AOC: Kicking Serious Butt in DC

"My mother got to see Mr. Yoho's disrespect on the floor of this House towards me on television, and I am here because I have to show my parents that I am their daughter, and that they did not raise me to accept abuse from men."

 

Congresswoman Alexandrea Ocasio-Cortez

It amazes me that someone with the serious gravitas and grace of an Alexandrea Ocasio-Cortez was born in 1989, the year my father died and two months after my thirty-first birthday. These events in my life seem to have happened only a few weeks ago. I thought that we would have to wait generations for someone like her to come along - but here we are and there she is! She is my hero, or in the parlance of the times in which we live: my she-ro. She could very well be the first woman president of the United States. She is only thirty, and has another five years before she is even eligible for the damned job. But it could happen. She fills me with more hope than I've come to expect from the American Dream in a very long time. I awaken most mornings these days with an optimism that has been deceased in me for years. It's coming back to life, bit by bit. AOC is one of the reasons for that.

 

She made history the other day - well, sort of  - by being the first person to have the dreaded "F" word read into the congressional record. I only wish that Lenny Bruce might have lived to see that moment. Let me explain:
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The Yoho Man

You see, there is this silly little congressman from the state of Florida (SURPRISE!) who I was only vaguely aware of named Ted Yoho. On the steps of the U.S. capitol - and in front of reporters - Yoho pointed his finger into the congresswoman's face and called her "disgusting", "crazy" and "dangerous". I have to admit that he makes a good point with the third characterization. Alexandrea Ocasio-Cortez is dangerous; in fact, she's the most dangerous congressperson to come along in my lifetime - and I was born when Eisenhower was president! But there is good danger, and there is bad danger. The type of danger as personified by Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is as good as danger can possibly get. She is a danger to the way the system operates  - and she is determined to be one of the people who changes that system forever. Certainly she is a danger to Ted Yoho and other silly little people just like him.

 

After her initial confrontation with Yoho, she entered the building to cast a vote. When she walked back outside and was confronted again by this blithering twit, she calmly chastised him for being "rude", and he responded by calling her "a fucking bitch". The next day he apologized for the "misunderstanding"  - not to Alexandrea - but to his fellow members of the House of Reprehensibles. That was all she could stand 'cause she couldn't stand no more! When she rose to speak, she related to her colleagues exactly what had transpired between herself and Yoho and quoted him verbatim. I wish I could have been there to witness it. What she had to say at that historic moment should be etched in stone. Someone please find me a chisel:

 

“When you do that to any woman—what Mr. Yoho did was give permission to other men to do that to his daughters. In using the language in front of the press, he gave permission to use that language against his wife, his daughters, women in his community, and I am here to say that is not acceptable.”

 

She pointed out that she was two years younger than the youngest of Ted's two daughters. She then went on:

"And so, what I believe is, having a daughter does not make a man decent; having a wife does not make a decent man. Treating people with dignity and respect makes a decent man. And when a decent man messes up - as we all are bound to do - he tries his best and does apologize, not to save face, not to win a vote; he apologizes, genuinely, to repair and acknowledge the harm done, so that we can all move on".

 

I was reminded of the moment in 1954 when an obscure New England attorney named Joseph Welsh confronted an unhinged demagogue of another era, Joe McCarthy.

 

"At long last, sir, have you no sense of decency?"

 

McCarthy's political career was destroyed on that day. Congressman Yoho's career was likely destroyed this past Thursday. As we still watch on film Welsh's condemnation of McCarthy sixty-six years ago, people generations yet-to-be-born will still bear witness to Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez standing up for women sixty-six years from now.

 

To tell you the truth I feel kind of sorry for Ted Yoho. When his miserable life on earth is at its end, all the poor old bastard will be remembered for will be the brief encounter he had on the steps of our nation's capitol with the junior congresswoman from New York City - that's it. That will be the first paragraph of his pitifully short obituary. When they're writing biographies of Alexandrea Ocosio-Cortez, he'll only be a pathetic little footnote in her story. Someday, there will  be a statue erected in her honor. There will be no statue for Ted - nothing. Really, it's all rather sad when you think about it.

As stated earlier, I have no doubt that, if she so desires, she will one day be president. In fact there is a movement under way for her to turn thirty-five so she can get on with it and be nominated at next month's convention. Since that's not bloody likely to happen, we'll have to wait until October 13, 2024, her thirty-fifth birthday. It will come just in the nick of time for the election that year. I mean, how cool is that???

She is truly a historical figure, and she walks among us.

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY

SUGGESTED VIEWING:

Here's a link to view Congresswoman Alexandrea Ocosio-Cortez's historic speech on the floor of the House of Representatives on Thursday, July 23, 2020. It really is something to behold and to savor. She's here to stay and I could not be happier for that fact.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI4ueUtkRQ0

SOCK IT TO 'EM, AOC!