Cooper's Eye on the Left: Face of Democrats showing wear

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the Bronx on June 30, 2018.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the Bronx on June 30, 2018.

She's a college graduate?

Facts can be stubborn things, as Democrat Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 28, termed by Democratic National Committee Chairman Thomas Perez as the future of the Democratic Party, has recently found out.

Ocasio-Cortez, a candidate for the United States House from New York, was a supporter of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in his 2016 presidential run, but she is finding being a candidate herself requires her to have somewhat of a grasp of the issues. But she's falling sadly short of the mark.

In an interview last month, she referred to the occupation of Palestine by Israel. Her interviewer was so shocked, she asked her to expand a little bit on her remarks. After babbling on about "settlements" for a moment, she admitted, "I am not the expert on geopolitics on this issue."

More recently, although Ocasio-Cortez has a degree in economics and international relations from Boston University, she remarked that America's upper middle class no longer exists and said the only reason unemployment has been so low since Donald Trump became president is that "everyone has two jobs."

One of her favorite talking points is advocating the need for universal health care, a deep desire of Sanders. However, last week, a libertarian think tank reported that, instead of Sanders' $1.3 trillion annual cost for such a health care system, the 10-year cost would be a minimum of $32 trillion, or $3.2 trillion per year.

But what's a trillion here or there? Ocasio-Cortez? She's got the answer. With total government-run health care, not as many people would die "because they can't afford access to health care."

You can't make up this stuff.

Yes, it's this bad

A Republican congressman from New York was arrested last week on charges of insider trading. You may have heard about it. The national media wanted to make sure you did and that he was one of the first members of Congress to support Donald Trump in 2016.

Combined, ABC, CBS and NBC devoted 18 minutes, 24 seconds to it over 24 hours on evening news and morning shows.

But do you remember the indictment, trial and convictions of Democratic representatives Corrine Brown and Chaka Fattah in 2015 and 2016? Probably not, because there was almost no coverage on them.

During the year-and-a-half period between the indictment of Fattah, a Pennsylvania congressman who'd been in office for 21 years, and his conviction for bribery and fraud, the networks' morning and evening news shows devoted a total of 68 seconds to him, and not a word when he was convicted. The trial and conviction of Brown, a Florida congresswoman, on fraud charges - which drew her five years in prison - got zero coverage, according to MRC Newsbusters.

Out with the pledge

An Atlanta charter school said it will no longer begin its day with the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag in order to start the day as a "fully inclusive and connected community."

However, the flag is inclusive of, and connected to, anyone who lives in the U.S., and clearly Atlanta is in the U.S. But never mind. The school has a "Wolf Pack Chant" it will ask students to stand for and recite.

"Over the past couple of years," campus president Lisa Zelski wrote in a letter to parents, "it has become increasingly obvious that more and more of our community were choosing to not stand and/or recite the pledge."

Clearly, "if more and more of our community were choosing not to stand," both teachers and parents need training in patriotism and what's truly important.

Zelski said teachers, other leaders and students would collaborate in the coming month to creative a more suitable school pledge.

More suitable?

"This pledge," Zelski wrote, "will focus on students' civic responsibility to their school family, community, country and our global society."

Ah, global society.

Just kidding

A Santa Barbara, California, councilman let slip a few words recently that those who call themselves progressives or social democrats and most of those who call themselves Democrats believe but never admit.

After the Santa Barbara City Council passed a resolution to fine restaurant owners and employees for giving out straws, a resident wanted to know what was next.

"Unfortunately," Councilman Jason Dominguez said, "common sense is just not common. We have to regulate every aspect of people's lives."

That's exactly want they want to do - regulate the size of your soda, decide who can speak where, forbid you from having a straw and decide who can be in public bathrooms.

Some Santa Barbara residents didn't appreciate Dominguez's suggestion. In turn, he apologized and said he was only speaking rhetorically.

"A few weeks ago I made a string of words in a rhetorical fashion about regulation," he said, "and they were not taken as rhetorical and that's my fault so I want to apologize."

Nice try.

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