OPINION:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez went on a bit of a whine fest on Twitter, calling out the country for its so-called “double standards” of giving Rep. Paul D. Ryan high marks for getting elected at a young age while calling her a “fraud” for doing the same.
Thing is: Ryan’s not a socialist.
So his ability to win votes wasn’t based on giveaways and fantasy promises. It was based on policy and ideas.
Ocasio-Cortez, on the other hand, won the hearts and minds of liberal-leaning voters in a heavily liberal-leaning district based on the go-to liberal line of Elect me and I’ll give you tons of free stuff.
That’s an easy sell to people who aren’t accustomed to thinking long-term and for-the-country, but rather short-term and for self.
Here’s what Ocasio-Cortez just tweeted: “Double standards are Paul Ryan being elected at 28 and immediately being given the benefit of his ill-considered policies considered genius; and me winning a primary at 28 to immediately be treated with suspicion & scrutinized, down to my clothing, of being a fraud.”
Cue tiny violins.
Ryan rose to political leadership based, in part, on his ability to budget and talk tax reform in a manner that resonated with his constituents and fellow House members.
Ocasio-Cortez’s big moments in politics?
Radical environmentalism. Free college for kids. Free medical, vision, dental and mental health care for the country. Universal basic incomes with fully funded — read: taxpayer-funded — sick leave and health benefits. Recognition of housing as a human right, which opens the door for taxpayers to be put on the hook to pay for this supposed human right. And so on and so forth, on and on down the road of freebies and giveaways, courtesy the American taxpayer.
It’s easy to win at politics when the key platform is spending other people’s money to benefit a select group of voters. It’s a lot harder to win races by making cases that actually require tough choices and, well, thinking.
On that, Ocasio-Cortez is lacking.
She knows next to nothing about the roots of America’s government, the U.S. political system, the Founding Fathers, our free market system and reasons for exceptionalism — about anything, really, that pertains to upholding the Constitution and the very principles upon which our nation is supposed to be guided. And for that, for her masquerade as a representative of the democratic-republic that is the foundation of our very government, Ocasio-Cortez is indeed a fraud.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
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