By Michael Schwarz November 8, 2024 at 10:45am
What does it mean when unhinged mediocrities speak calmly while spreading unfounded fear?
It almost certainly means that not even they believe their own insane rhetoric, and yet they lack the decency, intelligence, or honesty — or, as it happens, all three — to abandon their obvious and dangerous lies.
In a viral 87-second clip posted to the social media platform X on Wednesday, Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York doubled down on Democrats’ oft-repeated, ironic, and pathologically absurd predictions about what will follow in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s landslide victory in the 2024 election.
“We now find ourselves in a time in history that has precedent,” the dim-witted congresswoman said.
Here we go again.
Late in the campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris slandered Trump by likening him to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. Harris surrogates did the same to “Nazi” Trump supporters.
Democrats have done this many times. It is a tired and dangerous tactic. Trump has already escaped two assassination attempts, at least one of which most likely stemmed directly from Democrats’ fearmongering lies.
Moreover, voters rejected those lies as nonsense, which should have made Ocasio-Cortez think twice before regurgitating them.
Of course, thinking twice would imply that the unimpressive congresswoman had ever held a thought in the first place.
Alas, more gibberish ensued.
“And we find ourselves, I believe, in a time where there are, let’s say, peers in history of mass movements of people that mobilized to protect one another in times of fascism and authoritarianism,” Ocasio-Cortez added.
She spoke slowly and in choppy phrases, as if in a parody of solemnity. Her speech pattern featured a rising inflection synonymous with uptalking, which often signals lack of confidence. One can hear this in the words “peers,” “history,” “people,” “another” and “fascism.”
Thus, Ocasio-Cortez tried to project gravity but instead betrayed silliness. Not even she believed what she said.
Still, she kept talking.
“And this is the era that we are poised to enter. Donald Trump has talked about turning the military on U.S. citizens that he deems his domestic political enemies. Authoritarians and people that he affiliates closely with and strong men abroad, in regimes like that, it is not uncommon to jail political dissidents or legislative opponents. This is the world that we very realistically may be entering,” she said.
End Wokeness, a prominent conservative X account with more than 3.1 million followers, posted the clip to X. As of Friday morning, it had more than 10.7 million views.
AOC: “We are about to enter a period of fascism and authoritarianism” pic.twitter.com/VDkyeB99zz
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) November 7, 2024
Trump, of course, has pledged to do nothing like what Ocasio-Cortez described.
Moreover, the administration of Harris and President Joe Biden has already done nearly everything she suggested Trump would do.
Biden and Harris have not used the military, but they have weaponized federal law enforcement against Trump and his supporters. They have also embraced censorship, gun confiscation and other forms of tyranny.
In other words, Ocasio-Cortez engaged in pure projection, for no one has stronger authoritarian instincts than her and her allies.
Furthermore, voters have noticed, as evidenced by Tuesday’s election results.
Her inane comments are noteworthy, therefore, not because they are true, and not even because she seriously believes them, but because she lacks the decency to disavow dangerous rhetoric, as well as the intelligence to refrain from doubling down on a tactic that works against her own interests — that is, unless her interests include fomenting hysteria rooted in lies.
Michael Schwarz holds a Ph.D. in History and has taught at multiple colleges and universities. He has published one book and numerous essays on Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the Early U.S. Republic. He loves dogs, baseball, and freedom. After meandering spiritually through most of early adulthood, he has rediscovered his faith in midlife and is eager to continue learning about it from the great Christian thinkers.
Michael Schwarz holds a Ph.D. in History and has taught at multiple colleges and universities. He has published one book and numerous essays on Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the Early U.S. Republic. He loves dogs, baseball, and freedom. After meandering spiritually through most of early adulthood, he has rediscovered his faith in midlife and is eager to continue learning about it from the great Christian thinkers.
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