More on Alexandria Ocasio Cortez by Peter Burrows, elburropete@gmail.com. 1/27/19 

Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, aka AOC, has taken America by storm. The new 29-year-old Congress- woman from New York City is on magazine covers, is featured in TV interviews, has been invited to appear everywhere and is talked about constantly by news pundits.  

If I was 50 years younger, I’d throw myself at her lovely feet. However, in my grandfatherly old age I look at this benighted young lady and feel sorry for her. Wikipedia tells us that she graduated cum laude from Boston University in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in international relations and economics. My dictionary says cum laude means “With honor. Used on diplomas as a mark of high standing.”  

Why then, was she tending bar and waiting tables before her election? Probably because her college degree is worthless, cum laude or magna cum laude, something a lot of college grads are finding out these days. In AOC’s case, proof she got a college indoctrination and not a college education is to be found in her economic ideas.  

How can anybody take economics in college and come away with the conviction that economic prosperity can be achieved with huge government programs paid for by “the rich” and/or by the Federal Reserve writing checks?   

How can that person think that the government can provide guaranteed jobs at “living wages” for everybody and anybody? Where has this ever worked? How can this be afforded? Throw in Medicare for all, too. 

And, of course, she wants to increase the minimum wage to $15, proving she doesn’t know the first, or the second, thing about economics. (See my article, “God and the Minimum Wage” in Libertarian Leanings.) No wonder college degrees, outside of science and technology, don’t mean much anymore.  

Another AOC fact that bodes ill for America is that she is a Catholic, a Latino Catholic, like Pope Francis, who has similarly stupid economic ideas. Nowhere in the world, with the possible exception of France, has rule by Catholics been hospitable to democracy or free enterprise economics. Certainly, nowhere south of the Rio Grande. 

Catholicism is an authoritarian religion that, like many religions, sees the accumulation of personal wealth as somehow immoral. With that in mind, it’s not inconceivable AOC could run for president on a platform inspired by NYC’s mayor Bill Deblasio, who recently said that NYC has plenty of money to do all the good things Deblasio wants to do, it’s just that the money is in the WRONG hands. 

“Right” and “wrong” are words that inherently incorporate a moral judgement. By golly, if money is in the “wrong” hands, it’s government’s duty to take it and put it in the “right” hands. Lots of people think that is a proper role for government.  

Politically, this works, especially if the electorate both poor and ignorant. It worked for Hugo Chavez, who enjoyed the unique status of being an elected and reelected dictator. All that oil money down there in Venezuela was in the wrong hands, you see, and Hugo was just the guy to right that wrong. If a few billion ended up in his kids’ bank accounts, that was OK because their hands were the right hands.    

Charles Lane, who writes for the Washington Post and is an occasional commentator on Fox News, recently said something to the effect that AOC would be really dangerous if she knew what she was talking about.  

No, Chuck, she wouldn’t be dangerous if she knew what she was talking about, she’s dangerous because she DOESN’T know what she’s talking about.  

Alexandria Ocasio Cortez: The Future of America by Peter Burrows 1/25/19 elburropete@gmail.com 

I have to confess: I’m smitten with New York’s new Congresswoman, 29-year-old Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, aka AOC. She’s gorgeous, charismatic, articulate and vivacious.    

She’s also, at the very least, profoundly ignorant and probably just plain stupid, but that won’t hurt her politically. Just the opposite. There are tons of ignorant and stupid voters in America, enough to make AOC, when she’s 35 and old enough to run for president, America’s first Latina Lady President, maybe even President for Life.    

You’re thinking, “Come on Burro. What’s with the ‘president for life’ crap? The Constitution’s 22nd Amendment limits presidents to two terms.” 

That’s true TODAY, but the demographic changes underway in America that would make an AOC president also make it inevitable that the Constitution will be scrapped.  AOC’s election was the canary in the mine, folks.  

To see what I’m talking about, let’s look at her Bronx Congressional District, which had been represented by an Anglo male for 20 years. This incumbent Congressman outspent AOC in the primary by over 10-1 and yet she kicked his butt by 15 points.  

Why?  Because she reflected the changing demographics of the district: 50% Hispanic, 46% foreign born and 68 % who don’t speak English in the home. You’re thinking, “Well, that doesn’t look much like America, Burro, so how can AOC be America’s future?” 

True, her district doesn’t look like America YET. Another 50 years and it will, but the Democrats aren’t going to wait that long. They realize that the stupid Republicans have finally awakened to their plan to gain permanent electoral majorities with the trifecta of open borders, welfare benefits and easy citizenship.  

While that strategy may still succeed, the Democrats have launched Plan B: Do away with the Electoral College. That way, all of America won’t have to look like AOC’s congressional District, just a few populous states with enough voters to swing the national majority to the Democrat candidate.   

Take a look at California, in which the last election was instructive. Republicans across the state lost elections thanks to a 94% increase in Hispanic turnout, helped in no small part by a California innovation known as “ballot harvesting.” This allows campaign workers to go to a voter’s home and help the voter fill out a ballot, which is then delivered to a polling place BY THE CAMPAIGN WORKER.  

It goes without saying that this system, approved by Governor Jerry Brown in 2016, is open to abuse, especially since in California the DMV automatically registers people to vote if they say they are eligible to vote. The DMV told the Sacramento Bee that “it is not responsible for verification of voter eligibility.” 

California is a sanctuary state controlled from top to bottom by Democrats who are sympathetic to open border immigration and allowing illegals to vote.  California’s population is currently 40 million. Throw in a few more big states that are rapidly tuning blue thanks to illegals from Latin America, and it’s coronation time for an AOC if there is no Electoral College. 

New York state, population 20 million, will probably become a sanctuary state this year, following New York City, which is already a sanctuary city.  Illinois, population 13 million, and New Jersey, population 9 million, are also sanctuary states.  

Here in New Mexico, also a sanctuary state, we can expect the state legislature to pass a bill that directs New Mexico’s five electoral votes to go to whomever wins the Presidential popular vote nationally, regardless of how New Mexico voted.  Governor Martinez refused to sign a similar bill in 2017, but Michelle Lujan Grisham sure as Hell will.      

I doubt this is Constitutional, but as we all know, the Constitution is an out-of-date document created by Anglo-Saxon, white supremacist, male chauvinist Christians, and after they get rid of the Electoral College, “Progressives” will get rid of the Constitution, too. 

Adios, America.