Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

I have a political crush on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (she's also very cute, and if I knew there would be sexual tension, at least on my end). Like many progressive Democrats, I captivated by her sunny but fierce dedication to her principles, the fact that she doesn't take things lying down, and that she speaks her mind (and when she does, she is right).

Ocasio-Cortez is the first rock star Democrat since Barack Obama, and if she weren't only 29 years old the great mentioner would probably be touting her for president, even though she's been a congresswoman for less than a week. Since she defeated old-style pol Joe Crowley in the Democratic primary for the Bronx/Queens district in New York, she has been the face of the 2018 blue wave, which saw an upheaval not only with the Democrats taking the House, but with many of those seats going to women of color. She has not shrunk from the limelight, so far deflecting the ridiculous criticism of a right-wing that doesn't know how to deal with an articulate, nonwhite woman. Well, Rush Limbaugh called her "uppity," a racist code word if there ever was one.

Ocasio-Cortez has been all over the media. Her 60 Minutes appearance garnered attention because she didn't hesitate in calling Donald Trump a racist. This is not controversial, because anyone with a few brain cells knows that's true, despite efforts to show that he isn't, by showing pictures of him standing next to black people. She has also quite sensibly called for a 70 percent tax rate on the top earners in this country, which also elicited howls of protest from the right. How quickly they forget that during the 50s and 60s, when the economy was thriving, the tax rate for the highest level approached 90 percent. And we used that money to build the Interstate Highway system, NASA, telecommunications, and provided for a thriving middle class, where a one-income family could afford a house. Those days went away when Reagan lowered the highest rate to 37 percent, and the middle class began its long decline, while the rich got even richer.

Ocasio-Cortez is not only a bete noir for conservatives, but she is also likely to be a thorn in Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's side. She visited a protest in Pelosi's office, and has called for a Green New Deal, with a sub-committee of members who refuse to take money from fossil fuel concerns. Pelosi, who is an effective leader but too close to corporate interests in my book, seems to be annoyed. Someone asked her about the new progressive movement, and she said it was only one district. She should learn to count.

Other Democrats are scared because she's too liberal, and fear a backlash. Well, shit, those who are criticizing her, like Claire McCaskill, lost because they tried to out-flank their opponents to the right, instead of heading left. As long as Ocasio-Cortez maintains that smile and that optimism, these progressive ideas are going to sound more and more reasonable. Really, how many Americans are concerned that those making over ten million a year will pay more taxes? Only those who make more than than ten million a year.

One of the most ridiculous criticisms of her (and granted, it was only one guy) was for her dancing in a video during her college days. This went viral and backfired enormously, as watching her dance made her look far more human than the gray-faced Republican men in Congress. She countered by doing a little dance in front of her office, to the tune of Edwin Starr's "War," to boot! That's music from my era. Oh, be still my beating heart! Are you still hiring staff, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez?