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

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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.
 
You're not wrong. The U.S. doesn't have a parliamentary system. Every representative is elected by their own district and is ultimately only accountable to his/her constituents. It's kind of absurd to hold Pelosi accountable for the "squad", since, legally, she can't do anything except try to convince them to shut the fuck up. But I'm also more invested in all Democrats getting the "squad" hung around their necks than Pelosi specifically. Pelosi knows how bad these idiots make Democrats look; I'm sure she's doing her best at tardwrangling them. Democrats in general should be blamed though since a lot of them are exceptional enough to love the "squad".
In general I've always been confused that the United States has only two major parties, two candidates. Obviously right now the Democrats are starting to unravel at the seams because they disagree on policies internally, so maybe that system is finally going to change. Maybe having actual choice will make more people invested in politics [eternally optimistic].
 
In general I've always been confused that the United States has only two major parties, two candidates. Obviously right now the Democrats are starting to unravel at the seams because they disagree on policies internally, so maybe that system is finally going to change. Maybe having actual choice will make more people invested in politics [eternally optimistic].

It's very difficult to bust into a two party system, as you steal away voters from a majority party in order to bolster yourself, which immediately causes said majority party to lose elections (and your shitty little third party won't win either). You go from having at least a few people you, the voter, agree with or endorse in elected positions to very few or none. "The lesser of two evils" is the American political flippin' motto for good reason.

It's a cushy racket, frankly.
 
The part where someone in a higher position is responsible for the idiotic behavior of someone lower rank, even though they're obviously not breaking any rules by being utter bellends.

The reason people look to Pelosi (and Schumer, etc) is because they're senior Democrat officials. While technically Pelosi isn't "The Squad"'s boss in a real capacity, she is supposed to be a role model and to be involved in thier careers to shape them for the better.

The obvious analogy would be sports, where it's common place to "train your own replacement" - doubly so in "skill" positions. Teams will have seasoned professionals nearing the end of their careers mentor young players so that they themselves can go on to be great players. You see this most commonly in NFL Quarterbacks and NHL Goalies.

Why not kick them out? Exactly how would Pelosi go about "keeping them in line?" Because it seems to me that she doesn't have any power over them.
She can't kick them out because it would be remarkably bad optics during a time where Democrats are drowning in bad optics.

She also doesn't have any "actual" authority to kick them out, but there's nothing stopping her from going to AOC's district and heavily supporting a better local candidate to replace her. This would be easy for her as she has a lot of support from other senior Democrat personnel, so tons of funding and etc. Expect to see a lot of that as all of "The Squad" have remarkably low approval ratings in the places they were elected from.
 
Crack theory: instead of directly attacking the Squad and their supporters and incur the wrath of the progressive mob, establishment Dems like Pelosi are purposely letting them soil themselves in full view of the public to let the progressive scourge on the Democratic Party burn itself out
🤔
 
You're not wrong. The U.S. doesn't have a parliamentary system. Every representative is elected by their own district and is ultimately only accountable to his/her constituents. It's kind of absurd to hold Pelosi accountable for the "squad", since, legally, she can't do anything except try to convince them to shut the fuck up. But I'm also more invested in all Democrats getting the "squad" hung around their necks than Pelosi specifically. Pelosi knows how bad these idiots make Democrats look; I'm sure she's doing her best at tardwrangling them. Democrats in general should be blamed though since a lot of them are exceptional enough to love the "squad".
The democratic party, led by chuck schumer and nancy pelosi, allowed and encouraged "the squad" when they were popular and focused on trump. They deserve to be blamed for them.
 
Keep digging that hole, ladies!

858784
 

Yeah, she's really helping with the narrative that she's totally not Anti-Semitic. Also, while I laugh at how desperate the Jews are to be constant victims and won't let the world forget about a (admittedly terrible) event that happened 70 years ago, excuse me? The Nazis and the Jews don't really fit together well in the public consciousness.

Is she really that stupid? (Please don't answer that question, I'm afraid I already know the answer)
 
It should absolutely be legal to boycott a foreign country

Why do you have to pick the dumbest possible argument
 
It should absolutely be legal to boycott a foreign country

Why do you have to pick the dumbest possible argument
I know, right?

I could understand a law saying no hiring contractors who are boycotting any of our allies, but specifically israel? No, that's dumb.

Of course that doesn't make Omar less dumb, in fact it possibly makes her more so in that I actually agree with her end goal (No anti-boycott laws) but she's going about it in such an idiotic way that I can't be on her side.

"We must be allowed to boycott jews because they're the devil!". Uhh... hmm...

Hopefully a saner person can make a similar proposal without ranting about how the jews are the cause of all evil in the world or something.
 
The part where someone in a higher position is responsible for the idiotic behavior of someone lower rank, even though they're obviously not breaking any rules by being utter bellends - correct me if they actually are, though, because that just begs the question: Why not kick them out? Exactly how would Pelosi go about "keeping them in line?" Because it seems to me that she doesn't have any power over them.
She has no real control of them, but she is supposed to be a leader. She shouldn't be laying down for them and showing her belly. She should be trying to convince the Squad to fall in line, or make their political life hell.
I did think that was the whip's job to a point...
We all know what the whip's job is.
In general I've always been confused that the United States has only two major parties, two candidates. Obviously right now the Democrats are starting to unravel at the seams because they disagree on policies internally, so maybe that system is finally going to change. Maybe having actual choice will make more people invested in politics [eternally optimistic].
If every person in America that doesn't vote, voted for one third party candidate, that third party candidate would win in a landslide.
Teams will have seasoned professionals nearing the end of their careers mentor young players so that they themselves can go on to be great players. You see this most commonly in NFL Quarterbacks and NHL Goalies.
Oh, you mean white people.

I kid, I kid. 😐

Still not calling them the Squad. Nice try Media, keeping pushing that narrative.
When ever I see the term "Squad", I think of "Suicide Squad". Pretty apt. I'll gladly refer them as the Squad.
 
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The part where someone in a higher position is responsible for the idiotic behavior of someone lower rank, even though they're obviously not breaking any rules by being utter bellends - correct me if they actually are, though, because that just begs the question: Why not kick them out? Exactly how would Pelosi go about "keeping them in line?" Because it seems to me that she doesn't have any power over them.
They're elected officials, so she can't just boot them out entirely. She's got lots of other levers she can pull, though. She can:
  • Remove them from committees (which are powerful and prestigious) and ensure they aren't placed on any in the future
  • Push fellow democrats to refuse to support initiatives they introduce, neutering their ability to get anything done in congress
  • Publicly denounce their antics
  • Coordinate with state democrats to eliminate their district entirely (eliminating the position for which they were elected, which effectively removes them from congress)
  • Push the democratic party to privately (or publicly) fund and otherwise support other candidates to run for their seats and hopefully boot them out in the next election
  • Openly and publicly support those other candidates herself directly (in the press and in her official capacity as speaker of the house)
  • Ensure no other democrats take their calls or respond to their requests (i.e. blackball them)
  • Censure them if they actually do act out of line with house rules and procedures, or get caught breaking the law
  • "Encourage" investigations into misbehavior and illegal activities
That's all "official" stuff she can do. There's also straight up blackmail ("straighten up or we release the real books for your campaign") and backroom threats ("straighten up or your parents each lose a finger"), but I'm sure no one in congress has ever resorted to that sort of thing.
 
It should absolutely be legal to boycott a foreign country

Why do you have to pick the dumbest possible argument

That may be true - but we shouldn't be sanctioning one of our best allies for virtually no reason. The government policy is supporting a two-state solution and the boycotts would directly fly in the face of that. If we have to pass a resolution that says "Please don't try and interfere in our international policy" for local governments, so be it.

It's worth nothing that nearly everyone thinks its a bad idea (the Anti-BDS bill passed the house 398 - 17) and ironically the first two muslim congresswomen were among the 17 that voted "yes" on this. AOC is on there too but even "squadmember" Pressley voted for it.

Out of the 400+ people in congress, they only got 14 people to vote against this. They couldn't even get all 4 of them to vote on it, Pressley didn't even protest vote with her squad (351 people had already come out as "yes" so the result was a forgone conclusion).
 
That may be true - but we shouldn't be sanctioning one of our best allies for virtually no reason. The government policy is supporting a two-state solution and the boycotts would directly fly in the face of that. If we have to pass a resolution that says "Please don't try and interfere in our international policy" for local governments, so be it.

It's worth nothing that nearly everyone thinks its a bad idea (the Anti-BDS bill passed the house 398 - 17) and ironically the first two muslim congresswomen were among the 17 that voted "yes" on this. AOC is on there too but even "squadmember" Pressley voted for it.

Out of the 400+ people in congress, they only got 14 people to vote against this. They couldn't even get all 4 of them to vote on it, Pressley didn't even protest vote with her squad (351 people had already come out as "yes" so the result was a forgone conclusion).

It's possible I don't know what this BDSM thing is all about.

Are local GOVERNMENTS boycotting Israel? That's A) not their place and B) yes, schizophrenic diplomacy

But saying individuals and private corporations have to play nice with our allies is the tail wagging the dog.
 
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