The Involuntary Roast of AOC
Mitch McConnell is worse than Trump. The only reason Trump seems worse is because presidential powers are more immediate. We see the cause and effect very quickly. Mitch works within the Senate where things move at a turtle-like pace.
Pun intended.
He plays the long game and sometimes we don’t see just how much damage he’s done until months or years later. Mitch has been at this since 1984.
Trump is a bonafide idiot. He is also lazy. Mitch is neither of those. Mitch is evil. He does not give a shit about anyone that isn’t a donor. And he has absolutely no shame. Appeals to his humanity just bounce off his shell.
Yesterday Mitch did Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dirty.
Republicans are all about bad faith politics and this was a shocking example.
Mitch rushed a “test vote” on AOC’s Green New Deal resolution.
This was particularly evil for two reasons.
First, it served almost as a comedy roast. Republicans got to stand up and make their jokes about cow farts and the end of air travel. Spouting off every bogus talking point there is about the Green New Deal. They were able to give 10-minute monologues filled with falsehoods.
Second, it was meant to sew discord within the Democrats. No one is ready to vote on this resolution. It is still in its early stages. It has had almost no input from anyone. There are many who are interested in the resolution but not yet willing to attach their name to it. They had to vote “present” for this reason. Because of that it looked like it had no support.
So now the conservative press is able to publish the headline, “Green New Deal fails with 57 NO votes and 0 YES votes.”
A headline that is accurate, but about as misleading as it gets.
Ambitious ideas like the Green New Deal start out as a seed. AOC and her staff created a list of goals along with some solutions to achieve them. They present their resolution and then a long process begins. Typically you hold hearings. You debate. You address criticisms. You ask experts to testify. You ask other representatives to give input from their constituents. If there are better ideas presented, you amend the plan. If there are ideas no one thought of, maybe you add them. You grow this seed into a big beautiful tree and when you have seen this process through… THEN YOU VOTE.
Sometimes this can take months to work out. Obamacare had to endure this same process. Though it was actual legislation rather than a resolution so it took years to figure out.
Mitch McConnell calling for a vote this early was a bit like forcing someone to go on Shark Tank with a first draft garage prototype that is constructed with duct tape and hot glue.
Though I should remind you, the first Apple computer was made of wood. It was still a great idea, but it needed a bit of polish.
Mitch wanted to make this resolution look like a joke. He wanted to take AOC down a few pegs. And he wanted to publicly humiliate her and her ideas just to be a petty shitlord. He also got to put on a distracting spectacle while obstructing the Mueller report.
He doesn’t care if the Green New Deal has any potential to do good. His oil company bros told him to shut this down before it even starts and he said “Thanks for the lettuce, I’ll get right on that.”
If you look at AOC’s twitter mentions, Mitch did a pretty good job. They are filled with people gloating about her 57-0 loss on this vote. Talking about how her own party wouldn’t vote for it–even though she encouraged them all to just vote present. Many will probably vote positively given time.
She is enduring a barrage of hate and vitriol because a shitty human turtle wanted to show her “who’s boss.”
Mitch’s plan wasn’t perfect though. He still had to rely on other Republicans to help put on this roast. And I’m afraid conservatives are not known for their comedic prowess.
Enter Republican jokester, Mike Lee.
He fancies himself a prop comic. He wasted taxpayer money printing up posters of Ronald Reagan on a raptor.
And old school Aquaman on a seahorse.
And he ultimately concluded that the real solution to climate change was to have lots of babies.
No, really.
You can watch his entire routine below. But I have to warn you, it’s a bit like watching those clips of The Big Bang Theory without the laugh track.
AOC rightly commented, “If this guy can be Senator, you can do anything.”
But the day wasn’t lost completely.
AOC got to spit some fire of her own. She was told that the Green New Deal was “elitest.”
What followed is now going viral faster than Mike Lee’s babies.
When I see this kind of passion, it gives me hope that Mitch’s dirty tricks are not going to have a lasting effect.
This woman is a force of nature the likes he has never faced.
