AOC’s most ludicrous protest yet
A few days ago, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, aka AOC, of New York informed her 8.6 million followers on Instagram that she was resorting to a new kind of “resistance” in the wake of the recent Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade.
The idea of civil disobedience and resistance was introduced to modern Western political theory by David Thoreau over 173 years ago. Since then, civil disobedience has been used as a mechanism to express dissent against governments in a democracy.
So, what was AOC’s contribution to this civil disobedience movement going to be?
Was she going to lead marches across the nation to protest the overturning of Roe V. Wade?
Was she going to lead a strike that would cause a government shut down until the ruling that overturned Roe V. Wade was reversed?
Perhaps she would resort to an indefinite hunger strike until the ruling that overturned Roe V. Wade was nullified?
As Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once said, "No! No! No!"
AOC was instead going to “redo her nails.” You read that right: “redo her nails” to display her commitment to the resistance.
The founding fathers of civil disobedience such as Mahatma Gandhi, MLK, and Nelson Mandela must feel like absolute dunces for not envisaging such novel means of resistance during their times.
AOC began her Instagram session by wishing followers a happy Friday, adding that “joy too can be an act of resistance.”
.@AOC says she is getting her nails done as an act of “resistance” post-Dobbs. pic.twitter.com/jqFA1PyhJk
— John Gage (@johnrobertgage) July 2, 2022
She went on to say the following:
“I want to talk about personal acts of reclamation because sometimes people will say there’s nothing I can do…I feel so powerless… And there is no act too small that you can engage in,” the Representative reminded her followers.
Today, I have a personal errand: I need to redo my nails. And I’ve decided that I am going to use my new manicure as almost like a personal act of reclamation for me and my story,”
@AOC says she finds red nails empowering because her family was socially conservative and believed they encouraged “loose” behavior. pic.twitter.com/UnSyNzFZfO
— John Gage (@johnrobertgage) July 2, 2022
AOC said she grew up in a socially conservative and religious environment where women wearing red nail varnish and red lipstick were frowned upon and considered “loose” and "ungovernable".
She claimed to use red nail varnish and lipstick only after graduating and leaving her home, also as an act of resistance on the campaign trail.
Both the content and style of presentation would have made an excellent comedy sketch. In fact, adding a laugh track to the video would make it more effective.
Later AOC posted an image of her red-clad nails, with the caption: "I’m gonna be a problem now, AS WE SHOULD BE. Now to get a local bite to eat."
This was AOC's way of telling her followers that she had toiled for the resistance for which she deserved a meal.
This isn’t the only absurdity that AOC has expressed following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
AOC called upon Biden to create abortion clinics on federal land.
AOC also recommended the impeachment of Supreme Justices Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barret because she claims they misled the Senate about their positions on Roe v. Wade during their confirmation hearings.
WATCH: If Supreme Court nominees lied under oath, @repaoc says impeachment “should be very seriously considered.”
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) June 26, 2022
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez: "There must be consequences for such a deeply destabilizing action and hostile takeover of our Democratic institutions." pic.twitter.com/VLU8jsafw2
AOC probably knows that her demands for impeachments of the SC justices or for abortion clinics on federal land are not achievable. She probably realizes her claims of redoing her nails as part of the resistance are utterly laughable.
But she said it anyway because she knows her gullible voters and the way they think. She knows that people often conflate words for real action. She knows when challenged she can always claim to be just 1 among 435 representatives who despite her best intentions, she is powerless. She could also blame Biden and Pelosi for not leading the party.
So, what does AOC really care for?
The only cause that matters to AOC is AOC herself and nothing else.
While she claims to be against guns and for defunding the police, it only applies to the average citizen. AOC spends thousands on her personal security, including over $4k to an ex-Blackwater contractor.
AOC had no time to spare for the exploited Amazon workers in New York who were attempting to unionize. AOC did not respond to multiple invites from union leaders.
AOC did have time for the ostentatious MET Gala where tickets are priced at $35,000 per head. The gala was occurring just yards from where the NYPD was arresting "defund the police" protesters — a cause that AOC claims to support.
AOC is no different from an actor playing a part. Perhaps she is following the Stanislavski system or the ‘method’ where performers really believe they are the character they play. Perhaps AOC really believes what she is saying and fails to realize how ludicrous she sounds.
Obviously, no performance works without a strong script.
AOC spends most of her time virtue signaling and portraying herself as a victim. She also talks about compassion for minorities, illegal immigrants, and LGBT people. She attends an occasional protest. She has effectively used social media to promote herself and present herself as a regular person addressing her voters informally.
Every utterance from AOC works toward building her image.
She has accumulated enough clout such that her refusal to endorse Biden in 2024 caused headlines.
The fact that AOC hasn’t been primaried and rejected by the electorate despite her relentless amateur display proves that she is, despite her appearance and utterance, no fool.
She knows her voters and is giving them exactly what they want --i.e., style instead of substance, hype instead of achievement, and words instead of work.
AOC will be elected to Congress for as long as she wants. She could even rise higher, much higher.