If the Left is going to defend Ocasio-Cortez from attacks, they better put the coffee on

If the Left is going to defend Ocasio-Cortez from attacks, they better put the coffee on
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Image: Twitter video screen grab)

It’s going to be a long two years.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hasn’t yet been “inaugurated” (which is what she thinks will happen on Jan. 3), and liberal bloggers are already running interference for her against the admitted onslaught of attacks from the Right over her — how to put this delicately? — intellectual prowess.

Yesterday a writer for the far-left site Salon took her side against bullies who had scoffed at a tweet she posted in which she asked why she wasn’t accorded the same respect as Paul Ryan, who was elected to Congress at the same age as her. Salon’s Matthew Chapman bravely attempted to make Ocasio-Cortez’s case that “she should be treated with as much credibility as any incoming member of Congress on matters of public policy.” Chapman made the fatal error of attempting this feat by taking a sledgehammer to the career of Ryan rather than explaining the merits of some of Ocasio-Cortez’s greatest hits.

Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?

The result was weak tea like the following:

[F]or what it’s worth, many of Ocasio-Cortez’s ideas, are broadly popular with U.S. adults — 59 to 75 percent back Medicare for All, depending on how the question is worded, and the public supports a universal jobs guarantee program by 23 points. [Emphasis added]

Putting aside the curious proviso that I have highlighted, all this demonstrates is that there are plenty of adults who, like Ocasio-Cortez herself, haven’t done the math on her proposals. According to the left-leaning Tax Policy Center, these, along with free college tuition and forgiving student loans, will cost American taxpayers $40 trillion spread out over 10 years.

Liberals can try to paint a happy face on the election of this newest member of the House. Yet, the unvarnished reality is that her election was a study in what happens when congressional redistricting puts the fate of our nation’s leadership in the hands of low-information voters.

Ben Bowles

Ben Bowles

Ben Bowles is a freelance writer and regular contributor to "Liberty Unyielding."

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