I wrote a post about my very pleasant experience meeting the wonderful, charming, brilliant Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in Jackson Heights, and I described her as “warm, comfortable in her skin, somewhat taken aback by her sudden fame, and unpretentious.” I said that she paid attention, and that she came to listen and learn. Everyone at the meeting was thrilled to meet her, and she took the time to shake hands, take selfies, and give generously of herself to all of the people who crowded in to meet her. She is a superstar, deservedly.
I noted that “It was a bit jarring to hear AOC say that she was treated in the Yorktown schools as in need of remedial education because she was Hispanic, not mainstream, but, she said, “a-high-stakes standardized Test” revealed she was in the 99th percentile. No one stopped to point out that she could not be referring to any high-stakes test used for accountability purposes because they don’t rank by percentile. They classify students as 1, 2, 3, or 4. Her teacher must have given her a no-stakes individual test that produces a percentile ranking for diagnostic purposes. Well, she can’t know everything about everything. None of us do.” I was not criticizing her but pointing out that she probably took an Iowa test or some other kind of test that gives percentile rankings, which NCLB tests do not. When you are a student, when you are in elementary school, you are not likely to know what kind of test you are taking, whether it is an Iowa test or a Pearson test or some other kind of test.
Imagine how surprised I was to see that a number of right-wing blogs claimed that I accused AOC of “lying.” Nothing could be further from the truth.
This one is titled “Ocasio-Cortez Lied About Her Test Scores to a Public Education Group.”
This was picked up by another blog.
And yet another blog, which attacked me too, for my writings about Afrocentrism from nearly 30 years ago.
And yet another blog, called “Liberty Redux.”
This one was titled “Did Ocasio-Cortez Lie about Her Test Scores at Anti-Charter School Rally?”
This was repeated by another blog.
Probably it is continuing to spread through the fevered nether regions of the blogosphere, where mud-slinging is commonplace.
All of them made the false claim that I accused AOC of lying, which I did not. I said that she may have confused one kind of test for another, which is a mistake that any elementary school child might make. That is not a lie. NCLB state tests are not reported in percentiles, but as 1, 2, 3, 4, or below basic, basic, proficient, advanced.
All of these blogs somehow managed to find unflattering pictures of AOC, which is not easy because she is a very beautiful young woman.
Let me say this as clearly as possible so there is no misunderstanding.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez DID NOT LIE ABOUT HER TEST SCORES. AOC said that some of her teachers believed she was in need of remedial education until she took a standardized test in which she scored in the 99th percentile. I believe her. She is a brilliant young woman.
Her honesty, her integrity, her sincerity, and her genuine concern for other people shines through her.
I am old enough to be AOC’s grandmother, and I am proud to have met her. She is a shining example of the best in America.
The people who write these mendacious, lying blogs do not have the credibility to shine AOC’s shoes.
They are liars.
They are sycophants of the far-right.
They can do me a favor and not read my blog in the future.
They are spam and they will stay spam.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The lack of title for this entry is probably why there are no comments here yet, so you might want to add one, Diane, because I only got here by clicking on the date by where the title should go..
Just wanted to verify that my experiences with standardized tests which report percentile scores are exactly as you described, regarding the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS), which is very old school and dominated in my area for decades before NCLB. So I, too, have no doubt that AOC was truthful and did not lie.
OK, I see a title for this is here now!
When I wrote the post, I started with a title. When I hit publish, the title had disappeared.
Of course, she told the truth.
The trolls are flat-out liars.
It’s also safe to say, none of those FALSE-FLAG blogs that only create lies and conspiracy theories aimed at people with deplorable minds easy to fool, Trump’s supporters/followers, will print and/or publish a retraction and/or admit they were wrong.
I looked at three of these spam-worthy links. The Trumpster scorpions are clearly ready to pounce on anyone and any idea that will produce clicks,eyeballs, metrics and $$$$$.
What these sites are doing is the same as psyop warfare propaganda campaigns that are designed to demonize the country we are at war with and countries deemed a threat of some kind.
For instance:
“Robert Mercer: the big data billionaire waging war on mainstream media”
“With links to Donald Trump, Steve Bannon and Nigel Farage, the rightwing US computer scientist is at the heart of a multimillion-dollar propaganda network …”
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/26/robert-mercer-breitbart-war-on-media-steve-bannon-donald-trump-nigel-farage
Using these psyops propaganda methods is how a lie repeated becomes perceived as a truth to the easiest to fool people, and in today’s world where corporations are collecting data on everyone (and selling that info to anyone who has the money to buy it) from cradle to grave to discover what we think and everything about our lifestyle choices, it has become easier than ever to know how to manipulate people through groupthink and confirmation bias. People like Robert Mercer knows who to target with his psyops lies and misinformation to gain their support for “his” agenda even when “his” agenda will hurt the same people who take sides and support Mercer’s agenda.
I think the U.S. is already in the early stages of a Civil War and has been for years, and it is only going to get worse because the extreme Alt-Right already has the numbers to support a shooting Civil War that started years ago with violent hate crimes that are almost always from the extreme right and aimed at specific targets left of extreme right and those hate crimes have been increasing for the last three years in a row.
Trolls operate by scanning social media for anything that might discredit their targets and then they spread the distortion like wildfire. The original posts become unrecognizable or the speaker spends so much time clarifying that they sound like they themselves are confused. What is that saying, “Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it; so that when Men come to be undeceiv’d, it is too late; the Jest is over, and the Tale has had its Effect.” Jonathan Swift.
Wonderful, Gwenda!
A quote for the ages. As Swift would agree, * “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.” *
Of course, you and AOC did nothing wrong. You praised her in glowing terms she deserved. Right-wing trolls spread muck from a hose. AOC is obviously the target of shadowy surveillance feeding online character assassination which feeds on lies and crumbs. This is the burden of leadership in tense times like these, and it is remarkable how well AOC and you continue with such articulate confidence despite the ugly culture war underway, which is heading for some historic outcomes in the years ahead.
Thank you, Ira.
Seeing the garbage hurled at this fine and courageous young woman makes my blood boil.
I will keep on and she will be here fighting for many more years.
Let the pond scum know that they give us strength and power.
Amen, we all know what a champion you have been for us and what a new champion AOC is. When we win, we will all be dirtied from the swamprats and will celebrate with a grand shower.
I see this as a double-edged sword. The attacks and lies are despicable, to put it lightly. But the fact that they are coming after and lying about you is a testament to the power of your message, the disciples you have nurtured, and the truth you represent. If they weren’t attacking you, it would mean your voice would be ignored and unheard in the wilderness. We know what AOC represents. We know who you are. Keep keeping on, we know what’s going on and it only deepens our respect and commitment.
Shocking. How frustrating for you!
99th percentile! One more reason why the right wingers are absolutely threatened and terrified of her! She is brilliant.
Perhaps the words, ‘high stakes’, are at fault.
I took a test to get teaching certification in New Jersey. I was already an experienced teacher with degrees in science in subject-areas I intended to teach. I had also taken numerous courses at the Graduate School of Education in another State (a real University) in order to learn a bit about teaching and psychology (not my specialties) and get certification in that former State about two decades earlier. So, I scored in the ’99th percentile’.
Was this a ‘high stakes test’? Well, if I had failed it I would not be allowed to teach in a public school. But, it isn’t what most people think of as ‘high stakes’.
As you can tell from my comment, once you get these affirmations, these good scores, it’s really hard not to feel proud. In my case, however, I almost feel ashamed at pushing down some committed college senior. The ‘tests’ can be great ego-boosters for those that do well, however for the plurality they have the opposite effect.
AOC has been encouraged by her ‘score’ to become the leader she is. The truth is, however, the NO test can measure your value as a member of human society. That final evaluation takes a life well lived and, as the Greeks and Yogi tried to teach us, ‘It’s never over until it’s over’.
As I wrote in response to another comment, AOC probably took that test when she was in third grade. That’s about 20 years ago. No third grader knows whether the test was made by Iowa, Pearson, McGraw Hill, or some other corporation. Nor would they know whether the test was highstakes or not. I believe that the test showedshe was in the 99th percentile. She is super smart.
She drives right wingers crazy.
You are correct about the third grade testing. I am 100% sure that in NY prior to NCLB, K-2 had no standardized testing for reading and math. There was a certain amount of latitude in selecting entrance and exit criteria. In other words there was menu of acceptable forms of assessment K-2. More flexibility and options were allowed in those days. The rules for ESL were slightly different.
I’d say you and AOC certainly have their attention. That is all good. If rightwing (and centrist, neoliberal) websites weren’t spreading vicious lies about us it would mean we were not working hard enough to spread the truth about them. Great work, Alexandria and Diane! I am proud as ever to support you.
Another rightwing blog just appeared, falsely claiming that I called out AOC as a liar. I did not. She probably was tested in third grade. Why would she be expected to know 20 years later what kind of test it was?
Here is the liar:
https://justconservativeviews.net/prof-busts-aocs-cocky-claim-about-extremely-high-test-score-in-high-school/
I am sure AOC would have an intelligent and entertaining response if she saw it. She’s probably not going to see it, but if she did…
If they can discredit both of you, they will have accomplished their goal. Both of you are targets of the right wing because you dare to question their regressive policies.
The predatory, rapacious leaders of the New Feudal Order in the United States aren’t stupid. They can read a trend line. They know that the tide is against them. They know . . .
the US is rapidly heading toward being a majority non-white country and that nonwhites vote Democratic;
that young people in the US are SOLIDLY in the Democratic camp and that the solidly Republican generations are dying off;
that most of our college graduates are now women and that women, too, lean to the Democrats;
that a Republican caucus, convention, or coven is always mostly a gathering of old white men;
that 71 percent of Americans believe that climate change is an enormous problem;
that 70 percent now support Medicare for All;
that a solid majority of 63 percent supports a $15 minimum wage; and
that (this is particularly alarming to them) a recent Reason-Rupe survey found that 53 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds view socialism favorably.
Oh yes, the dreaded S word is not so dreaded anymore. LOL. People are getting wise to the fact that Denmark and Norway are not the Soviet Union under Stalin.
What is a beleaguered oligarch to do?
FUND SMEAR CAMPAIGNS, TRY TO FACTIONALIZE THE LEFT, LIMIT ACCESS TO THE POLLS, PACK THE COURTS, GERRYMANDER. These are desperation measures, and they will fail. Soon, their current useful idiot, Dapper Don the Con, IQ45, President Pinocchio, will be the ugly before picture, and our representatives will start looking more and more like our country, with a lot more women, people of color, and people from working-class backgrounds in positions of power. We are in a phase transition. We are a pot of water just before it starts boiling. Everything is about to change, and they knew it, and they are scared to death. AOC is a distillation of the oligarchs’ nightmares. That’s why FAUX NEWS and these troglodyte blogs have run daily hit pieces on her now for several months. They are worried, and they ought to be. The times, they are a-changin’.
And they know that when they lie, the indomitable, indefatigable Diane Ravitch will call them out, each and every time.
cx: And they know that when they lie, the indomitable, indefatigable Diane Ravitch will call them out, each and every time that it really matters and/or touches upon her own integrity and character. No one, even a superhero like Diane or AOC, can possibly keep track of and respond to ALL the lies spilling like radioactive particulate over the body politic as a result of the right-wing meltdown.
I would like to point out Bob that not one of those Scandinavian Democracies is Democratic Socialist or any other kind of Socialist as that I can not think of any industry that the Government owned the means of production in. Not that I would have an objection to Democratic Socialism if it existed. Even Venezuela under Chavez would hardly qualify as Socialist at least no more so than Saudi Arabia who also owns its oil industry. They are liberal Democracies with high taxes that lessen inequality and an extensive social safety net. Hell if Bernie Sanders is a Democratic Socialist what was Truman in 45 when he proposed a National Healthcare plan. The City University of NY was a free public institution starting in 1866 -1977. Had they read Marx when they founded it.
Lastly, no one in the Banking or Financial sector should ever talk about Socialism again as the 13 largest banks would have gone belly up and actually been Nationalized in Bankruptcy Court according to Gietner in his defense of the bailouts from Tarp and the Fed.
Joel, please see my response, below.
Word!
Highly recommended reading: http://healthmatters4.blogspot.com/2010/12/beveridge-model.html
The piece I’ve linked to here starts out great but then goes completely off the rails at the end. It makes a powerful argument for this sort of healthcare system and then concludes that it’s not going to happen in the US, so we should forget about it. Ridiculous. So, I would suggest that you disregard the last couple paragraphs.
I have to laugh having seen this before. My Congressman was answering a series of questions at a Town Hall. Questions about holding the President accountable. A subject my “Problem Solver” Democrat Rep was uncomfortable getting into in the first place. One that I forced on him with my question about the silence of Putin’s puppet. Silence in resp[onse to a Russian (mercenary) attack on American forces in Syria. The last question of the series was on the order of what if the President ignores the Congress and the Court. The implication was what if he becomes a tyrant. To which my anti-gun rights Rep gave an answer that made no one in the room gasp. A response that an article on the Heritage website described as NY Liberal Democratic Congressman agrees with our interpretation of the Second Amendment.
The Congressman threw his hands up and to the side in an expression of exasperation and stated: “my Republican Colleagues would say that is why we have the Second Amendment”. He did not know how to answer the question as there is no mechanism to remove a President who refuses to leave. Within two days every right-wing rag from Fox News to Breitbart to the front page of NY Post and the fringe lunatic internet sites were repeating that he had called for second amendment solutions to Trump. His Facebook page was flooded with threats. Quite a well-oiled machine they have. While Democrats shiver at using the word impeachment.
“While Democrats shiver at using the word impeachment.” Exactly. Look, Dems. Grow some.
For a long time, Joel, I reserved the term “socialism” for reference to any political system in which workers owned the means of production. However, I have bowed, here, to common current usage. I refer you to the current Encyclopedia Britannica definition of “Social Democracy”:
“Social democracy, political ideology that originally advocated a peaceful evolutionary transition of society from capitalism to socialism using established political processes. In the second half of the 20th century, there emerged a more moderate version of the doctrine, which generally espoused state regulation, rather than state ownership, of the means of production and extensive social welfare programs. “
cx: “political” above s/b “economic”
I have, since I was 12 years old, always referred to my political orientation as a Willy Brandt social democrat. I could never figure out why Americans of the same orientation would call themselves Democratic Socialists. I still believe this was a self-inflicted wound. By clinging to it, they opened the floodgates to be defined by American political ignorance. I still support Bernie, but his biggest mistake has been to define himself as a Democratic Socialist and not the more accurate and politically palatable social democrat.
Greg,
I agree. Many years ago, I worked at a small center-Left magazine called The New Leader and the nomenclature of choice was Social Democrat.
Bob, I don’t claim to be an expert. But these Nations would seem to be following Bismarck whose Social Welfare programs were actually an attempt to keep Socialist movements at bay. The point I am trying to make is the right is despicable in their attempts to portray Democrats or the Scandinavian states as Socialist.
Back in my first Political Science course, I was given a definition of politics. A definition that I only bothered to find out who the author was when it appeared on the introductory page of my sons AP Economics book 30 years later.
“Economics is who gets what when and how.”
“Politics is: Who Determines Who Gets What When and How” Harrold Laswell 1936.
Its beauty is in its simplicity. It pretty much works in any system of any complexity. There are no free markets. Government/ Politics is always setting the rules of the game. Picking winners and losers. The only question is who those winners or losers will be. And who is getting to make that determination and in whose interest. It was an international affairs 101 course. In which National Interest was defined as the interest of the ruling elites where ever and whoever they may be.
GregB
BINGO
Joel, you understanding of Bismarck sets my heart aflutter. He was the definition of a pragmatist. And the herring that bears his name is something to behold as well. With lots of raw onions.
Frankly, I don’t give a microbe on a hair of a rat’s tushy what we call it. I want to see us adopt a universal, single-payer healthcare system, a minimum wage indexed to the local cost of living, major campaign finance reform, and a slew of other reforms financed by higher progressive taxation. These are doable. Or, alternatively, the left in the US can engage in internecine squabbles until the boot comes down on the throats of all.
your understanding
Love those definitions, Joel. Superb. And I do understand your point about Bismarck, but we can’t let, as Voltaire put it, some imagined best to be the enemy of the good. Millions of Americans have teeth rotting out of their mouths because they can’t afford dental care. A third of our children live with food insecurity. Fixing such problems as these is, I think, doable. And revolutionary.
Joel, I think it’s time, now, to embrace the term. “Puritan” was originally a term of derision. The Calvinists embraced it, successfully. The right in the US has long derided any big government program that it didn’t like as “Socialist,” and for years I ranted to anyone who would listen that that’s not what the term means. But the term, as used by the right, has stuck, and now what we are seeing is that people are beginning to embrace programs like Medicare for All and to say, correct usage or not, “Hey, these Socialist programs don’t seem all that bad.” I think that we need to seize that momentum, embrace the term to refer to government programs that ameliorate suffering and make our economic system more equitable. I see the campaign that Trumpty Dumpty and Faux News and Not-so-Brietbart are waging against “Socialism” as an opportunity. Let them call programs for social justice Socialist, and watch people embrace these. That’s why I am using the term and applaud the use of it by people like Bernie Sanders and AOC.
Bob Shepherd
I think we all agree about what needs to be done. Getting there is the problem. And there are structural reasons that only a few Democrats are now only starting to address. An institution that makes change extremely difficult.
You can start with the fact that 30% of the country chooses 70% of the Senate. Then perhaps we can ask when the last time there was a Democratic no less a progressive SCOTUS, the reason a vestige of slavery. Nixon was President.
I shudder at the thought of a constitutional convention. And yet I question how extreme an event it would take to allow the needed structural changes to occur. Structural changes that would allow for progressive change to occur.
Yes. The anti-gerrymandering ballot initiatives in several states are really important. Amendments Y and Z in Colorado. Proposal 2 in Michigan.
A great video on the gerrymandering issue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfQij4aQq1k
Bob Shepherd
Perhaps you can explain to the 70% of Americans that favor Medicare for all that they are already paying for their health insurance. For the number drops down to 35% as soon as they are asked to pay for it.
And who are the worst critics those that due to the Union movement have good employer-provided health insurance. Even as more and more of the costs get transferred to workers and more and more of those plans come under attack from greedy employers.
1800 workers in NYC working for Spectrum cable out for 2 years as a decertification drive proceeds. The issue is their Healthcare and Pension Benefits. Yet who is fighting a single-payer proposal in NY? Public Sector and Building Trades Unions. Did I mention that those 1800 workers were a bargaining unit in a larger Building Trade Union?
So what will it take?
they are already paying for their health insurance.
That’s the key. That’s why I have argued here and elsewhere that the Democratic Party has to start educating the voters on this issue (and on climate change science)–running ads with the sole purpose of explaining this
In 2018, the US spent 18 percent of its GDP on healthcare. Per capita healthcare cost in the US was TWICE what it is, on average, in the OECD, and health outcomes–longevity, infant morality, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and more–are much worse. We have the existence proofs of systems that are far cheaper and far more equitable and successful. The Democratic Party needs to take a leadership role in EDUCATING Americans about this.
In 2017, per capita healthcare cost in the US was $10,209. That’s what we are CURRENTLY paying. The next highest per capita cost in the OECD was Switzerland, at over $2,000 less.
Why these insane costs? Because our healthcare dollars are siphoned off into private profits–much of what we spend go to the owners and managers of what can only be described as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations that pass for healthcare insurers, providers, and pharmaceutical companies in the US.
But the ordinary folks I meet, cannot differentiate the ‘political’ system of communism, for the economic policies of socialism . Nuance is lost, as memes drive everything… ‘those socialists who want to talk emy hard-earned money and give it away,” say some very bright people that I know.
Bob Shepherd
And the Electoral College? And the US Senate? Both inherently undemocratic organizations.
So what type of shock will it take? I should have been ecstatic after the election. Instead, the sobering reality set in that the House will get nothing passed in the Senate. Possibly to be held responsible for it by the next election. And if progressives were to take the Senate they would have to eliminate the filibuster. Then legislation would be blocked in the Court. And if they flooded the Court would the oligarchy sit still. Or would we see the oligarchy strike back as they did with the Pink Tide in South America? How is it working out in Argentina Brazil and Venezuela…?
Just a bundle of optimism.
We are going to be living in an, ahem, interesting time.
Even in Denmark the left party is the Social Democratic Party, not democratic socialist. I wish Bernie and company had used this term to calm the radical right. The term “socialist” is like waving a red flag in front of a herd of ignorant bulls. The right will stop at nothing to smear OAC.
The right would still have called it “Socialism.” They’ve been calling every government program they don’t like “Socialism” for a century now. So, increased government spending on healthcare, in Conservative speech, is Socialism, but government spending on needless foreign wars isn’t. Conservatives are shameless in their distortion of the language. These are the people who gave us “death taxes,” “Feminazi,” “right to work” laws, “white genocide,” the “caravan,” “welfare queen,” “fake news,” “judicial activism,” “Obamacare” (to describe a program first put forward by Mitt Romney), “deep state,” “social justice warrior,” “snowflake,” “libtard,” “bleeding heart,” “witch hunt,” “education reform,” and so on. Now, let’s see if that list of terms puts this post into moderation.
Did ‘the Reich’ treat Obama with respect? Or even Clinton.org? No, they called them ‘socialists’ even though Obama’s main success was passing a healthcare plan proposed by the Heritage Foundation. There is no way to mollify the Reich by using nicer names.
So, I applaud Bernie for his tactic. He effectively says, “OK, you’re going to call me a socialist, anyway, so why not assume the mantle. Who cares about your names. Now, let’s talk about policy.”
Correction: AOC
Not worried about you, Bob, with respect to use of term socialist. We’re in complete agreement. It’s the rest of uneducated Americans who consistently vote against their self-interest who shut their ears and brains when they hear or read the word socialist I’m worried about. Along these lines, check out Jonathan Pie’s wonderful rant on Brexit. It echoes everything that’s going on here. Not for those of you who are offended by profanity.
This is truly horrific. It is also exactly what they did to Hillary Clinton and what they will do to any Democrat that runs.
AOC did not lie and you did not say that she lied. She was not dishonest. She did not say something that made even democrats distrust her. The only liars are the alt right trolls and Russian troll factory trolls who specialize in discrediting any moderate or progressive politician who is dangerous to their ultimate goal of turning America into a clone of Putin’s Russia — a place where far right despots destroy democracy.
These attacks only work when you hear self-described progressives or democrats repeating them. Then the media starts reporting on these blatant lies without discrediting but instead doing the opposite — giving them overwhelming credibility with endless stories quoting the “doubts that progressives have about AOC’s honesty” or “major questions about what seems to be her blatant dishonesty” and “this is not the first time that democrats themselves have questioned yet another instance where AOC appeared to stretch the truth”.
That’s what happened to HRC, John Kerry, Al Gore, Mike Dukakis. They are now having some success in similar attacks on Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris. Bill de Blasio. They are attacks on CHARACTER. Not disagreements on policy. Character. Doubt their judgement, doubt their truthfulness, doubt their honesty, doubt that they have any principles at all because the right wants Americans to believe that everyone dangerous to them is not to be trusted.
These attacks must be stopped in their tracks. And the only way to stop them is to simply call them out as blatant lies manufactured by the right wing and refuse to give them any credence at all. We can’t “debate” them or try to discuss the nuance.
It’s frightening to me how successful this right wing playbook as been — as long ago as Dukakis. I just saw the Dukakis tank photo and remembered that this was a guy who served honorably in the armed services. It wasn’t the Republicans making fun of Dukakis in the tank photo that destroyed him — it was democrats “agreeing” that it was a mistake, that he looked like a fool, etc. etc. Lots of new “angles” about how the dems knew Dukakis showed bad judgement with the photo to write endless news stories.
If every Democrat and progressive had responded to that tank photo as “how dare the Republicans treat a veteran who served honorably — Republicans must hate soldiers like Dukakis because they were all cowards who didn’t serve”, I believe it would have been a very different election. We need to stop letting ourselves get played by what is an ingenious propaganda machine. It’s the one thing the Republicans are much better than Democrats or Progressives at doing — lying propaganda. Because the Democrats or Progressives are sometimes their unwitting helpers. The propaganda can’t work if it is only coming from the right. That’s one reason Obama won and was re-elected. The right tried many times to turn a misstep, a misstatement, or some long ago out of context statement into character attacks on Obama, but the Dems didn’t join in on the criticisms.
The is about the 12th new anti-AOC meme the alt right attack machine has tried. Every statement or actions she has ever done has been parsed. But so far none of stuck. I give some credit to Nancy Pelosi who refuses to play along. These propaganda efforts are going to continue non-stop against AOC and every Democrat or progressive who seems dangerous to the right wing agenda. Let’s hope we don’t have a repeat of 2016, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1988.
Bottom line — The right wing is spreading blatant lies in order to attack the character of an honest and genuine young woman who stands up to the rich and powerful who hate her. That’s the only way to answer these attacks. Not trying to explain how it is that she wasn’t doing whatever it is they are accusing her of doing because then the message that we need to send gets lost. The right wing is spreading blatant lies in order to attack the character of an honest and genuine young woman who stands up to the rich and powerful.
Such a beautifully argued and important post, NYC parent! Well said!
There is at least hope with AOC that she is considered to be a whiz-kid with social media and can/will promote her own voice effectively — Hillary wasn’t quite up to that level. ( As a sidenote, I have always wondered why she, Hillary, has not adamantly and very publicly sued the “pizza gate” originators and sites; we hear investigations about it, proving that it existed, but no one is held accountable for slander/libel. Perhaps she has sued but it has not been made public.)
The lies are planted so that the people will stop listening… trusting no one, as they are drowned in a tsunami of lies. Many people will hear the lie about AOC, once it is ‘out there,’ and repeated until it becomes truth. That is the process.
I am exhausted at the mendacity that is unraveling the nation, fed -up with the power elite’s rendition of truth. They have done more than rob this nation blind, and make serfs of its people; they have undone the rule of law — made lying so routine, crossed so many red-lines, that it has robbed us of trust. The LOSS OF TRUST is planned and abetted by a Congress controlled by a party that is complicit in the mendacity, by drawing no accountability!
The LOSS OF TRUST is planned, not merely against AOC, but to undo trust in everything.
That is why dictators ultimately destroy their states. bad decisions are based on falsehood!
I am not saying that it is merely television lies, which are what is killing democracy. I am saying that LYING by those whom we trust to ‘promote the common welfare,’ is INTOLERABLE because it is DESTRUCTIVE. Those controlling the media and the internet memes KNOW they are sowing division!
The reason that lies are hurtful is easy to comprehend. In the real world, what you DON’T KNOW MAY KILL YOU, and thus, built into the human genome is the desire for FACTS… well, until the advent of television and that screen… that window onto the world… not the real one, but the one that the puppet-masters of media want you to believe.
I want to see the word ‘mendacity’ on everyone’s lips! The media points endlessly to the liars and their circus, but there is always another act in the wings — to make us forget the audacity we just witnessed, or the tragedy we observed. I want to talk about the unintended consequences of the internet… how disinformation is being weaponized.
This Randy Rainbow video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdV_8TGswRA is really clever, but not funny, because of what it reveals about the behavior at the TOP! There is no such thing as Alternative facts,.
Sorry for your trouble, Diane. Although it might seem different on the surface, your experience with these right wing liars reminds me of the time my credit card number was swiped -off the internet. Little did I know…..I was about to enter a HOUSE OF MIRRORS….
Liars, cheaters..they are of the same ilk. And, the power of modern technology only amplifies their impact on our lives.
The more I tried to salvage the integrity of my bank account and financial reputation, the more I became enmeshed in dealing with….who knows who, online. You seek out help….but is that person who is “helping” you legit? So you get scammed then you get scammed again…because you are vulnerable. As Forbes reported back during the huge Equifax data breach in 2017, “Equifax was linking potential breach victims on twitter to a scam site.” In other words, heaping more pain on people who’d already been hurt.
I’d be hesitant to click on any of these wack job sites that are distorting your visit with AOC….for fear of falling further into their clutches. It’s like getting into an online debate with a diehard Trump supporter….logic and truth fly out the window. And, the only law is the law of the jungle. It becomes emotional quicksand.
It’s maddening. And, it’s happening writ large to our ENTIRE NATION. Our Scammer-in-Chief is getting away with it day after day. At least for now.
As always, thank you for fighting the good fight.
It is also possible that being told as a child she scored “4 out of 4,” translated colloquially as an adult to 99th percentile. It might not be mathematically precise, but the basic point is the same. Yes, the right will say anything to discredit her!
First they ignore you.
Then they mock your dancing.
Then they claim you are after their cows and pickup trucks.
Then they call you a liar.
Then you win
— Albert Twain Gandhi
I wish.
First they ignore you.
Then they mock the photo of you in the tank.
Then they claim you exaggerate.
Then they claim you are a war-coward.
Then they call you a liar.
Then they call you untrustworthy.
Then they say you are the most corrupt candidate to ever to run for President and you have no interest in helping the middle class or poor or anyone but your rich donors and since you are also full of pure greed, enriching your own pocket book.
Then your opponent — the lying, war-coward, corrupt, untrustworthy, greedy Republican who has no interest in helping the middle class or anyone but himself and the foreign leaders who helped put him in office — wins.
Oh my Lord. Thanks for the laugh, SomeDAM!
It sound like we have, as a nation, finally solved our landfill crisis: we now turn garbage into blog posts.
Well said.
LOL. Funny, Mark!
Meanwhile their guy, Donald Trump on Twitter:
“Sorry losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest -and you all know it! Please don’t feel so stupid or insecure, it’s not your fault.”
Maybe insisting of a rigid ed code definitions obscures a broader understanding of the circumstances AOC faced and how that test changed the trajectory of her life. Could the stakes have been higher?
When progressives and democrats respond to these lies by having discussions and debates about whether AOC took a high stakes test or a low stakes test, they have already lost the battle and probably the war. “Once again democrats and progressives debate whether what AOC said was truthful’ read the headlines now in every mainstream newspaper.
We need to stop repeating the same mistakes that has allowed the right to take over this country despite offering policies 70% of the electorate don’t want.
Republicans are spreading blatant lies in order to attack the character of an honest and genuine young woman who stands up to the rich and powerful. That is the only response anyone should make so we don’t fall into the same trap we always do.
I was just thinking. In the late 90s was the time NYC transitioned from tests that had a percentile score to the present quartile system. During that time my son was in middle school and he was not allowed to take the Hunter test because in 7th grade he received a score at the 89 percentile on, at that time, was a citywide and not state reading test. I recall this very well because he got three items wrong. When I researched previous years test, I saw that for three items wrong, the percentile was 91 percent which would have allowed him to take the test. When I asked about the methodology that resulted in this change, I was told to mind my own business from the then Board of Education. The rule was that NYC students could not take the Hunter test unless the ELA and math scores were over the 90 percentile. They would not even allow me to see which questions he got wrong. By the way way, prior to that time, he always scored in the 99 percentile. Anyway, he still went to Townsend Harris which is our HS for gifted students and Cornell. The point of all this is that AOC was probably in third grade at this time and was taking a percentile based reading test. I believe her completely. Also, it has been described that when she is in committee, she does her research and asks great questions. Smart!
The proof of one’s education is not necessarily test scores (which correlate with SES), but in the person you become. This young woman beat a supposedly invulnerable Congressman, who had won 10 previous elections and was thought to be a possible successor to Nancy Pelosi. AOC then became an overnight phenomenon, on the cover of Time magazine this week. Not just because she’s young. Not because she’s smart. She has that magic called charisma. She can’t really understand it herself.
I have been so taken aback by the vitriol around this young woman. I follow her on Twitter just because I think she has interesting things to say. The harsh comments from some people to almost every single thing AOC says is astonishing to me. There are people who seem to have a reflexive and unwarranted negative reaction which is so out of proportion to what she says! I swear, she could write “What a lovely day it is today!” and there would be people who would accuse her of . . . I don’t know, some crazy thing. I want to say to those people “you know, if you don’t like someone, you don’t have to follow them”–and you don’t have to make up lies about that person or ascribe evil intentions to everything she says. I fear for AOC sometimes. She is bright and hard-working and forthright; it’s fine if you don’t like someone’s positions on issues but geez, the hateful things people post on her feed or in media articles about her are just way, WAY extreme. It’s worrisome. SMH
Another rightwing troll just popped up in my moderation section, called “TrumpsMinutemen.org,” again claiming that AOC lied.
I think we need to hear from some psychiatrists about why certain people are so filled with rage for a beautiful, intelligent, caring person like AOC. Their hatred is not rational.
They fear her, and they fear you. They are, at root, cowards. I, too, fear for her safety. So many idiots, and at their lead, these days, a man who encourages violence. It’s a very dangerous game that he is playing, but he doesn’t care. It’s dangerous for others.
A lot of those “people” are trolls from the Putin troll factories.
True, but I suspect there are also Bannon/Mercer troll factories, et al.