Vox on Wednesday brought us up-to-date (almost) with the clash between the House Speaker and the gang of four (video below from April before the recent flare-up):
The Speaker bears a greater burden of not dividing the
caucus because she is the one with the power, and she has failed that test in
this dispute, especially by lowering herself to an interview with Maureen Dowd. However, Ocasio-Cortez et al. would do better to emphasize that
their loyalty is not to an individual but to their constituents.
Nancy Pelosi firmly told House Democrats to keep their
internal gripes behind closed doors, even as she herself fields backlash for
seemingly dismissing her caucus’s progressive firebrands.
“You got a complaint? You come and talk to me about it. But
do not tweet about our members and expect us to think that that is just okay,”
Pelosi told lawmakers in a private meeting Tuesday, according to multiple
sources in the room.
Pelosi’s comment was directed at progressive House
lawmakers, many of whom vocally chided their leadership and moderate colleagues
for accepting the Senate’s $4.59 billion supplemental border funding bill in
late June, arguing the legislation did not go far enough to improve standards
at detention centers. In the end, only four Democrats voted against that piece
of legislation: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Ilhan Omar (MN), Rashida
Tlaib (MI), and Ayanna Pressley (MA), the so-called progressive “squad.” But
there’s been clear sourness in the caucus since, and that has spilled over
publicly.
“I am looking for a new pharmaceutical drug that builds
spine,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), a co-chair of the Progressive Caucus, said
after the border bill vote. Her co-chair Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) tweeted that a
bipartisan group of moderate Republicans and Democrats —dubbed the “Problem Solvers
Caucus” — were becoming the “Child Abuse Caucus.”
Pelosi responded to their grievances in public, too. In an
interview with the New York Times’ Maureen Dowd, she questioned the actual
influence Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Tlaib and Pressley, women who have commanded the
attention of the Democratic Party with bold policy proposals and a viral
internet presence, have in Congress.
“All these people have their public whatever and their
Twitter world,” Pelosi told Dowd. “But they didn’t have any following. They’re
four people and that’s how many votes they got.”
Ocasio-Cortez responded on Twitter: “That public ‘whatever’
is called public sentiment.”
And there it should have ended.
But there it didn't, because
“When these comments first started, I kind of thought that
she was keeping the progressive flank at more of an arm’s distance in order to
protect more moderate members, which I understood,” Ocasio-Cortez told the
Post.
“But the persistent singling out … it got to a point where
it was just outright disrespectful … the explicit singling out of newly elected
women of color,” she added.
No. She wants Democrats to to continue to control the House
of Representatives and if that means degrading Democrats from safe districts,
she will degrade Democrats from safe districts, especially if she believes it
helps Democratic candidates in swing districts (which it probably doesn't). She
wants power because.... because that's what a lot of politicians want.
Pelosi is not singling out "newly elected women of
color"/colored women. She is singling out those individuals who voted
against the caucus majority on the supplemental border funding bill and actively tweet. "Singling out of newly elected women of color" has the distinct odor of someone who feels entitled.
And best of all, to leave out gender and, especially, race.
They shouldn't ignore these divisive topics because they are uncivil or hurt
feelings. They should steer clear because it simply is not accurate as applied
to the Speaker, at least not on this matter.
Pelosi has been acting foolishly lately. But if Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez wants to create animosity among Democrats, and toward Democrats
from voters, she may have found a truly effective angle.
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