Pardon the politics, but...
Jan. 4th, 2019 02:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cathywYou know, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, if I'm getting her story right, is someone the GOP should be holding up as a success story.
"See? Her parents worked hard. They grabbed every opportunity to get an education for their daughter, even if it meant long hours at menial labor. And she herself put in the work to get into one of the nation's elite colleges. And now she's been elected to Congress."
I mean, that's some serious bootstrap-pulling action going on, right? This is exactly what they say you're supposed to do. Work hard, work as hard as you can, and you'll make it out of poverty, plus you'll be setting your kids up for a better life, they'll get a good education and go on to better jobs than you could have hoped for...
Instead they're taking every chance to discredit her - especially the idea that her family was poor when she was young? They're disputing the very idea that she could have possibly worked her way from that background to Congress? (Meanwhile their own candidates are being presented as "real people" despite getting by on inherited wealth - remember Mitt Romney explaining that he was so poor in college he had to sell some of the stock he'd been given as a wedding gift, one share at a time, to pay the rent? My heart bleeds.) And... oh, my gosh, did you hear she went by Sandy in high school? And may have danced in public once or twice???
The thing is, she did the wrong thing once she hit the elite level. She was supposed to embrace her new privilege, pull up the ladder behind her, hold herself up as an example of "pulling yourself up by the bootstraps, anyone can do it"... and she didn't. Instead she was more like, "no, man, I did it, it was freaking hard, not anyone can do it, I'm the exception not the rule, you shouldn't have to work three times as hard as anyone else to get an education and opportunity if your parents are poor, gotta build more ladders."
Qu'elle horreur...
Meanwhile, she gives all appearances of being absolutely wonderful; she is not 100% perfect, she has flaws, but I believe she is absolutely genuine about wanting to make improvements in the day-to-day lives of both the residents of her district and all Americans. (Also her social media game is very strong.) Best of luck to her.
"See? Her parents worked hard. They grabbed every opportunity to get an education for their daughter, even if it meant long hours at menial labor. And she herself put in the work to get into one of the nation's elite colleges. And now she's been elected to Congress."
I mean, that's some serious bootstrap-pulling action going on, right? This is exactly what they say you're supposed to do. Work hard, work as hard as you can, and you'll make it out of poverty, plus you'll be setting your kids up for a better life, they'll get a good education and go on to better jobs than you could have hoped for...
Instead they're taking every chance to discredit her - especially the idea that her family was poor when she was young? They're disputing the very idea that she could have possibly worked her way from that background to Congress? (Meanwhile their own candidates are being presented as "real people" despite getting by on inherited wealth - remember Mitt Romney explaining that he was so poor in college he had to sell some of the stock he'd been given as a wedding gift, one share at a time, to pay the rent? My heart bleeds.) And... oh, my gosh, did you hear she went by Sandy in high school? And may have danced in public once or twice???
The thing is, she did the wrong thing once she hit the elite level. She was supposed to embrace her new privilege, pull up the ladder behind her, hold herself up as an example of "pulling yourself up by the bootstraps, anyone can do it"... and she didn't. Instead she was more like, "no, man, I did it, it was freaking hard, not anyone can do it, I'm the exception not the rule, you shouldn't have to work three times as hard as anyone else to get an education and opportunity if your parents are poor, gotta build more ladders."
Qu'elle horreur...
Meanwhile, she gives all appearances of being absolutely wonderful; she is not 100% perfect, she has flaws, but I believe she is absolutely genuine about wanting to make improvements in the day-to-day lives of both the residents of her district and all Americans. (Also her social media game is very strong.) Best of luck to her.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-05 02:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-05 03:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-12 02:52 pm (UTC)It reminds me very much of the way that the Right embraced Sarah Palin and rebutted the Left's horrified reaction to her as liberal fear of her sexuality. Not that there isn't rampant sexism/misogyny on the Left, but all I heard from the Left was aghast reactions at how ignorant of her very field of occupation she was.
All different sides of the same coin: the Right - is this a woman who I'd like to f*ck? the Left - yeah, she's nice looking, but have your heard what she says/does? Again and again and again and again.
So, yes, very dispiriting.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-14 01:08 am (UTC)And now that you mention it... right-wing talking heads will occasionally mention, as a statement of fact, "conservative women are hotter than liberal women." like... that matters? except if you look at the Fox News lineup, it apparently matters very much to Fox News viewers, and their range of "hot" is terrifyingly narrow.