The unofficial end of summer is here, and what a newsworthy summer it was. Social media juggernauts accelerated their censorship efforts, The New York Times hired an open racist as a new editorial board member, and Elon Musk took a page out of President Donald Trump’s playbook and trolled the financial markets and the press with his tweeting. There was no shortage of stories, except over at the Counterfeit News Network, where they still obsess over Russia and porn stars.
But another interesting thing happened on the way to autumn 2018: A so-called “Girl from the Bronx” rose to national stardom, defeating a 10-term Democratic congressman, gaining endorsements from the media, and giving millions of Americans headaches when they facepalmed every time she spoke.
It was truly the Summer of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Unfortunately for the political upstart, her meteoric rise was more like a comedic roasting of democratic socialism, not an enlightenment tour.
Despite the comic stylings of AOC, her win is merely a formality and she will inevitably become a political force, something that Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Tom Perez recently conceded.
Before Ocasio-Cortez is anointed queen of the United States of America and sends any negative commentary about her down the memory hole, let’s take a look at some of her greatest hits from the summer of 2018.
‘Everyone Has Two Jobs’
If you were unaware, William F. Buckley’s legendary political program, “Firing Line,” recently returned to the airwaves. Margaret Hoover, a Republican centrist, has had the honor of hosting the show, but it has been pretty much a dud until she invited Ocasio-Cortez onto the set to discuss a panoply of issues.
The interview consisted of plenty of comments that Ocasio-Cortez surely wishes she could take back, but there was one embarrassing gaffe that left us wondering: Should she ask for a refund for her economics degree from Boston University?
Hoover alluded to the strong economy – particularly the unemployment, rate which has fallen under 5%. But this isn’t because of job creation, or perhaps even the Federal Reserve’s interventions. According to Ocasio-Cortez, the jobless rate is low “because everyone is working two jobs” and “people are working 60, 70, 80 hours a week and can barely feed their kids.”
Yikes.
Her answer got worse when she started talking about “no holds barred, Wild West capitalism.” Has she seen the tax code? Has she seen the book of regulations? Has she seen the amount of legislation that gets passed every day at the federal, state, and local level that impedes the free-enterprise system?
Political Discussion is Sexist
Ocasio-Cortez claimed that Republicans fear her. When Ben Shapiro, editor-in-chief of The Daily Wire, heard about this, he offered to donate $10,000 to her campaign or a charity of her choice to have a political discussion. It was a reasonable request, considering how petrified conservatives apparently are of her.
How did Ocasio-Cortez respond? Like any social justice warrior would: Use any of the -isms to shut down the opposition and gain political points.
The democratic socialist ridiculously likened the request to catcalling.
She tweeted:
“Just like catcalling, I don’t owe a response to unsolicited requests from men with bad intentions.
And also like catcalling, for some reason they feel entitled to one.”
So, anytime a news network, a newspaper, or a radio host asks a political candidate for an interview or to have a discussion, then they are sexist! Not only was this an absurd reply, it turned out that she “catcalled” Crowley in May 2018 after he refused to debate her. The hypocrisy is hilarious.
Satire is Wrong
Satire must be labeled as such, otherwise it is fake news!
That’s the message Ocasio-Cortez and her leftist media followers presented to the rest of the world after a satirical interview made the rounds.
After the 28-year-old’s disastrous and humiliating interview with Hoover, conservative satirist Allie Stuckey released a fake interview between herself and Ocasio-Cortez. The mockery incensed Ocasio-Cortez:
“Republicans are so scared of me that they’re faking videos and presenting them as real on Facebook because they can’t deal with reality anymore.”
The left was just as perturbed, accusing Stuckey of “doctoring” a video to “mislead” viewers, which was ostensibly a “reprehensible” act.
The fun police demanded that any future satire videos must come with a disclaimer. Will they demand the same thing for Stephen Colbert?
Former Employer Shuts Down
Ocasio-Cortez informed her followers on Twitter that she “swung by” a restaurant she used to be employed by before it closed its doors. She added that she is “a normal, working person who chose to run for office because I believe we can have a better future.”
What made the tweet interesting was that The Coffee Shop is shuttering because of the policies she supports. One such policy is the minimum wage.
The Coffee Shop co-owner and president Charles Milite told The New York Post that his business is closing because rent is high and the minimum wage is going up.
And raising the minimum wage is something near and dear to Ocasio-Cortez’s heart:
“Raising the Federal minimum wage to a living wage, and supporting a revitalized, 21st century labor movement are two essential starting points for working class Americans getting the dignified pay they deserve.
Healthcare, education, and housing are key cornerstones, too.”
The Daily Show Debacle
Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show, invited Ocasio-Cortez onto his program to interview her. But it wasn’t an interview; it was a 13-minute campaign advertisement because he failed to challenge her on anything, including a couple of obvious mistakes she made.
First, Ocasio-Cortez claimed that President Donald Trump gave the Pentagon a $700 billion budget increase that “they didn’t even ask for.” This is incorrect because that’s the entire defense budget.
Second, she referenced billionaire Warren Buffet’s complaint that he wants to pay the same tax rate of 15% as his secretary so the wealthy can “pay their fair share” – he could if he wanted to, but he chooses not to and takes advantage of loopholes. But this is an argument that has been debunked long ago: We already have a progressive tax system, the rich already pay their fair share, taxing all the wealth owned by U.S. billionaires wouldn’t make a dent to the national debt, and Buffet has refused to call for lower tax rates for secretaries.
Third, she argued that “one of the biggest problems that we have is 200 million Americans make less than $20,000 a year. That’s 40% of this country.” Huh? According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 28 million Americans earn $25,000 or less, not 200 million people. Also, the U.S. population is around 330 million – but hey, you can’t fault a millennial for not doing fractions, alright?
Fourth, the hardest question Noah asked was the cost of her “free” healthcare proposal. As usual, Ocasio-Cortez refrained from citing a specific number, instead, going off on a tangent about fictitious numbers after centrally planning the national economy. Studies have found that it would top $32.6 trillion over 10 years – her entire platform would cost $42 trillion in just a couple of years.
As George Costanza shouted in the middle of a movie theater:
America’s Future
Since Ocasio-Cortez became a national darling, we are repeatedly told that she is the future of the Democratic Party and U.S. politics. It is hard to dispute this prognostication. Not only are the Democrats leaning more to the left, there are millions of Americans, especially young Americans, who are buying into socialist propaganda. When the dinosaur media refuses to challenge the ideas of democratic socialism and allows these eminent figures to regurgitate fallacies, it is easy to believe Ocasio-Cortez is the future – that’s just unfortunate for the future of the country.
What are some of your favorite hits of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? Let us know in the comments section!
