Although Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez seems ungifted in most respects, in one area she displays a rare talent — and that is her capacity to make everything political, right down to her taking time off for a little R&R before her “inauguration” in January and the rigors of a new job.
On Monday, the gaffe machine wrote on Twitter, “I’m taking a few days to take care of myself before what is sure to be an eventful term.” It is more information than anyone outside her immediate family and circle of friends needs, but her real reason for publishing the post was to make a point, which she tries to do in a second paragraph:
For working people, immigrants, & the poor, self-care is political – not because we want it to be, but bc of the inevitable shaming of someone doing a face mask while financially stressed./1 [sic]
I’m taking a few days to take care of myself before what is sure to be an eventful term.
For working people, immigrants, & the poor, self-care is political – not because we want it to be, but bc of the inevitable shaming of someone doing a face mask while financially stressed./1 https://t.co/EWdWFmPwet
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 17, 2018
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
In case you didn’t catch her drift, she’s saying that she’s all those things — working class, immigrant, and poor. Except that she seems not to have held down a real job so far in her life, she’s not an immigrant (she was born in the Bronx), and she’s not poor (she spent her formative years in one of America’s wealthiest counties and has enough cash in the bank to live comfortably until her $174,000-a-year salary as a member of Congress kicks in).
Naturally, the Washington Post was sympathetic to her lament, publishing a piece titled “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez highlights how rare self-care is among the working class and people of color.”
As for her expectation that her detractors would ridicule her plans to drive to a secluded area in upstate New York, do yoga, and eat more healthfully (which she reveals in an Instagram video), no one would have been able to if she hadn’t advertised them on two different social media platforms.
The reality is that Ocasio-Cortez has come to enjoy the spotlight, which is why in her Instagram post, she pretends to solicit “tips” from her fan base on self-care:
I am starting a week of self-care where I am taking the week off and taking care of me. I don’t know how to do that, though, so I would appreciate any and all self-care tips.
But in an accompanying post, she reveals that she already knows how to care for herself:
Before the campaign, I used to practice yoga 3-4x/week, eat nutritiously, read and write for leisure. As soon as everything kicked up, that all went out the window. I went from doing yoga and making wild rice and salmon dinners to eating fast food for dinner and falling asleep in my jeans and makeup.
Since, however, she is going to the trouble of asking for help, feel free to use the comments section below to recommend ways she can “take care of herself.” And, please, no mention of firearms or rope.
