What else could “rhetoric in that time is not rhetoric that we would use today” mean? AOC isn’t saying that she and the other extreme leftists who exploited the Black Lives Matter grift to win the 2020 elections were wrong to advocate the “defunding of the police,” just that the exploitation that idiotic position represented is not likely to work today. Remember, the Left’s rejections of the rule of law and its consequences are still in evidence. Shoplifting is still epidemic in major cities. Items once easily accessible on drug store shelves now sit in locked cases. Democratic prosecutors refuse to press charges for many crimes, and “restorative justice” is being praised in the progressive indoctrination factories we call “educational institutions. Then there is that “no human being is illegal” rationalization for ignoring immigration laws. AOC’s unethical quote literally tells Americans that her side of the ideological spectrum will say and promise whatever it calculates will attract the most votes.
The major Democrat (and lifetime admirer of Communism) AOC is most often associated with admitted the same thing during the 2024 campaign. Asked in an NBC News interview why Kamala Harris had seemingly abandoned the radical positions she espoused in 2020, Bernie Sanders said, “I don’t think she’s abandoning her ideals. I think she’s trying to be pragmatic and doing what she thinks is right in order to win the election.” Translation: Harris is just moderating her true positions until she gets elected. Bernie then demonstrated his acumen and level of comprehension of the American public’s intelligence and values by adding, “She’s gonna win, and I think she can win big.”
“Tell the lies you need to tell to get the power you need to do what you really want to do” is a time-tested political strategy, and both parties have had notable success with it over the centuries. In Virginia, Democrat Abigail Spanberger was always described as a moderate by the D.C. area news media during her 2024 run for governor, and her campaign rhetoric scrupulously avoided revealing her true orientation (though it was hardly a well-hidden secret to any voters engaged and smart enough to do a little research). Then, once elected, Spanberger joined with her fellow Democrats to try to sneak through an unconstitutional and falsely-described redistricting plan that would have essentially disenfranchised almost 50% of Virginia’s voters.
Totalitarians always lie to achieve power. Much of AOC’s ideological clones in “The Squad” are devotees of Islam, a religion that also endorses lying to achieve power over “infidels.” Democrats and quasi-Democrats like Harris, Sanders, Hong, Mamdani, AOC and the rest of the “Squad” don’t regard lying as wrong. It is just a utilitarian tool to achieve “the greater good” because that annoying democracy thingy keeps getting in the way.
AOC’s second quote may even be more infuriating. I have had progressive friends insist to me that “woke” is a meaningless smear. But AOC knows exactly what it means, and in her quote about “Woke I” she is admitting that a rebranding is underway that will make the radical and anti-democratic agenda of the far left seem more reasonable and desirable.
“…the effort to leave at least some of the 2020 language behind is judicious…One can believe, as I do, that the existing American criminal justice system is atrocious and exploitative, requires radical reform, and that addressing many of the structural causes of crime through social programs is vital to keeping the prison population lower. But ultimately it makes sense for socialists — believers in a strong state and regulating human behavior to achieve freedom and justice — to call for a far better policing system rather than a nonexistent one.”
“Regulating human behavior!” You know, like through indoctrination, misinformation, censorship and intimidation. Freedom!
Conservative commentator Scott Pinsker seems to think AOC’s “Never mind!” strategy is astute, writing,
“Consider what AOC just accomplished:
- She demonstrated humility by acknowledging her “woke” mistakes. (And a politician who admits mistakes isn’t something we see every day on Capitol Hill.)
- She rebranded ALL the P.C. craziness as “Woke ,” which effectively closed its chapter. (Now, everything that follows is “Woke Two” — which, of course, is something TOTALLY different [eyeroll].)
- She signaled a willingness to learn, grow, adapt, and change. (OMG, AOC is maturing before our eyes!)”
What AOC accomplished is revealing that she thinks the majority of Americans are stupid and at least as ignorant as she is. Based on what we keep hearing from Democrats in 2026, “Woke II” includes more DEI discrimination against men and whites, biological men crushing women in women’s sports, continued degrading and politicizing of American education, a captive news media bolstering government power, open borders, killing viable babies before birth, eliminating the Electoral College, packing the Supreme Court, rigging the U.S. Senate by admitting multiple guaranteed new all-Democrat states, prosecuting political adversaries, entrenching the Deep State, and supporting terrorists.
To be fair, enough Americans might be as dumb as the Left thinks they are. One really dumb American, ex-CNN toyboy Chris Cuomo (aka “Fredo”) praised AOC’s version of “integrity,” “Your principles shouldn’t really change, but your positions should,” he said in a posted video, because that’s the way “to win elections.”
I am rapidly reaching the point of saying, “You know what? If conservatives are too lazy, inarticulate and cowardly to out-maneuver the totalitarian Left after being somnolent for decades and allowing them to capture education, entertainment, journalism, the professions, and the academic disciplines, and if the resulting American civic literacy is so degraded that dim-bulbs like AOC seem like credible leaders, then the U.S. deserves what it gets.
The Republic that Ben Franklin said we could have as long as we could keep it requires a populace with courage, sacrifice, commitment, critical thinking skills and constant due diligence. If the nation no longer has the character and skills to keep the government the Founders won for us, so be it.
Ethics Alarms 
Glad you posted about Occasional Cortex’s comment. When I heard it, I couldn’t help but think AOC hit a kind of record breaking attempt at relying on or alluding to the most rationalizations in the shortest amount of time that she could. My gut says she relies on or tangentially touches at least these:
1B. The Psychic Historian, or “I’m On The Right Side Of History”
1C. It Happens To Everybody, or “You’re not alone!’
1E. Tom’s Delusion, or “Everyone agrees with me!”
3. Consequentialism, or “It Worked Out for the Best“
13. The Saint’s Excuse: “It’s for a good cause”
14. Self-validating Virtue
19. The Perfection Diversion, or “Nobody’s Perfect!” and “Everybody makes mistakes!”
19B The Insidious Confession, or “It wasn’t the best choice.”
20. The “Just one mistake!” Fantasy
21. Ethics Accounting, or “I’ve earned this”/ “I made up for that”
21A. The Criminal’s Redemption, or “It’s just a small part of what I am!”
22. The Comparative Virtue Excuse: “There are worse things.”
28. The Revolutionary’s Excuse: “These are not ordinary times.”
29. The Altruistic Switcheroo: “It’s for his own good”
31. The Troublesome Luxury: “Ethics is a luxury we can’t afford right now”
33. The Management Shrug: “Don’t sweat the small stuff!”
35. The Tortoise’s Pass: “Better late than never”
38. The Miscreant’s Mulligan or “Give him/her/them/me a break!”
38 A.“Mercy For Miscreants.”
38C. Biden’s Inoculation or “I don’t deny that I do this!”
38D. Yoda’s Annoyance, or “I was trying my best.”
42. The Irrelevant Mitigation: “He’ll/She’ll/They’ll get over it.”
52. The Underwood Maneuver, or “That’s in the past.”
55. The Joke Excuse, or “I was only kidding!”
57. “The Idealist’s Delusion,” or “We’re/ You’re Better Than This.”
69. John Lyly’s Rationalization, Or “All’s fair in love and war“
‘then the U.S. deserves what it gets’
When conservatives prevail, everyone benefits from a more robust economy, lower crime, fewer regulations, more freedoms.
When liberals prevail they take our private property, our wealth, our choices, our freedoms.
Hard to be sanguine about this.
And AOC is particularly dangerous because she’s cute. People overlook a lot if you’re charming and/or good looking.
It didn’t work for Teddy, it didn’t work for Beto, it won’t work for Gavin, it won’t work for her. Smart and cute is powerful; dumb and cute gets exposed. I don’t think she’s cute and I never have. She’s a perfect example of why a female President is a long, long way off.
I really hope you’re right. It just seems that no matter how awful things get in places like New York and California, people pull the lever for the same incompetent scalawags and jackals who created the messes. It is discouraging. You believe that voters are smart. I’m not so sure.
Wait, when did I ever say that I think voters are smart? I literally just wrote, in THIS POST…
To be fair, enough Americans might be as dumb as the Left thinks they are. One really dumb American, ex-CNN toyboy Chris Cuomo (aka “Fredo”) praised AOC’s version of “integrity,” “Your principles shouldn’t really change, but your positions should,” he said in a posted video, because that’s the way “to win elections.”
I am rapidly reaching the point of saying, “You know what? If conservatives are too lazy, inarticulate and cowardly to out-maneuver the totalitarian Left after being somnolent for decades and allowing them to capture education, entertainment, journalism, the professions, and the academic disciplines, and if the resulting American civic literacy is so degraded that dim-bulbs like AOC seem like credible leaders, then the U.S. deserves what it gets.
The Republic that Ben Franklin said we could have as long as we could keep it requires a populace with courage, sacrifice, commitment, critical thinking skills and constant due diligence. If the nation no longer has the character and skills to keep the government the Founders won for us, so be it.
Voters elected Joe Biden as POTUS after decades of watching and listening to him show he was of average intelligence at best, and also seeing with their own eyes how much his cognition had declined. Either you must believe that the election was stolen, as Trump has said, or that voters are stupid. There is no third option.
And her mousy voice. Completely unpresidential. She’s also only 5’4″. Like HRC and Harris, she’s too short, even in heels. The public won’t tolerate a tiny, squeaky voiced woman going up against our adversaries.
The soon to be ex-paid liar in the Press Secretary position is the template for the first female President, and it will have to be a Republican. After that, the woke women will have shot. Sarah Palin could have pulled it off if she hadn’t been greedy, shallow, lazy and corrupt. She had the right tool set.
Don’t underestimate Ocasio-Cortez. She might not be a Rhodes Scholar in Pulbic Policy, but she is very astute in marketing, branding, and use of social media. I realize that she won in a heavily Democrat New York district but she out-performed a sitting DNC House member who took her for granted.
She is attractive, photogenic, and has a certain charisma/charm about her – much like Gavin Newsom. They both know how to say a bunch of words that sound really great until you think about it and say, “wait, what did you say?” But, by then, they are two miles down the road and you missed your opportunity to follow up the statement with a “uh, what do you mean?” She also knows how to meet with friendly media to recast her image, quite possibly for a 2028 or 2032 POTUS run.
Here in Texas, a contested race for US Senate is heating up between James Talarico (D) and Ken Paxton (R) (who beat the incumbent John Cornyn for the Republican ticket). The general thought is Paxton should win, right? It’s Texas.
But, Paxton is very polarizing. Talarico comes off as a nice, friendly, workers’ kinda guy – he has raised tons of money in and outside of Texas ($68.6 million to Paxton’s paltry $9.25 million).
Paxton should wipe the floor with him but the polls* have them running neck and neck, and the media blitz for Talarico is just getting started, espcially with a media that hates Paxton with a rabid passion. Worringly, I see Talarico signs in affluent subdivisions. Were I an advisor to Paxton, I would tell him to get off the couch, meet with reporters – who should ask hard questions that he should answer – and hit the ground to meet with donors and potential voters. He should go to Austin and San Antonio and talk to those voters. But, he is arrogant and lazy.
As for Ocasio-Cortez and her “Woke 1” comment, it is infuriating but she came out of that interview not only unscathed but brimming with success, mostly because the interviewer didn’t challenge her on anything substantive. I was surprised that she and Bernie didn’t endorse Hong. Their policies mirror each other. I don’t think the “Delete Thanksgiving” comments are what did in Hong. It was the DNC looking to November thinking that Crowley has a better chance of beating Tom TIffany in the general election so the DNC placed its hands on the scales in Crowley’s favor. What happened to the 5 USB drives that had no votes on them? How does that happen?
jvb
*Ed Note: Yeah, I know. Polls . . . But pundits and the public at large pay attention to them and are swayed by them, even though they are terribly inexact.
But John, when she opens her mouth, she doesn’t even sound as substantive or serious as Betty Boop. Remember the nine-year-old girl doing an impersonation of her? They’ve done a good job of hiding her voice, but at some point, she’ll have to campaign and do rabble-rousing. She will sound ridiculous and look like Minnie Mouse throwing a tantrum.
Bing Videos Here’s one.
I dunno about that.
I am certainly not saying that she is a formidable adversary. I don’t think she is overly bright and her policy positions are sophomoric but she is good with a soundbyte, right in line with leftist sloganing. But, I am saying that she is good with manipulating imaging and, with a fawning media on her side, that is going to be a tough obstacle to overcome.
jvb
If history has taught the world anything it’s that socialists/communists never admit their mistakes. If they do, they are lying.
Americans have been “educated” to be unable to discern truth from fiction and magic thinking from reality. To many, perhaps a majority, her semi-articulate and half-witted walk backs seem to be genuine reflection instead of the poll-reading calculation her handlers have determined is the best path toward their version of “progress”.