.
Shortly after this exchange on Fox, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez appeared on Twitter to say that 132 representatives voted against creating the department in 2002. Calling it “ill-conceived,” she wrote that “discussing reorganization shouldn’t be out of the question” and “it’s really not that radical.”
Except that she hadn’t said she advocated “reorganization.” She called for abolishing the department.
I responded on Twitter, reminding her that more than twice as many representatives—295—voted to create the department and that the Senate vote was 90-9. I pointed out her transparent flip-flop and suggested that upon sober reflection, even she might have decided it was nutty to get rid of the department. If she hadn’t really changed her mind, I challenged her to show us her bill to undo what she called an “egregious mistake.” Then we could all see how many co-sponsors her “very qualified and supported position” drew.
Crickets. No response. There’s nothing she can say that makes her look good. But the incident shows that the draft of the Green New Deal she issued in February wasn’t an aberration. That’s the draft with references to cow flatulence, unspecified constraints on commercial air travel, and a collection of left-wing nostrums to transform America into a new Venezuela. Her chief of staff told the truth last week: The Green New Deal isn’t mainly about climate—it’s about making America socialist.
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez is not a serious legislator but an unusually shallow poseur, the product of social-media culture. She offers slogans cribbed from the latest socialist bull session; wild utterances that receive enthusiastic nods from “woke” Democrats and looks of astonishment from much of Middle America.
There are reasons why AOC, “The Squad” of her running buddies on the House’s far-left fringe, and their operatives are characterizing some less-liberal Democratic representatives as akin to 1940s Southern segregationists, threatening them with primary challenges, and even castigating Speaker Nancy Pelosi as a racist. They’re convinced the shock value of their attacks and radical ideas will give their movement dominance over the Democratic Party and the country.
For now, they’re drowning out the Democratic presidential candidates. As these young representatives become the face of their party, they define it with their wackiness. Donald Trump knows this, and he will take full advantage of their gift.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/aoc-is-the-gift-that-keeps-giving-11563404196
dn’t ICE be reformed? No, replied the freshman Democrat. “The core structure of ICE” and “the entire Department of Homeland Security” are “large threats to American civil liberties.” then blamed it on Bush but it was December of 2015 when President Obama signed an extension, to the Patriot act that broadened and lengthened the abilities of those agencies and DId Not that I’ve ever found exclude Congress or American Citizens of the USA.
That’s what Socialists do. Talk out one side of their Ocasio and say something else out the other side of their Pelosi or Schumer or Feinstein, or Biden or Harris or Warren.or DINO or RINOI
This weaponization of false accusations is sickening.
I may take issue with Pelosi’s politics, but she is not a racist. To falsely accuse anyone of such a heinous character flaw, for personal gain, is unacceptable. AOC is getting criticized because as a freshman Congresswoman, she is trying to make drastic changes to America without taking the time to learn her job, civics, or the Constitution. What she has proposed would destroy our economy and render the US a dystopia. It had tyrannical aspects, such as banning air travel. Whenever politicians restrict citizens’ right to travel, barring quarantine, it’s a problem. AOC lashed out to deflect valid criticism.
This trend of false accusations to get their way is dumbing down the English language. Racist no longer requires a negative view of an entire race. Rather, it just means we disagree so I’m going to call you the nastiest word I can think of in order to sic my followers on you, and perhaps run you out of a job.
I cannot believe that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has created a scenario where I am defending Nancy Pelosi.
Race is the least interesting thing about anyone. It signifies the basal melanin concentration of our skin, and the region of our ancestors. It has nothing to do with whether you’re a good person, honest, trustworthy, creative, analytical, talented in music, math, art, or conversation, your politics, religion, or beliefs, or how you think and solve problems.
Politicians need to stop using divisive rhetoric in order to gain votes. Abandon the identity politics scale of worth based on race.
Don’t post a video about how confused you are by a garbage disposal and then act as if criticism is unfair or racist.
One little known but true about the Apollo 11 landing. Most don’t realize that upon landing they were the first to discover alien life forms and were able to track them. When the Astronauts left the moon the aliens also departed. Then they disappeared. Upon arriving back on earth there was no sign of aliens.
How do we know? because the Astronauts were the first known alien life forms on and too the moon.
That’s the kind of stuff that will be thrown at you, written about elsewhere in this edition. But it’s not hard to figure out who. This falls alien life forms are known as politicians and the proof is called propaganda. Same batch that promised DACA citizenship and then blocked it four times since 2017.
Difference is our Astronauts could make the claim, but didn’t whereas the other alien form I wrote about can’t make the claim but will.
Just substitute Constitutional Republic for moon and Socialists for aliens.
And DNC for DINO and DINO for Progressive Liberal
Why is it the most unlikely to be in favor of the Second Amendment are the first to use words like ‘weaponizing?”
That comment was not directed at the commenter but about those most prone to violence as long as they can hide behind antifa’s socialist roots?
Planned Barrenhood aborts its CEO without her knowledge as the first female physician in decades. The Left abort just to spill red blood, much like Antifa.
Abortion Metaphor: Planned Parenthood Terminates President Leana Wen Without Her Consent
https://pjmedia.com/trending/abortion-metaphor-planned-parenthood-ousts-president-leanna-wen-without-her-consent/
In what some would say is a perfect metaphor for abortion, Planned Parenthood’s Board of Directors ousted President and CEO Leana Wen without her knowledge or consent. Negotiations for her resignation had begun, but the board decided to oust her early on Tuesday.
“I just learned that the [Planned Parenthood] Board ended my employment at a secret meeting,” Wen announced on Twitter. “We were engaged in good faith negotiations about my departure based on philosophical differences over the direction and future of Planned Parenthood.”
Wen, the first physician to lead the organization in nearly 50 years, aimed to turn abortion into a health issue, rather than a political one. She cited “philosophical differences over the direction and future of Planned Parenthood” in a statement on the ouster.
“As a physician and public health leader, I came to Planned Parenthood to lead a national health care organization that provides essential primary and preventing care to millions of underserved women and families, and to advocate for a broad range of policies that affect our patients’ health. I believe that the best way to protect abortion care is to be clear that it is not a political issue but a health care one, and that we can expand support for reproductive rights by finding common ground with the large majority of Americans who understand reproductive health care as the fundamental health care that it is,” she said in a statement.
From her statement, it appears Leana Wen left because she thought Planned Parenthood had become too political. Yet she also may have left because in recent years the organization has been performing more and more abortions and providing fewer non-abortion services.
In a hilarious response, the Washington Free Beacon’s Alex Griswold tweeted, “I’m sorry you had no say in your termination.”
Alex Griswold
✔
@HashtagGriswold
I’m sorry you had no say in your termination https://twitter.com/DrLeanaWen/status/1151222286692900864 …
Leana Wen, M.D.
✔
@DrLeanaWen
I just learned that the @PPFA Board ended my employment at a secret meeting. We were engaged in good faith negotiations about my departure based on philosophical differences over the direction and future of Planned Parenthood. My statement to come shortly.