Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (1989- ), a Bronx educator, defeated ten-term Congressman Joe Crowley, even though he outspent her ten to one with the help of Wall Street. It is making news even in Mexico and Brazil.
On June 26th 2018 she won the Democratic Party primary for New York’s 14th Congressional District. If she wins the general election in November, which seems likely (it is a Democratic safe seat), she will be the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. She is just 28. She could become senator, governor, president.
New York’s 14th District takes in parts of the Bronx and Queens in New York City. It is a place where Uber drivers, waitresses, and cleaners live – and where the prison on Rikers Island stands. It is 18% White and 50% Latino (mainly Puerto Rican), but has always had a White representative.
Her mother is from Puerto Rico, her father from the Bronx. She comes from a family of groundskeepers and has a degree in economics and international relations from Boston University.
From her campaign ad:
“This race is about people vs. money. We’ve got people, they’ve got money. It’s time we acknowledge that not all Democrats are the same. That a Democrat who takes corporate money, profits off foreclosure, doesn’t live here, doesn’t send his kids to our schools, doesn’t drink our water or breathe our air, cannot possibly represent us.
“What the Bronx and Queens needs is Medicare-for-all, tuition-free public college, a federal jobs guarantee, and criminal justice reform. We can do it now. It doesn’t take a hundred years to do this.
“It takes political courage.
“A New York for the many is possible.
“It’s time for one of us.”
She worked for Bernie Sanders when he ran for president in 2016. It showed her that grass-roots campaigns were still possible. Like Sanders, most of her money comes from small donors and she is unashamedly left-wing. Unlike Sanders she is race conscious.
She belongs to the Democratic Socialists of America, the largest socialist party in the US. Black Lives Matter of Greater New York was an early supporter of hers.
Protest: She took part in the Standing Rock protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline and, earlier this week, the protests at the Mexican border against President Trump’s zero tolerance immigration policy.
Criminal injustice: She understands how public prosecutors are in bed with the police, the trouble with money bail, and how the prison industrial complex profits off of too many people being in prison.
On the Democratic Party:
“What I see is that the Democratic Party takes working class communities for granted, they take people of color for granted and they just assume that we’re going to turn out no matter how bland or half-stepping these proposals are.”
She sees the Latino vote as a sleeping giant.
She says that in a country as rich as the US, everyone should have good education and health care. The reason that sounds like a pipe dream is because of the Reagan, Bush, and Trump tax cuts. #BillionaireLivesMatter.
– Abagond, 2018.
See also:
- Bernie Sanders
- Standing Rock protests
- Trump’s zero tolerance policy
- race conscious
- mass incarceration
- bail
519
Normally I would distrust a New York politician because of the Wall Street game, but not when that politician:
1. Calls herself a democratic socialist
2. Has worked for Bernie Sanders
3. Has worked in education
4. Comes from a poor immigrant family
5. Looks Black or at least non-White
6. Is a woman
7. Is a millennial
8. Has lived in New England
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is clearly not the stereotypical New York power broker who has sold her soul to the Evil Empire. She sounds like she could be the best politician that state has had since Bobby Kennedy. Her mother says she does want to be president!
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The heart and soul of New York bringing a strong pulse back to the salt of the earth.
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“She comes from a family of groundskeepers”
Where on earth did you get that? Her father, now dead, was an architect.
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Is GroundsKeepers like the new way of saying maid, house keeper, dishwashers, janitors etc? I come from that.
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@ M
She said that in an interview. That does not mean her father was necessarily one himself. I notice she says very little directly about her father. What I have gathered is that he had a university degree, had a small business in the South Bronx, doing God knows what, died of cancer circa 2008, and was born in the Bronx. He looks like he might be Puerto Rican, but so do tons of people, so I am not even sure if he is Puerto Rican.
@ TeddyBearDaddy
“Groundskeeper”, at least in this case, means like janitors, building maintenance, landscapers, gardeners, etc. People hired to maintain a property.
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Well, at the end of the day she’s just another politician. I hope those brown Latino immigrants aren’t looking for her to be some kind of savior.
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@ abagond
“Her father, who tragically died from lung cancer in 2008, was an architect and the CEO of Kirschenbaum & Ocasio-Roman Architects, PC, which focused on remodeling and renovations.” The DailyMail
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One month in office and she, the youngest member, is taking Washington by storm.
She certainly is no snowflake.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Calls Out Dark Money
‘We have a system that is fundamentally broken.’ — Rep. @AOC is explaining just how f*cked campaign finance laws really are
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well she better stay on target gold leader with medicare for all! otherwise i guess corey booker
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i heard a lot about the bronx mostly bad but not apparently lately due to gentrification at least the south part
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@v8driver
Well, she can’t run for President now, which I guess is a good thing.
In the meantime she can work on ethics for government officials, the environment and health care.
For me, transportation and health care and climate change are my main concerns if I move back to the USA.
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@ jefe
I saw that on YouTube. It demonstrates yet again why she needs to be president. But that says more about the political leadership in the US than about her. All she is doing is showing the simple moral courage and honesty that any national leader should have.
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@abagond,
Do you think she can survive until 2024?
I used to live in Astoria, Queens, but on the west side, which is grouped with the East Side of Manhattan for the congressional district. Since that is the last place I voted in USA, that is the district my absentee ballot goes to. Too bad she is not the one representing my district. I was wondering if the establishment democratic Congressmen/women in NYC have anything to worry about if the fever spreads to the adjoining districts (including mine).
Should the senators (Gillibrand and Schumer) worry about THEIR seats in the next election? Gillibrand was just re-elected to her 2nd 6-year term but maybe she will drop out if she runs for President.
Is she an unstoppable force? Or will they succeed in subduing her?
Anyhow my cousin’s daughter currently living in the part of Astoria which is part of AOC’s district seems to adore her. But, maybe her “demographic” is unique (Chinese father, Puerto-Rican mother, living with her black boyfriend for over 10 years).
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Most people are senators or governors before they become president. The only exceptions over the past one hundred years have been a Cabinet member (Hoover), a war hero (Eisenhower), a guy who was sworn in without being elected (Ford), and… Trump.
I like AOC, but I wonder if she can win over enough of New York State to become senator or governor. Upstate New York seems to be pretty conservative overall.
On the other hand, maybe someone will choose her as a Cabinet member. If Warren or Sanders got elected president, I could see her being chosen.
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@ jefe
Any sitting senator or governor of New York should be afraid of AOC. They are standing on her stepping stones to the White House.
I think the Democratic Party establishment will try to co-opt her and, if that does not work, get Wall Street to open their cheque book to destroy her in the 2020 primary. It is a long ways from now till 2024 when she will be old enough to become president.
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@Abagond,
You do not think that the co-opting could work in the opposite direction, whereby the democratic establishment has trouble holding onto their power and they can’t get Wall Street to buy her arm of the party out or smear her? After all, se overturned the 20-yr. establishment incumbent and her twitter followers are growing much faster than anyone on Wall Street.
One thing she can do, even to fellow democrats, would be to state publicly which candidates are beholden to Wall Street, which are beholden to oil and gas, which are beholden to Big Pharma, which are beholden to foreign governments, etc. , ie, make sure that all the 2020 candidates which survive are “clean”.
I am just noticing how AOC (but certainly not just AOC, but the millions behind her too) have almost managed to kick Amazon out of Queens. Actually, I lived in the western edge of Queens and the proposed Amazon HQ2 is in the very congressional district I vote in. so I know these neighborhoods pretty well – I even used to see a dentist in the projects in Long Island City. This is in direct opposition to the mayor and the governor, who have basically opened up their pocketbooks to Amazon. If AOC and her followers can knock over the billionaire mayor and governor, with Wall Street right there, how big would that Wall street cheque book have to be to counter that?
This is in stark contrast to how Amazon has been received in Arlington, VA. But Virginia is facing its own challenge with its state government scandals. I haven’t seen AOC weigh in on that.
I also haven’t seen her weigh into the US – China Cold war (one of my biggest concerns).
As you know, my roots in the US hail to DC and NY and I have been a bit enthralled by this development, especially as I am looking into moving back to the USA. I have become so entirely disgusted with the development following the Umbrella Movement (and the rise of Emperor Xi) that I think there is now more to do right back there in the USA and AOC has made it more optimistic.
Maybe she could become mayor of NYC? The first one with zero beholdenment to Wall Street? who has the most power to clean up Wall Street? She has 40-50 years in front of her, there are so many things she could do in her lifetime. I worry more about her personal security. Does she have bodyguards?
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@ jefe
When I saw her break down government corruption the other day, the thing you referred to, two thoughts went through my head: a) she should be president and b) they are going to kill her. She is already a hate figure on the right. It is hard not to think of the 1960s where we were left with – Nixon. And Cointelpro.
Deep down I feel like either AOC is too good to be true or that she is too good for the US.
I hope she does not let herself be co-opted but only time will tell.
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Her popularity has sky rocketed. She’s pretty much got rock star status. I do like that she’s feisty and she’s smart with how she utilizes social media and she’s not intimidated by the old heads in Congress. She’s young and fresh and even i like what she’s bringing to the table. I am concerned about her safety and hope she has some security to guard her. These nut job Trump chuds would be glad to try and take her out.
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I dunno.
She is still on fire. Every week she comes out with something simply amazing. If the Democratic Party establishment or Wall Street wait much longer, she is going to expose them way before they can even open their cheque books or wipe out their balances first.
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(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9uTH0iprVQ)
a nice video from AOC on her Green New Deal.
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NO REPARATIONS FOR ADOS NO VOTE.
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All that and she still ain’t black, black people will vote for any Democrats that keeps throwing them under the 🚌 to help any other groups.
The black race is beyond stupid, but keep twerking. you are doing a good job.
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Why the Bernie Sanders and AOC. ads , they aren’t black. Ask them about reparations, LMBAO!
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Just wondering if Abagond would welcome AOC running against Schumer in 2022.
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@ jefe
1000%.
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^ maybe we need a 2022 button for US Senate too
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She’s a moron and for some reason people only attract to her because of her looks. So many bad voters in America. I don’t even think she’s good looking. I think she has a butter face. Her body is nice but you can say that about most women that take care of their bodies. Also it’s hilarious she has a degree in economics because she doesn’t appear to know any thing about the economy. To me she wants to create a lazier society by offering money to people to sit on their asses just like Kamala Harris does.
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If you endorse her for 2024 can you say why she opposes voting for “Medicare4all” during a pandemic?
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCwwN2AGynE)
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@ gro jo
I do worry that at some point AOC will sell out, become the Joe Crowley she replaced. But I doubt this is a sign of that: she supported Pelosi two years ago. From what I understand she was being tactical as opposed to giving up on Medicare For All.
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How is she being tactical? Millions are out of work with no insurance, seems to me that it’s the perfect moment to call for something she campaigned on. What could be more important, chair of a committee?
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She’s a liberal POS.
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Yet another view of AOC—from the anti-war left:
https://www.mintpressnews.com/meet-the-pseudo-left-imperialists-fighting-against-universal-healthcare/273923/
There is an old New York saying: Money talks and BS walks.
It seems that private health insurance and other corporate money can fund a lot of talking. Especially talking from phony progressive poseurs who’ve found ways to creatively combine money and BS.
Seems AOC was bought and paid for a while ago.
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AOC is not being “tactical” unless she’s tactically reneging on her own promises!
She campaigned on forcing a floor vote on Medicare4All and replacing Pelosi.
But when the possibility arose to actually press both issues while achieving at leas one, the whole “squad” started 5hitting bricks.
I guess they didn’t expect that they would be so quickly in a position to use their power to push their claimed policy objectives. But providentially, the Dems LOST seats in the house overall while the “progressive” faction gained seats. They actually were in a position to block Pelosi’s speakership or support her in exchange for a meaningful concession such as a floor vote on M4A. They did neither! But they continue to TWEET though, because that’s what they were put in congress to do.
This is normal for the Dem side of the mono-party coin. It blames Rs for its feigned helplessness, rolling over to the very purposeful and norm-discarding Rs when the Rs have power. Then when the Dems have power they tout bipartisanship and fail to aggressively use their own power to achieve the policies they lied about genuinely supporting. The “squad” has revealed that it is no different.
AOC deciding to “tactically” defer to Pelosi is like Obama insisting on “working” with intransigently obstructionist Republicans. They establish the ground rules to ensure failure because they never had any intention of moving their radical “change-based” campaign rhetoric beyond mere words. Their purpose was to divert and diffuse anti-establishment energy by redirecting it back into establishment power structures to die.
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@ Origin
“Their purpose was to divert and diffuse anti-establishment energy by redirecting it back into establishment power structures to die.”
Hear! Hear!
Their corporate masters consider the Dems a left bulwark against change that supermajorities of Americans want, like M4A, Student Loan Forgiveness and rebuilding of national infrastructure.
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Basically AOC is a “sheep dog” who appeals strongly to the more radical younger generations.
With austerity Biden as president, useless gaslighting “progressives” in congress, and Trumpism still relevant as a mass movement, the next 4 years are going to be interesting, to say the least.
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@Afrofem
Exactly.
AOC’s unmasking came swiftly.
She actually posted a tweet implying that JD’s saying “F*** You” was !!violence!!
That’s from the woman who defended Rashida Tlaib after she said “Impeach the MFer” and Rs started clutching pearls.
Such mental gymnastics and self-contradiction were necessary to avoid forcing a vote for M4A when she RAN ON doing just that! Such a fraud. Her undeniable charisma and “minority” ethnicity is going to blind many people to what she’s doing for a long time; just like Obama.
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Origin is this really you? You sound rational for a change. Welcome back!
If AOC is a “sheep dog”, what does that make Abagond and his absurd claim that she is being ‘tactical’?
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@gro jo
I’m rational (to you) as long as I’m not saying anything remotely critical of the CCP because you’re an irrationally sycophantic supporter!
And the thing is, I’m not even a knee-jerk anti-China critic. (I almost wish I could be more so given the free side-effect of annoying you more effectively).
Since I’m aware of the history of Western Imperialism across the globe, part of me enjoys seeing the former imperialists struggle to diminish the influence of a massive non-white country that actually has power and an independent outlook. However, China – as a world power – acts in its own interest as is its right. Therefore, I’m averse to your brand of “spin” in which you, for example, try to repackage and sanitize China’s self-interested actions.
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I pay you a fulsome compliment, you respond with a diatribe!
“And the thing is, I’m not even a knee-jerk anti-China critic. (I almost wish I could be more so given the free side-effect of annoying you more effectively).”
What a load of bs.
“Since I’m aware of the history of Western Imperialism across the globe, part of me enjoys seeing the former imperialists struggle to diminish the influence of a massive non-white country that actually has power and an independent outlook. However, China – as a world power – acts in its own interest as is its right. Therefore, I’m averse to your brand of “spin” in which you, for example, try to repackage and sanitize China’s self-interested actions”
Do tell, which self-interested action of China’s have I “spun”?
Was it when I pointed out to you that they had the right to control the narrative on covid-19 on their territory like any other sovereign nation would? When are you going to condemn the UK and South Africa for letting mutations of that virus leave their territory as you did in China’s case? How about the absurd claim that China was systematically discriminating against Blacks during their fight against the virus? In my book, a few racist incidents doesn’t amount to a government policy, if pointing out such fact is ‘spinning’, then, yes, by all means, I’m spinning. I have zero sympathy for the astroturf ‘democracy’ movement in HK. I find their claims absurd. You are probably sympathetic to them. Can you tell me how they will suffer once they are integrated into the Pearl River Delta scheme of the Chinese government?
Unlike you, I have no emotional attachment to China, positive or negative. As for China acting in its self-interest, that’s a given and not new to me. Their cozying to Pinochet and Pol Pot when they were busy murdering their people come to mind but how were they different from the USA in that regard? Has you brand of ‘morality’ ever helped anybody or is it just to make you feel ‘superior’? At any rate, nice comment on AOC, since you seem to agree with me.
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A few days ago I said:
I didn’t take long for my expectations to be fulfilled.
I mean, Biden has not even been inaugurated yet and…
From Bloomberg:
https://archive.is/RLIEc
So get ready for Dems to blame GOP “obstruction” for their failures after they deliberately forego the means at their disposal to work around it. They’ll have the Presidency, the House and the Senate yet they’ll still allow Republicans to tie their hands because that’s what they want.
Dems: “Vote Dem so we have the majority and can actually do 5hit!”
Voters: OK!
Also Dems: “Thx! Now we have to get permission from the Republicans!”
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“Thx! Now we have to get permission from the Republicans!”
Yeah. snort
Those bad Republicans “obstruct the innocent corporate Dems again”.
SMDH!
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It’s all well and good to take to task the Dems and AOC, how about doing the same for our genial host who espies a ‘tactic’ in AOC’S betrayal of her program?
Abagond owes his readers an explanation of what that tactic is and how it contributes to attaining the goal of M4A.
Abagond is beginning to sound like The Nation Magazine, Chomsky, et al., full of coruscating criticism of the system except when it comes down to demanding accountability to the people who are supposed to be leaders or allies. Things go dark at that point.
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@ Origin
That is a view point.
Seeing from outside – as is my position – it seems that one of the things the USA needs right now is peace with itself. And Joe Biden seems to embody that Apostle of Peace that the country needs.
Is tempting once you are in a position of power to want to use the full scale of it to impose your ideas to other people and in particular to your opponents. But I’m not sure that this is wise.
Remember that a whole 70 million people voted for Trump. Would you really want to go your way and totally discard their will? It’s not weakness if you treat the losers with some respect.
Just another view point.
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@munubantu
You’re describing the process by which things got to this stage, and it is usually dressed in the flowery language of “unity”. The Republicans PUSH and the Democrats APPEASE and leave the needle shifted as far as the R’s left it. Consequently, the trajectory is determined by the Republicans whether they are in power or not. The Republican party is the turning handle and the Dem party is the back-check that prevents reversion.
Obama’s failure to achieve the “yes we can” changes he promised in his 8 years in power is party of the reason there was so little enthusiasm for Hillary in 2016, contributing to Trump’s victory. The Democratic party is owned by its donors and is not genuinely FOR many of the policies its base supports and which it claims to champion to win votes (like certain healthcare reforms). Once in power, Dems vow to “work” with Republicans on issues that the people want but the party doesn’t want in order to use Republican obstruction as an excuse for their deliberate failures.
When the people get fed up and vote them out, they yap at the Republicans as the minority but go right back into their shells the moment they have power again. You don’t find it curious that the Dems were screaming “RESISTANCE!” when R’s were in control but now that the people voted them into power Biden has decided they need to share that power with the Rs who were “Nazis” a few months ago? Biden is Republican-lite and the Dem party is a FAKE alternative. It is merely the “good cop” to the Republican “bad cop” in a corporate-owned virtual mono-party.
[It’s convenient that “mono” is also “monkey” in Spanish].
TBH, Trump is self-serving but he operates outside of that paradigm which is part of the reason he is so popular among a sector of the population. If you can look past everything that is wrong with him, he really does stick it to the status quo. The establishment Republican party that Biden wants to resurrect [as exemplified by Mitt Romney or the late John McCain] is NOT Trump’s base and has been rejected the Trump base which was screaming about hanging VP Mike Pence on January 6th.
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Also 70 million people have have voted for Trump but MORE people voted for Hillary than for Trump in 2016! It was a MINORITY GOVERNMENT! Yet the Trump administration took the electoral college win and the power that came with it and did whatever the F it could get away with for 4 years.
So now in 2020 the Dems get a popular vote win AND the needed electoral college win but they’re going to give some of their power to the Rs for “unity’s” sake! LOL! If this is not seen as the lack of an alternative and a virtual capitulation to right-wing policies, I don’t know what to say.
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“That is a view point.
Seeing from outside – as is my position – it seems that one of the things the USA needs right now is peace with itself. And Joe Biden seems to embody that Apostle of Peace that the country needs.”
Did the USA fight another civil war? No.
Did a few Trump fans get overexcited in the face of weak preparations by the Capitol police? Yes.
Could the “Deep State” have engineered this comedy of errors to put paid to Trumpian populism? A strong possibility.
The real revelation of this coup manqué is that business rules the USA. Trump’s noise was swiftly silenced, his capacity to borrow curbed and his income streams placed in jeopardy.
The 70 millions who voted for him will either be paid-off or/and repressed as occurs in any modern nation. I suspect that the ‘moderation’ of people like Sanders and AOC is due to the fact that such vast powers are wielded by people who aren’t accountable to anything other than what they perceive to be in the interest of their class. Trump is just a rogue member who has to be disciplined.
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no racism the belief that white is better than black
men are better than women
and unbridled greed and stinginess does not have limits or consequence
rules the USA.
Business still has a big insanity problem
its call how do you really need
also if i offer you a million or a billion of most anything you would not want it or need it
but we are supposed to respect and admire sociopaths who have billions while paying their workers next to nothing.
The US Capitol riot was a beautiful example of Malcom x’s famous saying “the chickens coming home to roast”
in this case we (the entire world) got to see
white racist trump supporters motivated by lies
the biggest being that trump did not lose and the election was rigged
even thought a racist right wring supreme court filled with judges
hand picked by trump and his supporters ,said it was a fair election and refused to hear the ridiculous mentally ill lies case.
Numerous republicans won in the same election and election officials who are republican and voted for him said there was no fraud.
but noooo ,instead of gracefully conceding what do we have for racist America the most powerful and wealthy nation in the world
we have a failure of the peaceful transfer of power
we have Georgia senate race in a state so red (republican) and racist
you can barely see the blue
guess what both white racist rich republican senators lose
why because even thought the republican election official who voted for trump and recounted the votes for him three times
trump still insist he won Georgia and the national election ,and all the democrat’s are lying and cheating and stealing votes
so that enough Georgia republican voters don’t vote and with the help of activist like stacy abrams – a black man and a jewish man are now democratic senators
giving the democrats the majority control of the house the senate and the presidency.
the incitement to riot by the president and several members of congress
a riot in which the capital building where congress meets and works is breached
and ransacked
how in the most powerful and wealthy nation in the world did this happen
well the police who where guarding building are like all police through out america
staffed by 90 percent racist white males who will shoot and kill anything black in seconds
but even if their lives are threaten and one of the most important symbol of their government is attacked and desacrated (rioters urinated and defecated in the halls)
they just can’t point a gun ,much less shoot racist white people like themselves
( their where many former and active duty military and police members from all across the country that attacked the police (blue lies ( mean lives) don’t matter)
me seeing entitled prelivged racist white people get kiiled for being racist by their own racism – classic!
trump being forced to stfu by businesses because the riot and I don’t think any business(or any other type of social operation) can function we “f–k your feelings ” as a operating policy.
oh wow censorship – cause i want lie, and spread vicious untrue rumor’s and threaten to harm and kill people – wait only racist and other criminals want that
you don’t say…
we still have more coming
for the man who just can’t stop lying
two yes two impeachments
and this time I think he might get convicted
but why worry about it cause unless a lot of pardons stick ,including a selfie
somebody is going straight from the white house to jail.
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I appreciate AOC for putting people over party. I am grateful she came to Texas to help in this Winter crisis.
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@ Mary Burrell
Thank you for checking in! I hope you and your loved ones have been able to stay safe and warm.
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