Ocasio-Cortez, the Socialist Sock Puppet

I’m not too proud to admit that a small part of me was excited by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s primary victory, this past month. As a millennial woman with libertarian leanings, I counted her win a small victory. Who doesn’t like a good punch delivered to Washington's bureaucracy, now and again? #termlimits

The initial humility following her victory proved temporary, as her haughtiness—in interviews, in social media, and in speeches— grows at an alarming rate. She targeted minorities and millennials throughout her campaign and, frankly, they deserve a refund. Ocasio-Cortez reverberates the same falsified rhetoric of socialism all while flaunting her BU degree in economics; when asked to explain some of the key tenets of her outlandish platform, though, she consistently fails to offer a coherent explanation of her ideals. It’s almost as if her socialist policies have no economic basis…

After perusing some of Ocasio-Cortez’s more cringe-worthy interviews (and trust me, there are plenty), I can safely conclude that she is not the representative young women need. 

National Review appears the sole major news outlet recognizing Ocasio-Cortez’s incompetence. A recent interview with Trevor Noah, notably, exposes how unqualified she is to be running for office. In this interview, alone, she confused the recent increase in defense spending with the entire annual cost of the military and implied that the population of the United States was around 800 million. She blundered in another interview as she claimed that unemployment rates have depleted “because everyone has two jobs” and because employees are simply working more hours. She denounced Israel as invaders of Palestine and, recognizing her blunder on national television, quickly backtracked and claimed that she is ill-informed on the subject. You don’t say.

If these errors in speech aren't compelling enough, today she rallied her followers in Deerborn, Michigan to join her in "throw[ing] down" with Congress on Sunday: “I need you to send them with me because when we roll through as a posse, we can throw down. We can get it done. That’s how we do it in the Bronx. ‘Roll deep,’ as they say.” 

Whether she’s fear-mongering her brigade of Bernie supporters or just spewing the socialist junk she gathered from her pseudo-Economics degree, Ocasio-Cortez has proven a major disappointment to hopeful millennials, regardless. Her innumerable blunders upon her election show that she's not the free thinking visionary she claims to be but, rather, is a mere sock puppet regurgitating Bernie's failed platform. 

Candidate Targets Melania

Mark Roberts, Congressional candidate in Oregon running as an Independent, has essentially called First Lady Melania Trump a prostitute.

In response to a Daily Caller report that Melania's staff (five) is much smaller than that of former First Lady Michelle Obama (44), Roberts tweeted:

"Did you know the First Lady works by the hour?  #thinkdirty #hoebag".

Stay classy, Roberts.

Rand Paul to Support Kavanaugh

Sen. Rand Paul has announced that he will vote to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. I had hoped and expected that Rand would eventually get there, and I'm glad that he has.

Rand has expressed important concerns about the dangers that technology poses to our fourth amendment rights. However, it would be as improper to impose a litmus test based on the fourth amendment as it would be to impose a litmus test based on Roe.

Further, some of Rand's concerns may be addressed legislatively.

At the end of the day, as Rand pointed out, one will never agree one hundred percent with any nominee -- unless one is the nominee.

Dennis Prager: Debunking Post Trump Hysteria

In this article, Dennis Prager aptly covers my latest thoughts regarding the hysteria surrounding U.S. relations with Russia. He makes a particularly poignant statement: "Today, the mainstream media are not the voices of caution. They are the creators of the hysteria." This begs the question: if MSNBC and CNN each covered the facts of the Helsinki conference, void of commentary, would the conference have generated such public duress?

I agree with Prager that twenty-first century "news" now has a new connotation. Rather than objectively detailing events, each major modern news outlet now uses its platform for commentary. The result, as Prager points out, is that mainstream media now has unbridled influence over public opinion.

I theorize that, at least among my demographic of millennials, many of us know the dishonesty of mainstream media and yet willfully ignore it. We continue to watch outlets like CNN daily without fact-checking its claims due to sheer laziness. Scrolling through twitter or watching biased recap of the news on TV instills in viewers a false sense of due diligence with little use of critical thought.

Consumers make a choice, daily, between the convenience of mainstream news outlets versus the work (and reward) of gaining a comprehensive understanding of governmental affairs. The hysteria generated from Helsinki truly reveals the laziness of modern citizens who would rather be spoon-fed their "news," daily. As Prager suggests, people no longer watch the news for information; rather, they watch to be told their opinions. 

Justice Kennedy: The Gift of Goodbye

Supreme Justice Kennedy’s looming retirement sends conservatives and liberals, alike, in a frenzy. The Left’s collective lamentation regarding their now-threatened “civil rights” looms amid mainstream media. What the left laments as an oppressive loss of “civil rights,” the right celebrate a long-overdue return to Constitutional sovereignty. Indeed, the past eight years have been a devastating blow to the Constitution as the U.S. has witnessed, firsthand, the debilitating effects of liberalism in the SCOTUS. We’ve watched helplessly as the central government literally dictated matters of life and death in our country with utter disdain for the 10th Amendment . We have watched the central government distort the principles instilled in our Constitution and the majority, rightly, is beside itself with indignation. 

The laments in mainstream media about Kennedy’s retirement almost distract from what a major victory this is for our country if President Trump nominates a constitutional originalist. 

Of these outcries, notably the “right” to abortion guaranteed by Roe v. Wade appears the loudest. The similar fear-mongering tactics appear, yet again, plastered among headlines of news outlets. The same tired clichés live on: White Republican men decide reproductive rights for all women in the U.S., all abortions will soon be criminalized, Trump seeks to punish women, and “back alley” abortions will return.

The Left seems to play upon the ambiguity and misinformation surrounding  Roe v. Wade. It's true: the more ignorant citizens remain regarding the issue, they more easily they will feed into the collective outrage regarding Trump’s next SCOTUS member. The greatest misconception hovering amid the issue is that the Supreme Court will enact a wide-sweeping ban of abortion, nationwide. This couldn’t be further from the truth. 

Its content aside, I deem the chief injustice behind Roe v. Wade (and Obergefell v. Hodges, for that matter) its gross negligence of state jurisdiction. Upending Roe will likely transfer that power back to its rightful location, in state courts. This prospect should be thrilling, not infuriating! SCOTUS might also ban abortion in certain states without overturning Roe; this is another viable possibility. These bans and restrictions, nonetheless, will hinge on state legislation. 

So, fear not, Leftists: the effects of Roe v. Wade will not be entirely demolished (for better or worse). Rather, abortion may be reinstated where it should have remained, with the states. The past two years of Supreme Court rulings elicit a similar reaction to that of old yearbook photos in their cringe-worthiness. Roe is, without a doubt, the most glaring example. With Kennedy's retirement, this nation will soon beckon in a new era, hopefully one in which Constitutional reverence prevails. I, for one, am ecstatic to put SCOTUS’s centrist rulings in the past— preferably somewhere far, far away, only to be accessed for teaching purposes.