What are Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Flaws?

I don't really think the right hate her for being pretty, I think they hate that they are attracted to her while at the same time she is "the wrong kind of woman with the wrong kind of values" or something. Clearly the right have no problem *supporting* people like Sarah Palin even while openly sexualizing them. It's not that they can't stand a hot woman, they can't stand a hot disobedient woman.

I got sucked into some youtube conservative commentator's very unfunny spiel on "Smokin Hot Justice Amy Coney Barrett" the other night - it was extremely pathetic and also seemed to imply that she's the *right* kind of attractive woman.

otm it's the default mode of ogling for conservative men, the same energy you see in the ads at the bottom of websites that feature a desirable/objectivized woman in the photo and say things like "try not to be furious at her lies" or w/e xp

this is not the only attack out there, there is at least one other from a liberal pov, a woman iirc.

This is the one you mean; it's embedded in the Medium piece linked upthread.

AOC on the cover of Vanity Fair. The clothes are estimated to cost $14,000. So happy that AOC is upholding the long established hypocritical tradition of Socialists who believe Socialism is for poor while they enjoy the fruits of Capitalism. pic.twitter.com/g8iTa1my1q

— Sunanda Vashisht (@sunandavashisht) October 29, 2020

Um, hate to break it to you but the $50 uniqlo sweater you're wearing is much more the "fruit of capitalism" than the $14,000 one-of-a-kind suit.

right?

the "journalist" who posted that "critique" also follows up with a tweet addressed to the "triggered" which makes me think she's working a ratfucking angle

*looks at self* oh god i'm an aoc stan aren't i

she's a modi/trump supporter who gives 2 fucks what she says

Isn't socialism about everyone sharing the gains rather than only a few wealthy people? So AOC wearing fine clothes that were shared with her fits.

xpost otm, typical "oh you're so socialist, you should be living in squalor!"

It's just another example of lazy thinking that only is a "gotcha" for mouth breathers
A la "latte liberals", Hollywood elite against guns but have armed security, for immigration but don't house immigrants themselves

"you're so pro-life, why u goin to a funeral!"

Tressie McMillam Cottom:

I believe that in this worldview, which is the dominant one, beauty is seen as the only legitimate capital that women are allowed possess. But beauty is supposed to serve power’s interests. When beauty occurs in an “unruly body”, such as a non-white person’s body, then it is an existential threat.

I believe the right’s attacks on AOC (and a few of the left’s to be honest) are a visceral reaction to their inability to control what they see is her only legitimate source of power.

They hate her because she is pretty.

she's just another shill reinforcing the message so it sounds more like a chorus. the point isn't that AOC is a disobedient woman. the point is that she must be undermined because of her message and this is a handy vehicle to do that which doesn't amplify her message by attacking it directly.

You'll notice the attacks aren't "she wants working people to get better health care, but that will mean raising taxes, which makes her a horrifying socialist". The best attacks are those that don't mention any part of her political agenda, but simply label her as an enemy of 'our kind', or mock her, or insinuate wrongdoing without citing evidence. These are designed as inoculations against her general attractiveness, both personally and politically.

tressie mcmillam cottom otm

I mean, it's kind of all of the above, because we're simultaneously talking about why the barons of capital oppose her, why the riding mower bourgeoisie hate her, and why the religious right hate her, and how the first group can rouse the second and third against her. I mean the #1 reason she is a target is that she is a popular and charismatic socialist who has had unlikely amounts of political success and is still very young and promising. The other reasons are useful to get people riled against her though.

tressie mcmillam cottom dyac

take 1 look at right-wing editorial cartoons about AOC and you’ll see there are plenty of republicans who don’t think she’s pretty. they draw her with buckteeth, flies circling her etc. frankly “they secretly think she’s hot” kind of a weird angle imo

in my experience calling a girl annoying is guy for "im gonna try and fuck that chick". its an instant break up in my book.

-- sunny successor, Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Republicans are Very Mad (again) about my appearance. This time they’re mad that I look good in borrowed clothes (again).

Listen, if Republicans want pointers on looking your best, I’m happy to share.

Tip #1: Drink water and don’t be racist

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 29, 2020

she’s the fucking best at this.

wow

I’m willing to hold you accountable for lying about climate change for 30 years when you secretly knew the entire time that fossil fuels emissions would destroy our planet 😇 https://t.co/ekj1Va1Cp0

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 2, 2020

followup:

The audacity of Shell asking YOU what YOU’RE willing to do to reduce emissions. 🙄

They’re showing you RIGHT HERE how the suggestion that indiv choices - not systems - are a main driver of climate change is a fossil fuel talking point.

Yes, make good choices. Reign in FF corps.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 2, 2020

fuck yeah

hell yeah.

but it’s time to primary or at the very least cow leadership or this is all sound and fury

it's not quite time tbf

if anyone is serious about primarying top Dems in Congress from the left, it isn't too soon to be meeting quietly to discuss strategic planning. you can always drop the idea if circumstances change, but you can't get back lost time.

(I meant today and tomorrow speciifcally might have other distracting strategising going on)

imagine the poor little shit who runs shell's twitter account today, lol

i'm sure they'll just say technically true things like "shell spends more on renewable energy R&D then countries X, Y, and Z _combined_!" and wait for it to blow over

more than consumers x, y and z_s too

❤️ Dutchess County New York. pic.twitter.com/uDCPuMUqPm

— raf (@rafaelshimunov) November 2, 2020

AHHHHHH!!! She always brings the justice and the joy.

Dang sorry that was supposed to be in reference to "Tip #1: Drink water and don't be racist" lol

She's so great. I wish they could put her in charge of everything:

There are folks running around on TV blaming progressivism for Dem underperformance.

I was curious, so I decided to open the hood on struggling campaigns of candidates who are blaming progressives for their problems.

Almost all had awful execution on digital. DURING A PANDEMIC.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 6, 2020

That whole thread is really good.

consistently the most OTM politician in the country

99% with AOC but I admit that I feel like "Defund the Police" is misunderstood so much that maybe it just bad messaging. "Abolish" arguably even worse

bad messaging if D.'s don't explain it. bad messaging if they let the R.'s control the narrative. bad messaging if white D.'s don't confront their own racist tendencies.

how many candidates actually ran on "defund the police"

how many candidates actually ran on "defund the police"

how many candidates actually ran on "defund the police"

― it bangs for thee (Simon H.),

I did and don't you forget it.

Running on "defund/abolish" probably would be a bad idea; per Simon's point: they're activists' slogans. But lots of white people believe the completely banal idea that "Black lives matter" is equivalent to advocating for a racial civil war or something, so I doubt you could come up with a good slogan that would appease most people.

also, how many genuinely progressive dems ran and ate shit?

anecdotally it seems like it was mainly the mushmouthed centrists who bit the dust or came close to it

Exactly the point AOC was making.

oh I know, but I was wondering if anyone had actual numbers/a roundup on that yet

Hardly any, but that didn’t stop Republicans from claiming all Democrats want to abolish the police.
― Ape Hole Road (Boring, Maryland), Friday, November 6, 2020 9:31 AM (twenty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

george w. bush could declare himself a democrat and run for office and Republicans would say he wants to defund the police

I think Kara Eastman is the only progressive who ate shit: https://theintercept.com/2020/11/03/kara-eastman-nebraska-congress/

And she didn't get blown out...but she did run pretty far behind biden in that district

also -- as tends to be the case, somehow, coincidentally I'm sure -- the actual mechanisms of doing so are broadly popular, and IIRC so was the wording "defund the police" this summer, until it was ceded to the right as a scare phrase

I’m seeing all sorts of progressive/liberal reclaiming of the word “defund” like, “our conservative government defunded education in last year’s budget” etc, which seems smart in realpolitik terms. Not sure how far beyond the twittersphere it has/will spread, but it’s a useful framing device I think