Let's Act Like It

In January, 2020, I wrote much of this in response to the saber rattling over Iran. And now the war hawks are at it again. Our history is full of people who have championed peace and diplomacy over…

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“I can buy that badge from a fucking costume store,” says a witness to the “kidnapping” of Rumeysa Ozturk as she was on her way to break her Ramadan fast.

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Victories like this are what happens when we elect trans and nonbinary people into government.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) tells CNN's Jake Tapper that she disagrees with Senator Chuck Schumer about voting for the Republican's stopgap bill to avoid a government shutdown. "What do you think of the job that Chuck Schumer is doing? Would you ever challenge him, do you think?" Tapper asked. "I think that what we need right now is a united Senate Democratic Caucus that can stand up for this country and not vote for cloture and not vote for this bill. And I think that the strength that we have is in this moment," Ocasio-Cortez told Tapper. "And so the strength of our leadership in this moment is going to demonstrate the strength of our caucus. And I cannot urge enough how bad of an idea it is to empower and enable Donald Trump and Elon Musk in this moment. It is dangerous and it is reckless." JAKE TAPPER, CNN: All right, Lauren Fox, thanks so much. And Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez of New York joins me now in the studio. Congresswoman, thanks so much for being here. So, on social media, you've been urging people to call their senators, tell them to vote no on cloture, which allows the bill to go forward for a vote of just a simple majority, and to vote no on the vote for a simple majority on the Republican bill. What do you say to the counterargument of like a government shutdown hurts the country, hurts the people you represent from Queens and the Bronx. REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): Absolutely, and that is why House Democrats have laid out a plan, as well as some several Senate Democrats laid out a plan to keep government open for another 30 days as Republicans negotiate a deal with Democrats in order to have an extended government funding bill. TAPPER: But the House would have to come back into session, right? I mean -- OCASIO-CORTEZ: But House Democrats are in town. I mean, we're afraid of working? Is that the problem here? That the idea that, God forbid, members of Congress have to fly back and do their jobs? I mean, genuinely, come on. TAPPER: So, Chuck Schumer, I guess, the Senate Democratic leader, your Senator, said at this meeting that he is going to vote for cloture. He is going to vote to allow there to be a simple majority vote. Do you think that's wrong? OCASIO-CORTEZ: I believe that's a tremendous mistake, yes. TAPPER: Why? OCASIO-CORTEZ: I think, well, first and foremost, the American people, if anyone has held a town hall or has seen what has been happening in town halls, American people, whether they are Republicans, independents, Democrats, are up in arms about Elon Musk and the actual gutting of federal agencies across the board. This continuing resolution codifies much of this chaos that Elon Musk is wreaking havoc on the federal government. It codifies many of those changes. It sacrifices and completely eliminates congressional authority in order to review these impulsive Trump tariffs that he's switching on and off. And on top of that, for folks who are concerned about effectiveness in government, this Republican extreme spending bill removes all of the guardrails and all of the accountability measures to ensure that money is being spent in the way that Congress has directed for it to be spent. This turns the federal government into a slush fund for Donald Trump and Elon Musk. It sacrifices congressional authority and it is deeply partisan. And so to me, it is almost unthinkable why Senate Democrats would vote to hand the few pieces of leverage that we have away for free when we've been sent here to protect Social Security, protect Medicaid, and protect Medicare. TAPPER: You have expressed opposition to government shutdowns in the past. Here's your very first speech on the House floor. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OCASIO-CORTEZ: It is not normal to shut down the government when we don't get what we want. It is not normal for public servants to run away and hide from the public that they serve. And it is certainly not normal to starve the people we serve for a proposal that is wildly unpopular among the American people. (END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: Now, I get that you hate this continuing resolution, you don't think it's a good bill, but the alternative is likely a government shutdown. OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well, the alternative is to agree on a 30-day stopgap to keep government open, as negotiated. The proposal is in front of the House. The proposal is on the Senate. Republicans had time to seek Democratic votes and we can extend that time for them to seek that vote. Once again, we can come back. We can fly back. We can vote on this. We can get a stopgap measure, extend the amount of time to negotiate while we figure out a solution here for the American people. And I also agree, again, I maintain that position that government shutdowns, we can keep the government open with a 30-day clean C.R. And on top of that, I also maintain the position that government officials and public servants should not be hiding from the public the way that Republicans are hiding and being instructed to not host town halls right now because of the outrage among the American public around their attempts to cut Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. TAPPER: My understanding is that your other senator, another Democrat, Kirsten Gillibrand, also thinks that the Democrats should vote to go forward with the spending bill, unlike Senator Tim Kaine that we just heard from. And my guess is, I don't speak for either Schumer or Gillibrand, but my guess would be if they were here, they'd say, you're being naive. It's really just a choice between voting for a government shutdown or voting not for a government shutdown. People aren't going to come back. It just doesn't happen that way. Again, that's not me. I imagine that that's what they would say to you. OCASIO-CORTEZ: I mean, I understand that Senate Democrats think that it is beyond while this convention for us to come back, but House Democrats have done that before. The House has reconvened in emergency sessions before. I've certainly voted on the floor of Congress when -- and we even called us back from August recess before this. I mean, this idea that it is beyond the scope of imagination for us to come back from vacation is just not an acceptable answer for the American public. TAPPER: I want to play something that President Trump said earlier today. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: If a shutdown -- it's only going to be -- if there's a shutdown, it's only because of the Democrats. And they would really be taking away a lot from our country and from the people of our country. (END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: Your colleagues, House Republicans, are already using the term Schumer shutdown, which has that nice alliterative style. Are you not worried at all about Democrats taking the heat for the shutdown? OCASIO-CORTEZ: We know and the American people are not going to have the wool pulled over their eyes. Everybody knows that Donald Trump is president, that Republicans have the Senate, and Republicans have the House. They have the keys to the entire United States government. And if Republicans wanted to avert a shutdown, they can. They can. If they need Democratic votes, then they can negotiate with Democrats to get those votes. It is simple. They have two options to pass it with their votes or to pass it with Democratic votes. And we also see the data bearing this out. When you look at public polling from very reputable firms, we see that the American people understand that and they know that, that the party in charge of government is the party that's in charge of keeping government open. TAPPER: What do you think of the job Democratic leaders are doing, not just Senate Democratic leaders, but also Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the House, your fellow New Yorker, in terms of standing up to Trump? OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well, when we look at this vote around this government funding bill that we saw this week, Leader Hakeem Jeffries was able to keep the entire House Democratic Caucus united and together. TAPPER: Except for Jared Goldman. OCASIO-CORTEZ: Right. TAPPER: Except for one. OCASIO-CORTEZ: Every single House Democrat, including every single House Democrat who won a Trump district, except for one out of over 200, voted against this deeply partisan, extreme Republican spending bill. Not just because they're Democrats, but because they know it's bad for the country. This bill is bad for the country. And so I think that in terms of Democratic leadership in the House, we've seen that result in the House. I think it's time that we see similar results in the Senate. TAPPER: Would you -- what do you think of the job that Chuck Schumer is doing? Would you ever challenge him, do you think? OCASIO-CORTEZ: I think that what we need right now is a united Senate Democratic Caucus that can stand up for this country and not vote for cloture and not vote for this bill. And I think that the strength that we have is in this moment. Reconciliation and all of these -- Republicans do not need Democratic votes for that. They need it for this. And so the strength of our leadership in this moment is going to demonstrate the strength of our caucus. And I cannot urge enough how bad of an idea it is to empower and enable Donald Trump and Elon Musk in this moment. It is dangerous and it is reckless. TAPPER: Well, you just talked about the strength of your leadership. Chuck Schumer just said that he's going to vote for cloture. Not only the Democrats can do it, but he's going to participate in it. Does that mean that you think he's a weak Senate leader? OCASIO-CORTEZ: I think that that would be a mistake. But we have time between now and tomorrow, and I hope that individuals that are considering that reconsider it. I genuinely do. I don't think it's what New Yorkers want. I don't think it's what the country wants. This is genuinely not about Democrats or Republicans. This is about deep cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid. This is about the evisceration of the federal government. This is about codifying the looting that is happening at the behest of Elon Musk in order to pay for his tax breaks for billionaires. And we have a responsibility to stand up for it. That is why people elected us and that is our responsibility to them right now. TAPPER: All right. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York, thanks so much for being here, I really appreciate it.

The raid came the same day the Trump administration demanded Columbia address “anti-Zionist” discrimination.

I had some honey the other day. It wasn’t what I have grown to expect from honey. It had remarkable flavor. I could taste the flowers and it left me wanting more. As I continue to dip into th…