King of Queens Joe Crowley is a 9-term Democratic Congressman from Queens who was seen as a successor to Nancy Pelosi whenever it is that her era finally grinds to a halt. But tonight he got smashed in the Democratic primary by a pretty young Puerto Rican socialist lady running on a platform of free handouts and open borders (what could possibly go wrong?)
From The Intercept:
Ryan Grim
June 9 2018, 5:00 a.m.ON A WARM SUNDAY evening in Queens, New York, Joe Crowley stood before a group of about two dozen Democratic activists and made his case for why he should be returned to Congress for a 10th term. In his view, it was “destiny.”
“I was born for this role,” Crowley said at the May 20 meet-and-greet. Like President Donald Trump, he was born in Queens, though in entirely different circumstances. Trump came from great wealth and privilege, Crowley observed, while the congressperson was born to a family of Irish immigrants — the son of a police officer. Crowley is routinely floated as next in line to be the leader of the House Democrats if Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California steps aside or is ousted. “He was trying to say that me being a guy from the same place [Trump] is from, I’m the guy to take him on,” said Andy Aujla, who hosted the event at his home. …
If Crowley positions himself as a photo negative of the president, Ocasio-Cortez is a different medium altogether. A 28-year-old woman and daughter to a Puerto Rican mother and Bronx father, Ocasio-Cortez’s most notable novelty is arguably not her demographic profile, but her policy profile. She calls for the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),
Of course, nobody is calling for Open Borders, the new Democratic star is just calling for abolishing border enforcement.
Medicare for All, tuition-free public college, a federal jobs guarantee, and criminal justice reform “now.” “It doesn’t take 100 years to do this,” she intones in a viral campaign video. “It takes political courage.”
And a whole lot of other people’s tax payments.
Crowley, though, when he talked about the campaign, shared his frustration over what he perceives to be an inordinate focus on ethnicity.
His opponent, he said, was trying to make the campaign “about race” — a strategy he called “unnecessarily divisive” at a time when the party needed to be “fighting Republicans, not other Democrats,” according to two people at the gathering. …
He said he didn’t recall Crowley making any comments about his own race being a hinderance [sic] in the campaign.
All Democrats know that White Privilege means that being a white in a mostly nonwhite election can’t possibly be a hindrance. It’s a law of nature or of math or something. Only racists would say something like that. The fact that only 18% of the residents of NY14 were white in the 2010 Census just proves that White Privilege Something Something.
But of course, for all you white Democrats out there, there’s nothing to worry about. Crowley didn’t lose because he’s white, he lost because he’s, uh, a loser. Your white children have nothing to worry about regarding the New Improved Democratic Party of the Future. Nothing!
(Ocasio-Cortez is a former organizer for Bernie Sanders’s 2016 campaign and has been endorsed by Sanders-affiliated groups Our Revolution and People for Bernie Sanders, as well as the Democratic Socialists of America.)
Most of those at the event were white or white-presenting
As America’s greatest philosopher would say, they’re “people who believe they are white.”
, Haby said, and he found Crowley’s defense that he couldn’t “help” being born white, coupled with his claims of being “destined” for leadership, odd and off-putting.
The source who originally tipped The Intercept off to Crowley’s alleged remarks in the days following the event was similarly troubled by Crowley’s comments on race. “It just felt really weird and not appropriate,” he explained.
The disgusting white man’s disgusting comments are disgusting, they just are. After all, Rep. Joe Crowley is a white male. And what more need be said?
THE IRONY THAT Crowley laments how he “can’t help” being white, while ignoring the political advantages he inherited, is not lost on Ocasio-Cortez.
After all, as America’s greatest genius has explained, time flows backwards, so it’s more important to think about events long ago than what is happening right now.
“The congressman could have helped that he accepted inheritance of his seat from a multigenerational political dynasty without a true primary — a process by which people of color are historically locked out of representation. The congressman could help that he voted to establish ICE. The congressman can help the fact that he accepts money from developers that are displacing our communities and the folks criminalizing our backyards,” she told The Intercept.
“Additionally, why is it that the congressman can proudly discuss his Irish heritage on the campaign trail, but I am somehow barred from mentioning my Puerto Rican family?” …
Haby is a board member of the Lesbian & Gay Democratic Club of Queens and a member of Stonewall Democrats. …
The LGDCQ later endorsed Crowley, though Ocasio-Cortez did not compete for their backing.
So, while Mexicans haven’t accomplished as much as expected politically in California and Texas, various Caribbean Hispanics have been doing pretty well on the Eastern Seaboard.
From an interview with the winner in In These Times:
KA: Speaking of some of those issues, you’ve come out in support of abolishing ICE. Could you say why that’s important to folks in your district?
AOC: NY-14 is 50 percent immigrant, including naturalized U.S. citizens and undocumented people. Immigration is a top three issue in our community because it speaks directly to the stability of working families here. When I’m advocating for a working-class agenda, for the safety and security of working-class people, it means healthcare, housing and immigration. They’re issues of, “Can I stay here tomorrow?”
If there is any seat in America that is advocating for the abolishment of ICE it should be NY14. It is a district that is 85 percent Democratic. We have very little to risk by taking bold and ambitious positions. Even for those who aren’t immigrants, we are all so deeply invested in the lives and the future of immigrant families in NY-14, and everybody here cares about this issue.
Everybody in NY14 cares about Mexican illegal immigrants! Except for the Puerto Ricans who have Open Borders. And the Cubans who have their dry foot-wet foot deal. And the Asians who are here on that investor visa deal. And the Mauritians who are here on Sen. Kennedy’s Diversity Visa boondoggle. But other than all the non-Mexicans, everybody here cares about the Mexicans.
