US "The Squad" Megathread - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Talib Derangement Syndrome

I honestly only know about American politics from what I read on the Internet but since we all love shitting on leftists I figured we'd get a kick out of this. Also it's trending on Twitter so you know it's important.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...irect=on&noredirect=on&utm_term=.960552c9ba53

NEW YORK — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old political novice running on a low budget and an unabashedly liberal platform, upset longtime U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley on Tuesday in the Democratic congressional primary in New York.

The surprise victory by the community organizer in a district that includes parts of the Bronx and Queens came after an energetic, grassroots campaign that mustered more than enough support in a low-turnout race that many had expected to be an easy win for Crowley, a member of the Democratic House leadership.

“The community is ready for a movement of economic and social justice. That is what we tried to deliver,” said Ocasio-Cortez, who has never held elected office and whose candidacy attracted only modest media attention.

She told The Associated Press after her victory that she didn’t have enough money to do polling in the race, but felt in her gut that her message had a chance to connect.

“I live in this community. I organized in this community. I felt the absence of the incumbent. I knew he didn’t have a strong presence,” she said.

Crowley has been in Congress since 1999 and hadn’t faced an opponent in a primary election since 2004, when Ocasio-Cortez was just a teenager. He was considered a candidate to become the next House speaker if Democrats win the majority.

“It’s not about me,” Crowley, 56, told his supporters at a campaign party following his loss. “It’s about America. I want nothing but the best for Ms. Ocasio-Cortez. I want her to be victorious.”

He later played guitar with a band at the election night gathering, and dedicated the first song, Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run,” to Ocasio-Cortez.

Crowley represents New York’s 14th Congressional District, where he is also the leader of the Queens Democratic party.

Ocasio-Cortez was outspent by an 18-1 margin during her race but won the endorsement of some influential groups on the party’s far left, including MoveOn, as well as the actress Cynthia Nixon, who is running for governor. She defeated Crowley by 15 percentage points.

Born in the Bronx to a mother from Puerto Rico and a father who died in 2008, Ocasio-Cortez said she decided to challenge Crowley to push a more progressive stance on economic and other issues.

She attended Boston University, where she earned degrees in economics and international relations, and also spent time working in the office of the late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy.

After graduating, she returned to the Bronx where she became a community organizer. In the 2016 presidential campaign she worked for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Among her issues is expanding the Medicare program to people of all ages and abolishing Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. She recently went to Tornillo, Texas, to protest against policies that have separated parents from their children at the southern U.S. border.

Ocasio-Cortez gained some internet attention for a campaign video called “The Courage to Change,” a two-minute spot for which she wrote the script and featured footage from her own home.

Crowley is chair of the House Democratic Caucus, the fourth-highest ranking position in Democratic leadership in that chamber of Congress.

His loss drew the attention of President Donald Trump.

“Wow! Big Trump Hater Congressman Joe Crowley, who many expected was going to take Nancy Pelosi’s place, just LOST his primary election. In other words, he’s out! That is a big one that nobody saw happening. Perhaps he should have been nicer, and more respectful, to his President!” he tweeted.

The Republican candidate for the office, Anthony Pappas, is running unopposed and had no primary. Pappas teaches economics at St. John’s University.

She was a Bernie campaigner, is supported by BLM, and wants to abolish Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Also this was in a solid-blue Congressional District so you know she's a shoo-in for next Congress.

But hey, we did get to see Trump laugh at Crowley on Twitter.

 

[Jigglyjogglers]

Forget segregating the fanfiction can we segregate the idiots being horny on main for this moron?

 

[JosephStalin]

Not a clue between them.

Improved to reflect reality.

 

[Sīn the Moon Daddy]

Improved to reflect reality.

So how do you think this particular saga ends? I'm betting that once Alex loses her seat, Pajeet will finish emptying her accounts and jet back to mommy and daddy in Street Shittistan. Then the real fun is going to start. I cannot wait for the frantic newscast after her suicide is discovered.
It does beg the question though, if the worthless bitch doesn't have a brain then where is she going to shoot herself?

 

[lurk_moar]

The only thing latina about her is her name.

To me, she looks like her ancestry is 100% Spaniard mixed with some European. She looks like a white girl who uses sunless tanning lotion.

 

[Your Weird Fetish]

Forget segregating the fanfiction can we segregate the idiots being horny on main for this moron?

What if Alexandria Ocasio-Cortex brought back segregation haha only it was just for white people. And you got herded into camps by sexy latina dominatrixes haha. Wouldn't that be weird?

I dunno I just think of weird things sometimes lol haha

 

[Azovka]

So Rolling Stones, Netflix, and etc love her! Why don't you love her too?!

I sat through this movie this evening, and I think it was genius. No one has ever captured millennials brainstorming in Starbucks and soyboys crying as well as that Knock Down the House did. Truly a masterpiece.
Spoilers down below.

(This is AOC's partner - Riley. The only thing he does in the movie is eat her food while she complains and cry. Given that he isn't introduced without a job description and the amount of art supplies in their flat, I'd assume he's one of those hipster artists. Could be wrong though.)

Spoiler: Knock Down the House recap

The documentary follows 4 "grassroots" women candidates - AOC in NY, some black chick in St Louis, some white soccer mom in Las Vegas, and a "coal miner's daughter" in West Virginia. Sorry, really didn't remember their names. Think one is Amy something? Either doesn't matter; 3/4 of them lost.

Anyways, first we're shown the organisation of the Democratic Grassroots campaign, where they basically made a nation-wide appeal for candidates with no political experience whatsoever to "challenge the establishment". AOC's profile was submitted by her brother.

Once she got selected, we got the generic shot of the meeting room of the grassroots democrats being like "ye, we're strong. We can do this. Power to us, and our diversity", that kind of gimmick. Then, they go back to their districts to campaign.

AOC's segment deals with her stressing how much Crowley's corrupt and will just stop her from even putting her name on the ballot if there's any irregularity. But nothing comes out of it, and she registers just fine.

The Virginia chick talks about all the people in her town that got cancer from the coal mines, and that the incumbent's getting payouts from the call industry and all. And then her trailer park mother just says how scared she is for her daughter going out there in the big, bad world of politics.

The St Louis chick meets with black activists and talks about the Ferguson riots and how she was there, fighting for justice. And how St Louis needs a candidate that would do something for the African-American community because their current rep isn't black enough, or whatever.

The Nevada segment has this soccer mom that quit her job as Chief Financial Officer of something to go into politics after her daughter died from consequences of a blood clot because the hospital refused to treat her since she didn't have health insurance.
And here, I'm really confused. Her family's obviously upper-middle class, and they seem to be working. So how the fuck does she not have health insurance? And why couldn't she pay for her medical expenses herself otherwise?

I'm not from the US at all, but I really have trouble understanding that whole insurance drama. The only thing the documentary says is - her daughter got refused treatment and tests because she didn't have insurance.
When that thing happens in France, you can just pay out of your pocket though. Couldn't she have done the same? Especially given how well-off her parents seem to be?

Either way, her daughter died, and now her candidate mom is carrying her ashes around in the car, complete with a seatbelt, because "she would've liked to travel". And while I can understand the grief, this genuinely creeped me out.

Then we go back to AOC, and how her opponent Crowley didn't even bother to show up to the debates or make proper campaign flyers and such.
AOC talks a bit about her family, and how her dad died while she was in college, and her mother had to clean houses in exchange for her SAT lessons etc. Oh, and when she comes back home, she finds out that her partner Riley ate all of the food or something (American Dream? no idea what food / drink is that) they got from Manhattan, and she whines about it.

Lots of shots of canvassing, distributing flyers, meeting local voters, with an emphasis on the African and the Yemeni community affected by Trump's travel ban for AOC.

Finally, it's election time. Turns out 3/4 of the women featured lose by a large margin, and we're shown footage of them crying and being dejected, before it's AOC's turn.
AOC wins, as was the foregone conclusion. Her partner hugs her and cries in true soyboy fashion. Then it cuts to AOC and Riley in Washington, where he cries again for some reason, while AOC just sits on a bench and says that she hopes her daddy's proud of her.

The end.

Oh, and another thing I just remembered from the documentary. At the very start, you have all of these strong, empowered women sitting at a table and snubbing their electorate being like "they wanted me to be West Virginia's bitch. Well I'm no one's bitch" etc.
Just thought it was pretty funny. And very cliché.

Anyways, now that I truly feel inspired by these riveting stories and overused "FeelGood" tropes, I'll be off to save the world before it ends in 12 years.

 

[moocow]

I dunno I just think of weird things sometimes lol haha

Yeah sometimes I get drunk too.

 

[Your Weird Fetish]

It's a meme from /tv/ you autists.

I sat through this movie this evening, and I think it was genius. No one has ever captured millennials brainstorming in Starbucks and soyboys crying as well as that Knock Down the House did. Truly a masterpiece.
Spoilers down below.
View attachment 748079


View attachment 748080

View attachment 748082
(This is AOC's partner - Riley. The only thing he does in the movie is eat her food while she complains and cry. Given that he isn't introduced without a job description and the amount of art supplies in their flat, I'd assume he's one of those hipster artists. Could be wrong though.)

Spoiler: Knock Down the House recap

The documentary follows 4 "grassroots" women candidates - AOC in NY, some black chick in St Louis, some white soccer mom in Las Vegas, and a "coal miner's daughter" in West Virginia. Sorry, really didn't remember their names. Think one is Amy something? Either doesn't matter; 3/4 of them lost.

Anyways, first we're shown the organisation of the Democratic Grassroots campaign, where they basically made a nation-wide appeal for candidates with no political experience whatsoever to "challenge the establishment". AOC's profile was submitted by her brother.

Once she got selected, we got the generic shot of the meeting room of the grassroots democrats being like "ye, we're strong. We can do this. Power to us, and our diversity", that kind of gimmick. Then, they go back to their districts to campaign.

AOC's segment deals with her stressing how much Crowley's corrupt and will just stop her from even putting her name on the ballot if there's any irregularity. But nothing comes out of it, and she registers just fine.

The Virginia chick talks about all the people in her town that got cancer from the coal mines, and that the incumbent's getting payouts from the call industry and all. And then her trailer park mother just says how scared she is for her daughter going out there in the big, bad world of politics.

The St Louis chick meets with black activists and talks about the Ferguson riots and how she was there, fighting for justice. And how St Louis needs a candidate that would do something for the African-American community because their current rep isn't black enough, or whatever.

The Nevada segment has this soccer mom that quit her job as Chief Financial Officer of something to go into politics after her daughter died from consequences of a blood clot because the hospital refused to treat her since she didn't have health insurance.
And here, I'm really confused. Her family's obviously upper-middle class, and they seem to be working. So how the fuck does she not have health insurance? And why couldn't she pay for her medical expenses herself otherwise?

I'm not from the US at all, but I really have trouble understanding that whole insurance drama. The only thing the documentary says is - her daughter got refused treatment and tests because she didn't have insurance.
When that thing happens in France, you can just pay out of your pocket though. Couldn't she have done the same? Especially given how well-off her parents seem to be?

Either way, her daughter died, and now her candidate mom is carrying her ashes around in the car, complete with a seatbelt, because "she would've liked to travel". And while I can understand the grief, this genuinely creeped me out.

Then we go back to AOC, and how her opponent Crowley didn't even bother to show up to the debates or make proper campaign flyers and such.
AOC talks a bit about her family, and how her dad died while she was in college, and her mother had to clean houses in exchange for her SAT lessons etc. Oh, and when she comes back home, she finds out that her partner Riley ate all of the food or something (American Dream? no idea what food / drink is that) they got from Manhattan, and she whines about it.

Lots of shots of canvassing, distributing flyers, meeting local voters, with an emphasis on the African and the Yemeni community affected by Trump's travel ban for AOC.

Finally, it's election time. Turns out 3/4 of the women featured lose by a large margin, and we're shown footage of them crying and being dejected, before it's AOC's turn.
AOC wins, as was the foregone conclusion. Her partner hugs her and cries in true soyboy fashion. Then it cuts to AOC and Riley in Washington, where he cries again for some reason, while AOC just sits on a bench and says that she hopes her daddy's proud of her.

The end.

Oh, and another thing I just remembered from the documentary. At the very start, you have all of these strong, empowered women sitting at a table and snubbing their electorate being like "they wanted me to be West Virginia's bitch. Well I'm no one's bitch" etc.
Just thought it was pretty funny. And very cliché.

Anyways, now that I truly feel inspired by these riveting stories and overused "FeelGood" tropes, I'll be off to save the world before it ends in 12 years.

Yeah the insurance story makes no sense at all. Even if she somehow didn't have insurance, and even if she couldn't pay out of pocket, if you go to the emergency room with an embolism you're getting treated immediately. Hospitals aren't allowed to let you just drop dead of something like that.

 

[Compositesludge]

I've been semi-avoiding watching Knock Down the House because I've heard that it's enormously schmaltzy and those types of movies just turn my stomach, but you sold me on watching it, specifically for Riley.

(This is AOC's partner - Riley. The only thing he does in the movie is eat her food while she complains and cry.

With this sentence, this man became an inspiration to me. Not a good one. But an inspiration nonetheless.

 

[Sīn the Moon Daddy]

I've been semi-avoiding watching Knock Down the House because I've heard that it's enormously schmaltzy and those types of movies just turn my stomach, but you sold me on watching it, specifically for Riley.



With this sentence, this man became an inspiration to me. Not a good one. But an inspiration nonetheless.

If Alexandria decides to keep antagonizing the Clinton family she's going to be starring in a horror movie.

 

[Azovka]

It's a meme from /tv/ you autists.


Yeah the insurance story makes no sense at all. Even if she somehow didn't have insurance, and even if she couldn't pay out of pocket, if you go to the emergency room with an embolism you're getting treated immediately. Hospitals aren't allowed to let you just drop dead of something like that.

Well yeah, I don’t get it either. Hospitals don’t just refuse patients that come to the ER with blood clots.

And again, how tf did she not have insurance given her and her family’s background?


Oh and speaking of insurance, funnily enough, since most of them want “insurance for all” like those European socialist countries, one thing they don’t realise is that here, namely France, our “insurance for all” covers only 30-50% of the costs.
And if you want full coverage, you still have to pay for private additional insurance called “mutuelle”.

For instance, if you end up in the ER here, and are forced to stay in the hospital for a week, the cost of your stay will be about 1.5k € (~1.7k $). The “free insurance for all” only covers 400€ out of that, and you have to pay the rest out of your pocket, or annoy the fuck out of your private insurance to pay it for you.

Hell, my sister was in the hospital with pyelonephritis (a very bad kidney infection) last summer, and after her stay in the hospital, they charged her a 1.1k € receipt.

She sent the documents to her private insurance, requesting coverage, but those fucks let her hang one month “because it’s holiday season” (in France, no one likes to work), and because they needed to make sure that her stay in the hospital wasn’t drug or cosmetic surgery-related.

Apparently no one at the private insurance company knew that “pyelonephritis” is kidney-related, and their only resident doctor was on holidays, and they needed to wait for his return to confirm she wasn’t hospitalised for substance abuse or a boob job.

Anyways, while the private insurance was fucking around, the hospital just seized my sister’s bank account and took the money they needed from there. That was after three weeks. And it took another three weeks for her to get that money back, minus the bank & hospital fees, which are forever gone.

That’s how insurance works in those socialist European countries AOC and the likes praise. Unless you shill out 150€ / month ($170), you won’t be covered. And even then, anything related to teeth and eyes is still not included, and you pay out of your pocket.

And that story about private insurance companies messing around? That’s very common too since, unlike America, people really, really don’t like to work here.

 

[Martys_not_smarty]

The only thing latina about her is her name.

To me, she looks like her ancestry is 100% Spaniard mixed with some European. She looks like a white girl who uses sunless tanning lotion.

Sounds about right, you take the monologue from True Romance and replace Sicily with Spain (same thing happened there but they pretend it didn't) and boom there you go she's the whorespawn of the conquering Moors and/or Arabs shipped off to the new world like how the well off enough families of Spain did to their second born sons due to primogenitor.

 

[Just Some Other Guy]

Well yeah, I don’t get it either. Hospitals don’t just refuse patients that come to the ER with blood clots.

And again, how tf did she not have insurance given her and her family’s background?


Oh and speaking of insurance, funnily enough, since most of them want “insurance for all” like those European socialist countries, one thing they don’t realise is that here, namely France, our “insurance for all” covers only 30-50% of the costs.
And if you want full coverage, you still have to pay for private additional insurance called “mutuelle”.

For instance, if you end up in the ER here, and are forced to stay in the hospital for a week, the cost of your stay will be about 1.5k € (~1.7k $). The “free insurance for all” only covers 400€ out of that, and you have to pay the rest out of your pocket, or annoy the fuck out of your private insurance to pay it for you.

Hell, my sister was in the hospital with pyelonephritis (a very bad kidney infection) last summer, and after her stay in the hospital, they charged her a 1.1k € receipt.

She sent the documents to her private insurance, requesting coverage, but those fucks let her hang one month “because it’s holiday season” (in France, no one likes to work), and because they needed to make sure that her stay in the hospital wasn’t drug or cosmetic surgery-related.

Apparently no one at the private insurance company knew that “pyelonephritis” is kidney-related, and their only resident doctor was on holidays, and they needed to wait for his return to confirm she wasn’t hospitalised for substance abuse or a boob job.

Anyways, while the private insurance was fucking around, the hospital just seized my sister’s bank account and took the money they needed from there. That was after three weeks. And it took another three weeks for her to get that money back, minus the bank & hospital fees, which are forever gone.

That’s how insurance works in those socialist European countries AOC and the likes praise. Unless you shill out 150€ / month ($170), you won’t be covered. And even then, anything related to teeth and eyes is still not included, and you pay out of your pocket.

And that story about private insurance companies messing around? That’s very common too since, unlike America, people really, really don’t like to work here.

Sounds about right. My wife says that us Americans have pretty funny ideas about how things actually work in Europe. It's hardly the sunshine and rainbows that Commies here would have you believe.

 

[Dante Alighieri]

Sounds about right. My wife says that us Americans have pretty funny ideas about how things actually work in Europe. It's hardly the sunshine and rainbows that Commies here would have you believe.

And Europeans have funny ideas about how things work in America. Much more sunshine and rainbows than portrayed by dumbass commies and millennials.

 

[Azovka]

And Europeans have funny ideas about how things work in America. Much more sunshine and rainbows than portrayed by dumbass commies and millennials.

Well, to be fair France does have its advantages: public schools aren't such a mess, you can actually live and get by without a car, there's way less chances of dying to tornadoes, floods, earthquakes etc., more public and paid work holidays... I'm sure there's more.

But the universal healthcare really isn't as great as everyone makes it out to be. You have to supplement it with the same kind of private insurance as the US, and just like in the US, dentistry and ophthalmology aren't covered.
And given that we pay higher taxes on income, products, and just about everything, it's debatable whether in the end, it's cheaper or not.

That and personally, I'd take Mexicans over Muslims any day.

 

[Dante Alighieri]

Well, to be fair France does have its advantages: public schools aren't such a mess, you can actually live and get by without a car, there's way less chances of dying to tornadoes, floods, earthquakes etc., more public and paid work holidays... I'm sure there's more.

People also forget that the US is absolutely massive and has a much larger population than any individual European country., So things that work for one largely homogeneous country won't work for the incredibly diverse and spacious US.

 

[Malodorous Merkin]

People also forget that the US is absolutely massive and has a much larger population than any individual European country., So things that work for one largely homogeneous country won't work for the incredibly diverse and spacious US.

My favorite is when the comparison is made between the US and Norway, when the more proportional comparison would be between Norway and Colorado.

Norway Vs. The US is like picking up Colorado, plopping it down next to Greenland, and then comparing it to the entire US like it's apples and apples.

 

[Your Weird Fetish]

My favorite is when the comparison is made between the US and Norway, when the more proportional comparison would be between Norway and Colorado.

More like Norway and Alaska, wouldn't it be? I mean they're both really cold and parts of the country you can only really travel by small plane.

 

[Corbin Dallas Multipass]

Well yeah, I don’t get it either. Hospitals don’t just refuse patients that come to the ER with blood clots.

And again, how tf did she not have insurance given her and her family’s background?


Oh and speaking of insurance, funnily enough, since most of them want “insurance for all” like those European socialist countries, one thing they don’t realise is that here, namely France, our “insurance for all” covers only 30-50% of the costs.
And if you want full coverage, you still have to pay for private additional insurance called “mutuelle”.

For instance, if you end up in the ER here, and are forced to stay in the hospital for a week, the cost of your stay will be about 1.5k € (~1.7k $). The “free insurance for all” only covers 400€ out of that, and you have to pay the rest out of your pocket, or annoy the fuck out of your private insurance to pay it for you.

Hell, my sister was in the hospital with pyelonephritis (a very bad kidney infection) last summer, and after her stay in the hospital, they charged her a 1.1k € receipt.

She sent the documents to her private insurance, requesting coverage, but those fucks let her hang one month “because it’s holiday season” (in France, no one likes to work), and because they needed to make sure that her stay in the hospital wasn’t drug or cosmetic surgery-related.

Apparently no one at the private insurance company knew that “pyelonephritis” is kidney-related, and their only resident doctor was on holidays, and they needed to wait for his return to confirm she wasn’t hospitalised for substance abuse or a boob job.

Anyways, while the private insurance was fucking around, the hospital just seized my sister’s bank account and took the money they needed from there. That was after three weeks. And it took another three weeks for her to get that money back, minus the bank & hospital fees, which are forever gone.

That’s how insurance works in those socialist European countries AOC and the likes praise. Unless you shill out 150€ / month ($170), you won’t be covered. And even then, anything related to teeth and eyes is still not included, and you pay out of your pocket.

And that story about private insurance companies messing around? That’s very common too since, unlike America, people really, really don’t like to work here.

So you're saying european health care is very similar to US health care, except you're even more forced to buy it there, and they can directly take your money from your bank account?

Weird nobody ever mentions that while singing the praises of europe's socialized medicine.

 

[ICametoLurk]

Well, to be fair France does have its advantages: public schools aren't such a mess,

Aphabetisation is going down, and the results of highschoolers are pathetically low. Don't get fooled by the few excellent mathematicians going out of prestigious schools, the plebeans are kept as ignorant as possible, and public schools are malfunctionning as possible. Doesn't help that the taxes actually go to private schools (including christian, jewish or muslim ones) just as much as they go to public school. There's a reason why the education ministers DON'T send their children to publich school.