The ‘Ongoing Freak Out’ Over Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Matt Taibbi: “One of the first things you learn covering American politicians is that they’re not terribly bright.”

“The notion that Hill denizens are brilliant 4-D chess players is pure myth, the product of too many press hagiographies of the Game Change variety and too many Hollywood fantasies like House of Cards and West Wing.”

“The average American politician would lose at checkers to a zoo gorilla. They’re usually in office for one reason: someone with money sent them there, often to vote yes on a key appropriation bill or two. On the other 364 days of the year, their job is to shut their yaps and approximate gravitas anytime they’re in range of C-SPAN cameras…”

“We’ve seen this a lot in recent weeks with the ongoing freakout over newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Lest anyone think any of the above applies to ‘AOC,’ who’s also had a lot to say since arriving in Washington, remember: she won in spite of the party and big donors, not because of them.”