NYTimes: Ocasio-Cortez Builds a National Platform, but a District Office? Not Open Yet

[EffieBlack]

Last edited Thu Jan 24, 2019, 09:45 PM - Edit history (1)

In three short weeks in office, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has shaped a national conversation on taxation, emerged as the face of a green jobs plan in Washington and elevated her initials into a worldwide brand.

But she has not yet opened an office in her own New York City district — a delay that may give a sense of her priorities early in her tenure. During an appearance on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” on Monday, she blamed the government shutdown.

“There’s a lot of things we can’t do as freshmen members,” she told Mr. Colbert as they ate spoonfuls of ice cream. “We can’t properly set up our district offices. We can’t get laptops delivered. We can’t start doing the work that we were elected here to do. It takes the green stuff,” she said. “And those workers are furloughed.”

But the shutdown has not had a similar effect on other first-term Congress members from New York State. Of the four who took office on Jan. 3, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is the only one who has yet to open a district office.
...
“Would you rather have a Congress member with an amazing local services office, or one that leads nationally on issues?” she queried her 1.9 million followers on Instagram — a number that is well over twice the population of her district. The results strongly favored national issues.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/22/nyregion/aoc-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-district-office.html

[KG]

1. this is very concerning.

[Autumn]

5. I'm deeply concerned .

That she has only 1.9 million followers on Instagram
and not surprised at all that the results of her poll strongly favored national issues over her getting her office up and running.
It seems it's not that uncommon for her not to have it up and running. She didn't move into her predecessor's office like others have.

“If you’re inheriting your predecessor’s offices, that can be relatively seamless,” said Bradford Fitch, the president of the Congressional Management Foundation, a nonprofit that helps lawmakers and their aides. “Opening up a new office has all of the challenges of opening up a new business, along with the red tape.” A month or two for a member changing offices would not uncommon, Mr. Fitch said.

No new leases could be signed before Jan. 3, but the office could begin making arrangements, Mr. Fitch said. “I’m pretty sure that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was not going to be beat in a general election. So I’m sure they had more time to plan,” he said.

After receiving questions from The Times about the district office, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez used her official House Twitter account to explain that she did not take over Mr. Crowley’s office because the landlord had wanted to nearly double the rent. The landlord could not immediately be reached.

[EffieBlack]

6. And THEN Fitch said

"No new leases could be signed before Jan. 3, but the office could begin making arrangements ... I’m pretty sure that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was not going to be beat in a general election. So I’m sure they had more time to plan,”

And, funny thing, the four other newly elected Members from her area didn't need a month or two to open their offices and managed t get up and running under the same circumstances . . .

[Hassin Bin Sober]

9. It says a lease couldn't be signed until Jan 3.

“If you’re inheriting your predecessor’s offices, that can be relatively seamless,” said Bradford Fitch, the president of the Congressional Management Foundation, a nonprofit that helps lawmakers and their aides. “Opening up a new office has all of the challenges of opening up a new business, along with the red tape.” A month or two for a member changing offices would not uncommon, Mr. Fitch said.

Always interesting snips.

[EffieBlack]

15. January 3 was three weeks ago

Every other newly-elected Member has managed to enter into a new lease, move into office space and get up and running.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

17. From the part of the article you apparently missed:

“If you’re inheriting your predecessor’s offices, that can be relatively seamless,” said Bradford Fitch, the president of the Congressional Management Foundation, a nonprofit that helps lawmakers and their aides. “Opening up a new office has all of the challenges of opening up a new business, along with the red tape.” A month or two for a member changing offices would not uncommon, Mr. Fitch said.

[EffieBlack]

20. And here's the part YOU apparently missed

No new leases could be signed before Jan. 3, but the office could begin making arrangements, Mr. Fitch said. “I’m pretty sure that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was not going to be beat in a general election. So I’m sure they had more time to plan,” he said.

The funny part is that, had she opened her office on time and the other four members who actually DID open on time didn't, the same people who have their shorts in a bunch over this article would be insisting that opening an office on time was further proof of her unassailable awesomeness.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

23. .

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Office update/NYC Rent life: although we attempted to take over our predecessor’s lease, the landlord wanted to almost double rent (from ~$7.8k/mo to $15k/mo).<br><br>That spike would have meant less caseworkers for our community. Instead, we’re making a new space w/ a family business! <a href="https://t.co/PrM8E1v8wh">pic.twitter.com/PrM8E1v8wh</a></p>— Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@RepAOC) <a href="

Link to tweet

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[KG]

26. as someone whose work sometimes involves planning of commercial space, this is lightning fast.

these people are really grasping at straws to belittle an elected democrat

[Hassin Bin Sober]

30. Yep.

This is another tempest in a teapot by the usuals.

[George II]

36. I wonder how Max Rose did it (an elected Democrat)?

[Trumpocalypse]

132. Max Rose???

Are you referring to the Max Rose who spent most of his campaign attacking other Democrats? The Max Rose who refused to vote for Nancy Pelosi? The Max Rose who joined the right wing 'Problem Solvers Caucus'? That Max Rose?

AOC is worth 100 Max Roses.

[Apollyonus]

150. The OP is not about calling names

It is about opening a district office which Max Rose seems to have done on schedule and efficiently. His politics are a subject for another thread.

[Trumpocalypse]

163. Not calling names

I’m pointing out some facts about Mr. Rose. Are any of them incorrect?

[oberliner]

226. He took over Dan Donovan's existing office

[Proud Liberal Dem]

54. +1

That's pretty much what this all about.

[EffieBlack]

62. As someone who's helped several Members set up new offices, I can tell you it's embarrassingly slow

But I have a feeling that, minutes after that article posted, some priorities got shifted real fast and we're going to see a new 14th District office open long before March.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

144. It's funny how your statements are in direct contradiction to the person quoted in the article.

I’ll stick with him, a named and quoted individual who has helped set up Congressional offices.

“If you’re inheriting your predecessor’s offices, that can be relatively seamless,” said Bradford Fitch, the president of the Congressional Management Foundation, a nonprofit that helps lawmakers and their aides. “Opening up a new office has all of the challenges of opening up a new business, along with the red tape.” A month or two for a member changing offices would not uncommon, Mr. Fitch said.

You post an article and the completely ignore any exculpatory quotes. Doesn’t make sense.

[NurseJackie]

145. "So I'm sure they had more time to plan," he said."

"No new leases could be signed before Jan. 3, but the office could begin making arrangements, Mr. Fitch said. “I’m pretty sure that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was not going to be beat in a general election. So I’m sure they had more time to plan,” he said."

Also, according to the article, GSA which coordinates the office logistics for Members hasn't been affected by the furlough but they can't deliver equipment to offices that aren't open yet.

[Apollyonus]

151. According to the article

AOC had since June 27, 2018 to make the plans .... since she was virtually certain to win the GE after her primary win on June 26, 2018.

[NurseJackie]

169. I wonder what caused the delay. If that had been me...

I wonder what caused the delay. If that had been me (which it wasn't, but if it was) I'd have wasted no time at all. But then again, I'm old and don't like to leave things to chance. It's one of those things I've learned over the years. Hell, we even book hotel rooms for planned vacations almost a year in advance, that's the cautious side of me coming through. I know everyone is different, but I've always been averse to taking unnecessary risks that could cause delay or lead to disappointment.

[Apollyonus]

170. I hear you - perfect analogy n/t

[George II]

197. So, the shutdown didn't affect the delay.

[NurseJackie]

198. So it seems.

[lostnfound]

66. Agreed. Some logistics support from the party infrastructure would be smart

I suspect newly elected republican congress members get lots of help from their party infrastructure.

[George II]

32. Apparently the other 80 new members of Congress haven't had a problem getting their offices...

...up and running. Max Rose's office is open.

[NurseJackie]

38. Interesting to have that data for a side-by-side comparison.

That helps to put things in perspective for me.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

44. You should read the entire article. Not what was selectively snipped and posted

Some Members, like Max Rose, were able to take over their predecessor’s office.

AOC is doing a new office build out.


Here lemme hep ya:

“If you’re inheriting your predecessor’s offices, that can be relatively seamless,” said Bradford Fitch, the president of the Congressional Management Foundation, a nonprofit that helps lawmakers and their aides. “Opening up a new office has all of the challenges of opening up a new business, along with the red tape.” A month or two for a member changing offices would not uncommon, Mr. Fitch said.

[George II]

49. I did read the article:

"The shutdown did not stop Representative Antonio Delgado from opening his first local office in Kingston, N.Y., within two weeks of taking office.

Nor did it stop Anthony Brindisi, a freshman representative in upstate New York, from opening two offices. “No issues due to the shutdown,” said Macey Matthews, a spokeswoman for Mr. Brindisi. “Our Binghamton office opened on Jan. 3, and our Utica office officially opened yesterday,” she said in an email last week."

Crowley's office could have been used for three months (even at the increased rent paid for by a >$1M expense allowance per representative) while the permanent office was being set up. Plus, Crowley also had an office in the Bronx, where the rent was probably much much less.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

68. Aaaaaand another Member, Brindisi, who took over the previous Member's office.

Again, AOC did a new build out of a new office.

Why is this such a difficult concept?

And you know the landlord would allow a month to month temporary lease?


Delgado apparently leased an already established (shabby looking) office in Kingston. You aren’t seriously comparing the two real estate markets?

[EffieBlack]

69. AAANND other Members didn't, yet still managed to open new offices in a timely fashion

But, you haven't answered my question.

If the problem was that she was delayed because she didn't take over her predecessor's office - even though that wasn't a problem for those Members who also didn't take over predecessors' offices - why didn't she just SAY that instead of blaming her delay on the government shutdown?

[Cha]

147. Exactly. that's what I was wondering in this whole kerfluffle.

If the problem was that she was delayed because she didn't take over her predecessor's office - even though that wasn't a problem for those Members who also didn't take over predecessors' offices - why didn't she just SAY that instead of blaming her delay on the government shutdown?

Thank You.

[George II]

80. I know several locally who are happy to rent offices...

...month to month while they try to find a permanent tenant. It happens all the time in commercial real estate. We do it every two years for our election headquarters.

Shabby? That's rather judgmental. Are you familiar with 37th Avenue in Jackson Heights (I grew up on 32nd Avenue in Flushing, the next town over)? I know the area very well.

[EffieBlack]

50. "SOME Members" but not all of them - the others managed to open new offices with no problem

And note that Fitch didn't say a "month or two" from the day they're sworn in. In fact, he specifically said that she had plenty of time long before she was sworn in to start making arrangements for her office space. Members don't wait until they're sworn in to start the process - the process starts as soon as they're elected, and sometimes before. I'm sure she didn't just discover on January 3 what the landlord planned to charge in rent for the office.

And even if that was the problem, why didn't she just say that when talking to Colbert, instead of blaming it on the shutdown, which we now see has absolutely nothing to do with her failure to open her office? She didn't say, "I haven't opened my office because the landlord tried to double the rent, so I had to start from scratch on January 3, so it will be a couple of months before I can get an office.""

No - she said, "“There’s a lot of things we can’t do as freshmen members. We can’t properly set up our district offices. We can’t get laptops delivered. We can’t start doing the work that we were elected here to do. It takes the green stuff. And those workers are furloughed.”

She blamed it on the furlough, yet the furlough didn't delay any of her colleagues from arranging for and moving into offices - even those who didn't inherit their predecessors space.

You can defend and deflect all you want. But she's flat-footed on this one. But, as I said, it's early enough that she can fix it and show her constituents that she's actually interested in representing them.

[Trumpocalypse]

140. I say that it is up to the people that live in her district

if this is an issue or not. Not for others to pass judgement.

[R B Garr]

142. Great summation of the real issue. This had nothing to do

with the shutdown.

[oberliner]

227. Most of them just took over their predecessor's office

Which is what Max Rose did.

[Empowerer]

235. No. Most of them didn't take over their predecessors' office. They had to start from scratch like AO

But, unlike her, they managed to get their offices open on time.

The shutdown did not stop Representative Antonio Delgado from opening his first local office in Kingston, N.Y., within two weeks of taking office. Nor did it stop Anthony Brindisi, a freshman representative in upstate New York, from opening two offices.

[oberliner]

250. Yes, most of them did

In fact, I think all of them did in the five boroughs except for AOC because of the rent increase.

Knigston and Utica are not remotely similar situations to NYC.

[Empowerer]

251. Read the article

And trying to make geographical distinctions is ridiculous.

The simple facts are that she is the only freshman Member in the state (and apparently in the country) who doesn't have a district office open. And when confronted with the issue, she didn't say her circumstances were different than all the others. She didn't say she ran into a problem because she had to find new office space. She blamed her delay on the shutdown, which is not true.

It's not all that complicated, so your insistence on making excuses and exceptions for her fall flat

[oberliner]

252. Have you ever been to NYC?

The geographical distinction makes all the difference. She explains in detail the situation with respect to Jackson Heights.

Max Rose, whom the other poster cited, moved into Donovan's old office in Staten Island, which is the norm in NYC (and which is what AOC had hoped to do).

[Apollyonus]

149. One doesn't have to sign the lease to have an office

Any landlord would show spaces and keep them ready for the lease to be signed on January 3.

There is inefficiency and governance issues here that AOC's purity won't hide.

Best to accept the mistake and learn from it. Denying what happened or making lame excuses will hinder her growth into a great congresswoman she has the potential of becoming.

If someone wants to be a different kind of politician, fine ... then don't use denial, deflection and blame-shifting that ordinary politicians do.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

152. Yeah. Try again.

She’s having an office built out. No one swings a hammer till the lease is finalized.

I own a construction company that does commercial build outs.

Simply laughable.


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Office update/NYC Rent life: although we attempted to take over our predecessor’s lease, the landlord wanted to almost double rent (from ~$7.8k/mo to $15k/mo).<br><br>That spike would have meant less caseworkers for our community. Instead, we’re making a new space w/ a family business! <a href="https://t.co/PrM8E1v8wh">pic.twitter.com/PrM8E1v8wh</a></p>— Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@RepAOC) <a href="

Link to tweet

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Apollyonus]

154. Certainly, a temporary (month to month)

office could have been set up while the office was being constructed.

Also, it is not necessary to do special build-outs for a generic district office. Any commercial office could have been rented. It's not like she needed an MRI scanner, linear accelerator or clean rooms to require a whole new build out.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

162. Do you know what was available in an acceptable location at an acceptable rent?

No, you don’t. You have no idea.

Do you know any commercial landlords? They typically don’t want to tie up a building for something temporary. They typically want leases at the rent they want. This isn’t a basement one bedroom apartment.

We have a big issue here in Chicago with landlords that prefer to leave a storefront empty rather than take reduced rent. It doesn’t make sense to me. It’s becoming such a problem the city is talking about taxing empty storefronts.


Besides, they already have a temporary office. In Senator Gillibrand’s office. Or did you not read the article?

Why don’t you just admit this is a tempest in a teapot fueled by the headline and how it was misrepresented - not the facts actually laid out in the body of the article.

[Apollyonus]

164. One can rent month-month at only a slightly higher rate in most locales.

Even in San Francisco where office space is scarce.

Bronx would be easier.

I'll ask your questions back to you ....

Do you know that a month-to-month office was completely unavailable at a reasonable rent?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

165. I guess you missed the part about the previous landlord wanted double.

[Apollyonus]

166. A temporary office didn't have to be in the previous congressman's office

It could have been anywhere.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

168. You mean like Senator Gillibrand's office?

Read the damn article.

[Empowerer]

173. But the "damn article" doesn't say Gillibrand's office is AOC's temporary office

If you read the "damn article" you'd see that it says something very different. Her casework is being FORWARDED to Gillibrand's office and Gillibrand's office (i.e., staff) is helping AOC's staff out.

It's nice of Gillibrand to lend her staff and phones to AOC while she scrambles to get her stuff together. So much for "She don't need nuthin from those old establishment Democrats."

She DOES have a temporary office that her staff is working out of: new State Senator Biaggi's.

It seems like it takes a village to help AOC do her job in her district while she's busy doing her national stuff.

How much do you want to bet that if AOC had just asked, one of the oldtimers would have been happy to give her some guidance on how to get Congressional office open earlier than four months after her election (like everyone else in her class managed to do)? Or is that question too much like telling her she's a little girl who needs to sit down and shut up?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

196. So people in Biaggi's office, people in Gillibrand's office and an office in Washington.

Business is getting handled.

What was your beef again?

[Empowerer]

199. Why do these other offices need to handle her business?

Why doesn't she have an office, like every other Member managed to do without needing to have other offices step up and fill in for them?

I think I know why. Because she's special, right?

[sheshe2]

205. Well.

It seems like it takes a village to help AOC do her job in her district while she's busy doing her national stuff.

Interesting that we need a village to take care of her district while she is busy doing her national stuff. She was elected to serve her district..not the entire nation at this point in her tenure. As she grows her branches can widen and reach.

[Empowerer]

217. I'm really fascinated by the "So what if a U.S. Senator and a state legislator have to step in and

help her out because she didn't t get her office opened like everyone else" shrug from her supporters.

Isn't she supposed to be Ms-Go-It-Alone-and-Speak-the-Honest-Truth-to-Power-With-No-Fear who is so far ahead of everybody else she's gonna show them all how they're supposed to do the gig? But now here's a situation where she fell down on the job, failed to do what every other freshman Member managed to do without breaking a sweat, needed a veteran senator to help bail her out and then blamed it on a circumstance that demonstrably had absolutely nothing to do with it.

But it's the New York Times' fault for reporting it and anyone who mentions it is just out to get her?

[George II]

211. Outside the 14th District, not even in the same boroughs.

[melman]

160. "AOC's purity"

:

[Empowerer]

174. "I'm brand new to all of this and had no idea how much it took to set up an office!"

"I had so much on my plate and we got caught a little short. We had to do some scrambling, but I have a great team and wonderful colleagues who are helping out, so we haven't missed a beat and are totally taking care of business for the 14th!"

Over and done.

[Apollyonus]

180. Yeah ... some apology of that sort would go a long way

No one expects everyone to be perfect. Having flaws is human and that is how someone learns.

This was a relatively minor mistake and a prompt admission with an apology would have been better.

The problem is when one is portraying absolute purity, it becomes harder to admit a mistake.

I'm sure there is a great congresswoman in the making .. but some learning of basic stuff is warranted.

[Empowerer]

187. I'm really fascinated by how vociferously her fans swarm

If she were to say something like that, they would swoon with joy, so why doesn't she just own up to the screwup and move on.

It's really weird how she tried to duck responsibility by blaming the shutdown. Isn't she supposed to be fearlessly honest?

(I'll probably get slimed for saying that)

[melman]

189. "portraying absolute purity"

Nobody is doing that. As you certainly know.

[sharedvalues]

231. Yes! "A month or two not uncommon"

[Empowerer]

236. A month or two from their election, not from the date they're sworn in

And read what he also said:

No new leases could be signed before Jan. 3, but the office could begin making arrangements, Mr. Fitch said. “I’m pretty sure that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was not going to be beat in a general election. So I’m sure they had more time to plan,” he said.

How did the other Members, including the ones who, like AOC, didn't take over their predecessors' space, manage to get their offices up and running, but she's not open and has to rely on other legislators' to lend her space and staff resources? It sounds like she just wasn't paying attention to the nuts and bolts of her job.

[sharedvalues]

253. She is new to politics. You're spreading rightwing propaganda talking points.

Check back with us in March to see where she is at.

Also: I promise you that her district, which has huge numbers of working class Latinos, is PSYCHED about her.

What’s your agenda, criticizing her for little reason, anyway? Is it just coincidence that she’s an effective Democrat?

[sharedvalues]

254. Also the two posts you liked in last 90 days both attack Dems.

Attacking Biden, and AOC.

[Autumn]

12. She's been busy teaching social media skills to our older Reps.

She's got mad skillz on that .

[George II]

35. Isn't her job supposed to be Representative of the 14th District, serving her constituents?

[Autumn]

39. You don't like her doing it take it up with the House Democratic Policy and

Communications Committee. They asked her to do it, obviously they think she can do both.

While the class was for everyone, there’s no denying that, in and out of Washington, social media consumption and creation looks very different, depending on the age of the user.

“The older generation of members and senators is pretty clueless on the social media platforms. It’s pretty clear that a lot of members have 25-year-olds in their offices (running their social media),” Rep. Himes, 52, told Eliza Collins of USA Today.

“For younger members, they think of social media as every bit of an established form of communication as print or television or radio,” added Missouri Republican Josh Hawley, who, at 39, is a decade older than AOC, and also the youngest member of the Senate.

Hawley also acknowledged both the disconnect between today’s younger legislators and their elders, and the struggles faced by those elders when embracing tech. And those challenges cannot be ignored, because as AOC has freely demonstrated, social media is changing the way Americans connect with each other, including elected officials (or conversely, their constituents).

https://dailysoundandfury.com/ocasio-cortez-shares-record-breaking-social-media-skills-with-fellow-democrats-in-special-session/

[George II]

51. That seems to be your "go to" rationale, "take it up with Gillibrand", "take it up with...

House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee."

Unfortunately, being one of the poorest districts in New York, the people of the 14th can't "take it up with" anyone but their own Congressperson.

[Autumn]

61. You were the one who posted a complaint about her duties, do you find it upsetting that

House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee asked her to teach the social media class? Obviously they don't think it will prevent her from serving her constituents. Learning social media skills is very important. That's how most people, even older people connect. Politicians should too.

If you don't like my response to another poster, which prompted you to respond to my post which had links to prove my "rationale", then don't post to me, I don't seek out your posts to respond to you.

[George II]

65. That doesn't upset me at all, but I'm sure that Committee didn't tell anyone to stop doing...

...the job they were elected to do in order to help them out.

But this has nothing to do with the point of the OP.

[Autumn]

67. She hasn't stopped doing her job has she? Got any links to show she has stopped doing her job?

It has everything to do with the OP. Or is that just a point to be made so it looks like she's doing nothing but tweeting?

George II

That doesn't upset me at all, but I'm sure that Committee didn't tell anyone to stop doing...

...the job they were elected to do in order to help them out.

But this has nothing to do with the point of the OP.

[EffieBlack]

72. You're a straight up HOOT. One of her jobs is to open up and run a district Congressional office

Or do you mean, BESIDES that?!

[Autumn]

95. She will have it up and running when construction is done. Once again, in the article you posted.

Construction takes time, as I'm sure you know.

[EffieBlack]

97. Construction does take time and is very expensive

Why does she need to "construct" a new office? There's no office space in her district that she can move in to without having to start from scratch?

Or maybe the other Members who did manage to move into new space took all of the available offices in her district.

And can you explain why, if this is really the reason for her delay, she didn't just say that instead of blaming it on the shutdown?

[Autumn]

99. Again I refer to the article you posted, maybe some fine citizen gave her a break.

Unlike the guy Crowley rented from.

Office update/NYC Rent life: although we attempted to take over our predecessor’s lease, the landlord wanted to almost double rent (from ~$7.8k/mo to $15k/mo).
That spike would have meant less caseworkers for our community. Instead, we’re making a new space w/ a family business!

[Autumn]

102. Make sh$t up? WTF Effie, I made nothing up. It's from the article you posted.

EffieBlack (12,270 posts)

101. "Maybe" - but you don't know do you?

But continue to just make sh$t up - that works.

It doesn't answer my question, though, so I'll ask you again:

Why did she blame her delay on the furlough when the furlough had nothing to do with it? Was she lying? Did she not know what was going on with her office? Or was there another reason?

Since you seem to have the answers, surely you can answer this question.

Nice accusation.

[EffieBlack]

104. Where in the article does it say " some fine citizen gave her a break"?

Please cite it specifically, because apparently I missed that part in the story.

And, while you're at it, you can also answer my question: Why did Ocasio-Cortez blame the furlough for her delay in opening her office?

[Autumn]

106. Let me help you out I said "maybe".

may·be
/ˈmābē/Submit
adverb
1.
perhaps; possibly.
"maybe I won't go back"
synonyms: perhaps, possibly, conceivably, it could be (that), it is possible (that), for all one knows; More
noun
1.
a mere possibility or probability.
"no ifs, buts, or maybes"

She says it takes green stuff, I assume that means money but I'm no expert on setting up a congressional office. Can you prove that furlough didn't prevent her from getting things set up?

[EffieBlack]

109. I noted that

And "maybe" they didn't. "Maybe" she just was too distracted to focus on her district. "Maybe" "Maybe" "Maybe""

And, yes, I CAN prove the furlough hasn't prevented her from setting things up:

Let's start with the fact that every other new Member in her state - even those who, like her, had to find new office space - managed to get set up and, as far as we know, they are operating under the same furlough as she is.

And considering the furlough is still underway yet she is now setting up an office that she expects to open in March, apparently that furlough isn't preventing her from doing what she needs to do to set up an office. The furlough in place in December and January is the same furlough in place now - if the furlough stopped her then, it would be stopping her now. And what was the problem with getting things in place in the nearly two months she had between her election and the shutdown?


So, now that I've answered your question, answer mine. Why did she say the furlough prevented her from setting up her office when that is clearly not the case?

[Autumn]

112. That's about as much proof as the links you never posted proving that AOC's race was

won for her by other people like you claimed it was. If you want the answers to those questions you should ask her. You seem to be well connected enough since you have helped set up several other members offices that finding answers to your questions should be easy. Do post what you find out and let us all know what you find out. But I'm finding the conversation to be going in circles so I'm off to do other things.

EffieBlack (12,273 posts)

62. As someone who's helped several Members set up new offices, I can tell you it's embarrassingly slow
But I have a feeling that, minutes after that article posted, some priorities got shifted real fast and we're going to see a new 14th District office open long before March.

[EffieBlack]

113. Why did she blame her delay on the furlough?

[Autumn]

115. Again. You are free to ask her, I wouldn't presume to answer your question for her.

[EffieBlack]

120. That's funny. You were eager to presume to answer on her behalf

about being giving a break by a nice citizen with absolutely no basis for your speculation.

Why not do the same thing here and tell us what "may be" the reason she didn't tell the truth?

[Autumn]

125. I didn't presume to answer on her behalf about being giving a break by a nice citizen

I simply speculated on that when you brought up your concerns about the cost of constructing a new office when you have no idea what the agreement for the office is. A lot of what is posted here is speculation. You don't seem to have a problem with some speculation.

spec·u·la·tion
/ˌspekyəˈlāSH(ə n/Submit
noun
1.
the forming of a theory or conjecture without firm evidence.
"there has been widespread speculation that he plans to quit"
synonyms: conjecture, theorizing, hypothesizing, supposition, guesswork; More
2.
investment in stocks, property, or other ventures in the hope of gain but with the risk of loss.
"the company's move into property speculation"

[George II]

210. As noted in the excerpt in the OP and the article itself, no other representatives opening...

...new offices are having issues.

If there was no money available, who is paying for the renovations shown here:

Link to tweet

[Empowerer]

240. I'm cracking up at the posts defending her because "she's getting around to opening an office

and in the meantime other members are helping out and she'll have her own office eventually so what's the big deal?"

My cousin got really mad once when a black skater lost a competition, insisting that the only reason she lost was that the judges were racist. I told him, "It didn't have anything to do with race. She FELL! THREE TIMES!"

And he said, "So WHAT if she fell? What do they expect? Ice is SLIPPERY!"

Some of these posts sound just like my cousin.

[cwydro]

238. I can't help but wonder WHOSE family.

Someone is making a pretty penny, it would seem.

[George II]

224. Well, on three votes yesterday she voted against bills that the Democrats proposed....

....and sided with the republicans (the only Democrat to vote "No" ), thinking that the bills contained funding for ICE.

The only problem is that the bills did not funding for ICE! Part of "doing the job" is knowing what is in bills up for votes.

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2019/roll046.xml

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2019/roll047.xml

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2019/roll049.xml

[Voltaire2]

143. So is this the part of the Ocasio-Cortez bashing

thread of the day where nobody at all is telling her how to do her job, and nobody is suggesting that she shut up and behave?

[George II]

206. Correct. Where did you see that someone told/suggested that she shut up and behave?

And why are you following me from thread to thread?

[Voltaire2]

208. Lulzd.

[George II]

245. You can "lulz" as much as you want (btw, that's considered a derogatory reference to someone)....

...but that doesn't change anything.

[Voltaire2]

246. So it's better to use rofls?

Lulzd.

[George II]

247. You can use whatever you want. I've been here 14 years, never used either.

[Voltaire2]

248. Odd. Sort of a self referential contradiction

[tonedevil]

255. The post above you might be...

just unintentionally hilarious or it might be an interesting attempt at trolling. Either way I'm ROTFLMAO.

[Apollyonus]

155. That is not a part of her duties as an elected rep. n/t

[Autumn]

185. The House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee asked her to do it.

I imagine they know it's not a part of her duties as an elected rep.

https://dailysoundandfury.com/ocasio-cortez-shares-record-breaking-social-media-skills-with-fellow-democrats-in-special-session/

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

181. AOC sure does!! Mentoring your fellow Democrats takes time.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

11. How did that get skipped over in the copy and paste?

[Autumn]

13. The 4 paragraph rule maybe?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

14. Yeah, that's it.

[Autumn]

19. To make sure her constituents are NOT neglected and forgotten Senator Kirsten Gillibrand

is helping her out with the use of her office. That's very kind of her. That was in the article too.

[EffieBlack]

22. I wonder how these folks feel about having to step in and help her out with the basic duties of her

job because she hasn't yet found the time to do what every other new Member in her state has managed to do without any problem.

[Autumn]

27. Senator Gillibrand is very happy to help. New Yorkers like to stick together. Dems too.

That was in the article. I doubt they are doing the works of her and her staffers, just helping out. What a novel concept.

[George II]

37. Gillibrand's office isn't in the 14th District.

[Autumn]

40. I didn't say it was. Read the article and take your concerns up with them, or call Gillibrand

and express your outrage to her about her helping out AOC until her office is built.

[George II]

43. The 14th District is a very poor district, it takes time and money to travel into Manhattan.

Why would I express outrage to Kirsten Gillibrand? She has an office set up (a number of offices, in fact)

[George II]

28. How many of her 1.9 million followers live in the 14th Congressional District of New York....

....do you? It's not a matter if one wants to visit the office of their Congressperson.

[KPN]

88. +1.

Sad that folks like you have to defend blatant attacks on the young Congresswiman here at all. You do so admirably. Thank you.

I can only surmise what drives folks to constantly attack a rising young star.

[OilemFirchen]

176. I heard that she's hosting Fyre II on the date she opens her office.

1.9 million followers on Instagram?

[Autumn]

179. Fyre II? Is that a gaming thing? She joined a gaming livestream to talk about trans rights

Link to tweet

[OilemFirchen]

184. Uh huh.

It's a game.

[cwydro]

239. Google Fyre Festival, lol.

[Autumn]

241. Wow. Directed... towards a Democratic Congresswoman.

Disgusting. Thanks for the heads up about that and the poster.

[cwydro]

242. I wouldn't have suggested google except it's just too much for me to have put into a reply.

Both HULU and Netflix have documentaries on the Fyre fiasco right now. Interesting to watch.

McFarland is serving six years in prison now. Richly deserved.

[Autumn]

243. Thanks for the heads up and the information about it.

That's a nasty smear to imply a Democratic Congress woman is going to do something like that.

[cwydro]

244. It does seem a tad harsh.

McFarland is a total con man. Surprised he isn’t in the rump administration.

[sheshe2]

190. So.

Instagram is what it takes to make a Congresswoman?

Awesome!

Who knew?

1.9 million. How many of those are from her district?

I liked her and believed she had something.

[George II]

215. Instagram has no location requirement - they don't ask for city, state, or even COUNTRY.

What are the geographical demographics of those 1.9M respondents to that "poll"?

[Empowerer]

237. If I were a constituent, I'd be pretty pissed if my member took a poll asking non-constituents

whether they should focus their attention on their district. Even Crowley didn't insult his constituents like that.

[progressoid]

137. If I had pearls...

Last edited Wed Jan 23, 2019, 06:11 PM - Edit history (1)

[NurseJackie]

2. I wonder if her constituents are feeling a bit forgotten and neglected.

Last edited Wed Jan 23, 2019, 12:43 PM - Edit history (1)

[EffieBlack]

3. I found it particularly odd that a Member of Congress would take a poll, even an informal one

asking people - most of whom didn't vote for her and don't live in her district - whether she should focus on the concerns of her constituents or on national issues.

The good thing is that it is still very early in her term and she has plenty of time to fix this - and I'm sure that the NY Times piece is a great motivator since it's not only a national publication, it's her hometown paper.

[NurseJackie]

4. Agreed!

The good thing is that it is still very early in her term and she has plenty of time to fix this

Agreed! But it's a true statement when I say that not everyone learns from their mistakes, and not everyone is willing to accept advice from those who are older and more experienced.

All I'm saying is... I know which one I hope she'll be, but I can't guarantee that will be the case. I don't think anyone can make that guarantee. It's all up to her how she wants to be seen.

[George II]

41. Yes, a strangely worded poll, with an odd (online) group of respondents:

“Would you rather have a Congress member with an amazing local services office, or one that leads nationally on issues?” she queried her 1.9 million followers on Instagram — a number that is well over twice the population of her district. The results strongly favored national issues.

I wonder how many people in the 14th District even know what Instagram is? It's the 4th lowest income district (of 27 districts) per capita in New York State, with the 6th highest % of people below the poverty line.

I'm sure they have more important things to be concerned with than Instagram.

[Cha]

153. How about both?

Would that be hard?

[George II]

58. If every man, woman, and child in the district had an Instagram account....

....2/3 of the responses would have been from outside the district.

Too bad the poll didn't just include 14th District residents. I'm sure the result would have been much different.

[NurseJackie]

94. I believe the "poll" results would be different too.

Too bad the poll didn't just include 14th District residents. I'm sure the result would have been much different.

I believe the "poll" results would be different too. I think it's a fair question to ask what good reason does a "poll" like this serve? I'd be interested in finding out more about her thought process and why she believed it was important or appropriated to have this "poll". It's an honest question that deserves an honest answer.

[Cha]

167. It should have since it is her District.

[zipplewrath]

7. So she has one

Just not a permanent one.

In the meantime, her communications director Corbin Trent said, some of her staff were working out of the Bronx office of a newly elected state senator, Alessandra Biaggi.

I think I'll unclutch my pearls now.

[KG]

8. I was very concerned till I read that part.

[EffieBlack]

18. She doesn't have an office. Some of her staff are working out of a state senator's office

Her office won't open until March.

[George II]

25. Three quarters of 14th District constituents are in Queens.

[zipplewrath]

82. And I could walk there

My Rep's office is further away.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

78. Seriously!!

[George II]

223. Alessandra Biaggi has an office. It's in the Bronx.

[disillusioned73]

10. In other news....

NYTimes...

[KG]

29. grasping at anything to belittle an elected democrat.

[disillusioned73]

48. You know..

I'd say I'm disappointed in our trustworthy corporate media( sarcasm)... but, that bar has been lowered to the point that I expect this type of shite - especially against young, progressive Dems

[EffieBlack]

55. Yes. Stating a fact about an elected Democrat "belittles" them

Gotcha.

[KG]

56. I LOL'd

[EffieBlack]

63. Yes, I'm sure you did.

[Voltaire2]

141. Lulzd.

[fascisthunter]

194. Lol

[Ace Rothstein]

73. There are plenty of our own willing to go along with it as well.

I thought peddling right wing talking points isn't allowed here.

[NurseJackie]

119. Nobody is doing that.

[EffieBlack]

123. You mean a story about a Member not opening a district office isn't a right wing talking point?

[NurseJackie]

129. That's correct.

Legitimate questions are not "talking points" and deserve honest and straightforward answers. I think that's a reasonable expectation.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

79. LMFAO!!

[WeekiWater]

16. It's a tactic that will work for reelection.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=11684216

[George II]

21. How are her constituents going to be able to talk to her about their issues?

[EffieBlack]

24. Apparently, they're supposed to call Kirsten Gillibrand until AOC finally gets her phone turned on

[Autumn]

33. You should read the article you posted, that's not true at all. Her staff is working out of

Gillibrand's and Alessandra Biaggi's offices while her office is being built. They are not doing her work for her or her staff.

[EffieBlack]

42. That's not true and the article doesn't say that

Her staff is not working out of gillibrand xoffice and only some of her staff are working out of Biaggi's office.

According to the article and Ocasio- Cortez herself "Instead, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that constituents have been redirected to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s office since 'prior to our swearing-in,' and that she was thankful for 'continued assistance' from the senator’s office."

Nice to see Ocasio-Cortez acknowledge that she actually can use some assistance from her older, more established colleagues. I

[Autumn]

46. The tweet thanking Senator Gillibrand for the 'continued assistance' from the senator is way down

in the article you posted. Nowhere does it say that Gillibrand"s staff is answering her calls as you posted they were.

Thankful for her office’s continued assistance as we connect with those cases and sort out the large volume of requests we‘re receiving from in + outside the district!

Notice the we? The 'continued assistance' and the date? Jan 22?

[EffieBlack]

53. Oh, good Lord. Stop. You sound ridiculous

"Thankful for her office's continued assistance as we connect with those cases" does NOT say that her staff is working out of Gillibrand's office.

"Instead, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that constituents have been redirected to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s office since “prior to our swearing-in,” and that she was thankful for “continued assistance” from the senator’s office.""

[NurseJackie]

76. Gurrrrl... you rock!

[EffieBlack]

77. Thanks! Right back atcha!

I'm still waiting for an answer to my simple question . . .

If Ocasio-Cortez's failure to open up an office was because she wasn't able to use her predecessor's office (which didn't pose a problem for other Members in the same situation), why didn't she just SAY that when the question came up instead of blaming her delay on the shutdown, which it is now clear had nothing to do with it?

[NurseJackie]

87. Well, that's certainly a fair question that deserves a straightforward and honest response.

[Autumn]

121. Here's a simple answer to your simple question. You should contact her and ask her.

I would not presume to answer the questions you have about her as I'm not a confidant of hers.

[EffieBlack]

124. Nice try. But since you have no problem speculating all manner of things about her

despite not being on intimate terms with her, it's pretty clear you won't answer this particular question becausebecause even you can't come up with an answer that makes her appear to be practically perfect in every way

[Autumn]

126. I'm not interested in making her appear to be practically perfect in every way

and I am also not interested in demonizing a young Latina Congresswoman because her office isn't set up as soon as I expect it to be. If I lived in her district I might have a complaint but I don't so I have no complaints. Do you live in her district?

[NurseJackie]

34. Well, that doesn't seem like a very practical solution.

I hope you're kidding.

If so: HA! Ya got me! Good one!

If not: OMG!

[zipplewrath]

83. Call Washington

Same way I do.
Or they can go to the Bronx. I have to travel further to my rep.

[George II]

91. The 14th District is the 4th poorest district in New York....

....Round trip toll over the Whitestone Bridge is $17, if one has a car. Subway fare is $5.50 round trip, and almost three hours round trip. Calling Washington is a long distance call.

Not reasonable options for a relatively poor constituencies.

[zipplewrath]

93. As opposed to Appalachia?

How far do you suppose they have to go? And not just until March when the office opens.

And I can't tell you the number of people that ask me "what's long distance?".

[Ace Rothstein]

114. It is 2019. Nearly everyone, around 95% of the country, has a mobile phone.

The hand-wringing over this is absolutely one of the dumbest things I've seen on here about another Democrat.

[Empowerer]

193. Members' Washington office don't handle casework. When those calls come, they

forward them to the District Office for handling.

Oh, snap. There IS no District Office, is there? So they probably forward it to Sen. Gillibrand's office until AOC gets her office situation together because it takes a village to handle AOC's district business while she's busy doing something else.

[OilemFirchen]

183. Dollars to donuts that the "some of her staff" working out of Biaggi's office are all social media.

Hamiltons to donuts that her new glam office will have no more than two staffers for constituent services.

[Botany]

31. Fuck the NY Times

[BeyondGeography]

85. +1

and then some. Bullshit hit piece. Three weeks in and no office in the nabe yet? OMFG!!!

[Celerity]

131. +2

Must have a sub-contract with the Hill, Politico, etc. to help pick up slack for the shit-stirring.

Selective poutrage for added bonus points.

[Apollyonus]

157. I hope I don't see NY Times being called

"Fake News" on this site.

Too late I suppose.

[aidbo]

45. So very sad.

[doompatrol39]

47. These are all very good tactics....

..attempt to knock down and criticize a very popular, very engaging young, female Democrat who is bringing a lot of people into the political process. Only good things can come of this.

[David__77]

86. Beware of helpful "advice."

It is sometimes delivered by someone with dagger in hand.

[EffieBlack]

96. And sometimes it's just advice offered with no cruel ulterior motive

and those who are so paranoid and/or self-deluded that they believe any advice short of "just keep being you because you're awesome and have no room to improve and nothing to learn from anyone" is offered "with dagger in hand" usually find themselves very disappointed.

[Gothmog]

52. K&R

[EffieBlack]

59. Yes, how dare the New York Times report that a representative from New York hasn't set up a

district office yet. Those MEANIES!

Don't they know how awesome she is. She's the best thing ever to happen to the Democratic Party, so what difference does it make if she doesn't have an office and has to rely on establishment Democrats to help her serve her constituents until she finds the time to put her business in order.

[David__77]

89. There are definitely people who have very strong policy disagreements with her.

I'm glad that she's in Congress.

[DetlefK]

60. First the media drags her to the national stage and then the media complains about that.

Maybe those other Representatives weren't declared the new face of the Democratic Party?

Maybe those other Representatives weren't declared the new boogeyman of the Republican Party?

Maybe those other Representatives don't have to give a shit about being national news?

Maybe those other Representatives can go about their jobs without having to care about the million little things that have to be cared about when everybody in the country wants a slice of you?

[EffieBlack]

64. So now she's a victim being manipulated by the national media ...

and therefore she's unable to focus on representing her constituents.

Okaaay ...

[DetlefK]

70. I'm saying that she was thrust onto the national stage.

The media is obsessing over her, the Democrats are obsessing over her, the Republicans are obsessing over, way more than about fellow first-term Representatives. FFS... DU is obsessing over her!!!

Everybody is talking about her all the time. Every single word, tweet and post is put under a microscope and everyone wants her attention and is looking for her to fail.

So, Yes, being forced to be available all the time and perfect all the time, that might occupy a little bit of your time.

[EffieBlack]

71. Of course, she could just stop being available to the media all the time and focus on doing her job

No one is "forcing" her to be available or to do anything else. She's a grown-assed woman and is responsible for her own actions and decisions.

If you think she can't prioritize and manage her business, that's another issue.

[NurseJackie]

74. You make several excellent and valid points.

Everyone has different priorities, that's an undeniable fact. What's also undeniable is that a politicians actions and decisions reveal much more about his or her priorities than his or her words do. This is something that can be applied to ALL politicians.

[EffieBlack]

75. +100

[bigtree]

84. this is ridiculous

...nothing in the article or anywhere else evidences that AOC is spending so much time with the media that she's unable to do her job.

It's just bullshit. You don't have knowledge or evidence that supports any of it, so this is just another weak attack on the congresswoman. This is supposed to be in support of the party? The article is basically trolling AOC and you're helping them.

What really gets me about these anti-AOC folks who post here and elsewhere is they claim to be oh so concerned about the politics, oh so concerned about unity, oh so concerned about everything AOC is supposedly doing wrong, but are tone-deaf to their own ceaseless campaign against this woman.

This 'grown-assed woman' doesn't need advice from people who don't really support her. I know, I've read the feint praise of her, but this kind of nitpicking on this thread isn't support, it's a continuation of the primary campaign where a woman elected by the vast majority of her district is treated like she's the ward of her critics.

I'll tell you what was told AOC here repeatedly (without any awareness at all of what she was actually doing), stop attacking this Democrat and focus this ire and animus on the republican opposition.

[KG]

90. so much this

not sure how this is allowed here.

[EffieBlack]

98. I never made such a claim - I was responding to someone who did.

I'm saying that she was thrust onto the national stage ... Everybody is talking about her all the time. Every single word, tweet and post is put under a microscope and everyone wants her attention and is looking for her to fail.

So, Yes, being forced to be available all the time and perfect all the time, that might occupy a little bit of your time."

Perhaps you should direct your objection to the poster I was responding to since it was they, not I, who claimed that Ocasio-Cortez is too busy dealing with the media to do her job.

[bigtree]

103. you posted this crap article

...and you are all throughout the thread echoing the nonsense in the article, oh, so concerned.

And you did make that claim...

"...she could just stop being available to the media all the time and focus on doing her job

No one is "forcing" her to be available or to do anything else. She's a grown-assed woman and is responsible for her own actions and decisions."

[EffieBlack]

110. I wrote that in response someone who justified her not doing her job because the media "forced her"

to focus elsewhere.

Try to keep up.

[Cha]

148. +1

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

186. Hard to believe the NYT would stoop this low.

[NurseJackie]

100. Not true.

where a woman elected by the vast majority of her district

Not true. The actual numbers simply don't bear out that claim.

(without any awareness at all of what she was actually doing)

Also not true. I'm not an idiot.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

177. Pretty transparent if you ask me.

[SixString]

218. So true.

[Kurt V.]

81. get off my lawn.

[progressoid]

111. +1

Whippersnappers!

[KPN]

92. Lay. Off her folks. It's extremely unbecoming

and, as always, only serves to divide.

[2naSalit]

105. SQUIRREL!!

Quit bickering! Jesusfuckingchrist. She will certainly have an office up and running in due time. Get off the shit on Democrats bandwagon.

[Celerity]

130. yes!

[Farmer-Rick]

107. What is it with the NYT lately?

This is the 2nd article in 2 days to slam Democratic leadership.

But really folks do we care if she sets up her office quickly or slowly?

I still have my Christmas decorations up, am I basking in the lime light and ignoring people who depend on me? Maybe we should check her house and make sure she also took her Christmas decorations down. Priorities folks priorities.

[Renew Deal]

117. AOC is not in leadership

[Farmer-Rick]

136. Well, a case could be made that all House and Senate Representatives are NOT leaders but legislators

But I'm using the word loosely. I actually believe this country would be just fine without so called leaders. I'd rather have representatives.

[Renew Deal]

138. Leadership is a bit of a technical term

Speaker, Majority Leader, Minority Leader, Whip, Caucus Chair, etc.

[Farmer-Rick]

139. Oh, you are talking abut leader of the party

or leader in the House/Senate.

Yeah, there are those positional leaders too.

[Demit]

134. Lately?? I guess you missed their decades-long, anti-Hillary Clinton crusade

and all the "clouds" and "questions" that hung over her. It was blatant.

[Farmer-Rick]

135. Really? I kind of thought NYT endorsed Hillary....they did

By The Editorial Board
Sept. 24, 2016
"In any normal election year, we’d compare the two presidential candidates side by side on the issues. But this is not a normal election year. A comparison like that would be an empty exercise in a race where one candidate — our choice, Hillary Clinton —"
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/25/opinion/sunday/hillary-clinton-for-president.html

[Demit]

146. Yeah, now weigh that endorsement against the hundreds of inches of innuendo "reporting."

Of course they wouldn't be stupid enough to endorse Trump. But they were happy to discredit her with nothingburger stories that "raised questions" while stopping short of offering proof of any wrongdoing. It goes back to their coverage of Whitewater and other supposed scandals. The NYT wasn't the only media outlet to publish these pieces that made no clear accusations but left a definite impression of some kind of wrongdoing, but they were a prominent one.

[Gothmog]

108. Why no district office?

[Apollyonus]

158. I know huh? SMH n/t

[gtar100]

118. More bashing of a Democratic representative.

So sick of this shit. But people with money have an agenda. Others are triggered for their own reasons. Why is this showing up here if not to showcase what Democrats in general are having to deal with. Stuff no republican is challenged on by the republican-enablers in the media.

[Apollyonus]

159. Is anything in the story untrue? n/t

[TheBlackAdder]

122. JFC. I wish the needle would break on this record player. The same album played over and over.

[shanny]

127. Gatekeepers gotta gatekeep.

btw aren't there rules about fair use? 4 paragraphs or some such thing?

[pecosbob]

128. I'm not concerned

Perhaps the Times could be more concerned about somewhat more important matters, like delusional racists wandering about the city killing people of color with swords...

[DeminPennswoods]

133. A complete hit job by the NYT

AOC has repeatedly said, the latest time was during her appearance on Colbert's show, that the federal employees who help newly elected representatives set up district offices are currently furloughed. My guess is this stuff is handled by GSA (general services admin) an agency that's been closed by Trump's shutdown.

She has said she can't get computers and other gov't-issued equipment to open her offices (and neither can any other freshman rep).

I guess the Times is butthurt that she doesn't need them to get her message out.

Oh, and you know what? She has an office in DC that constituents can call.

[Apollyonus]

161. That has been debunked in this thread. Other freshman reps

have opened offices already on schedule.

[matt819]

156. Give it a fucking rest

She’s been in office for less than three weeks. NYT and naysayers: just stop.

[romainetarra]

171. I support Ocasio

Do we know if she's found and officially setup office space yet in NYC? We all want to showcase our support for her.

[Empowerer]

172. Be careful - this might be seen as a criticism of She Who Shall Not Be Questioned

[aikoaiko]

175. This is HUGE.

Not really.

[fascisthunter]

178. "Like... Oh My Gawd!"

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

182. THE HORROR!!!!!!

[BeckyDem]

188. I love how she rattles so many people on both sides. lol

So much concern.

[SMC22307]

192. AOC is attacked by Democrats on DU as much as by...

right-wingnuts on Twitter. Wonder why that is.

[Empowerer]

195. How is an article in her hometown paper about her not yet opening a district office

an "attack"?

Is there anything in the article that's not true?

Is the story unfair? Given how many people cited direct quotes from the article in her defense, it certainly seems like the story was pretty well balanced.

The story's not talking about whether she's rented an apartment or where she buys her clothes. Isn't a district office and it's operations directly related to her job as a Congresswoman?

Isn't she the one who beat the guy who got booted out of office because his constituents thought he had taken them for granted? Doesn't that make her attention to constituent services relevant?

Then what's the problem? How is this story an attack on AOC? see stories all over DU and the internet discussing these kinds of things about other politicians but rarely see the kind of swarming defense and criticisms of the motives behind the se story an "attack"? Why do stories about AOC provoke this kind of over-the-too response?

[melman]

200. You know the purpose of this thread

[Empowerer]

201. I don't know the purpose of this thread and neither do you since we're not mindreaders

I asked what is wrong with the New York Times story. Is anything in it false? Is it not relevant?

[melman]

203. I certainly do know the purpose

Don't need to be a mind reader. No, it's certainly not relevant.

[Empowerer]

204. Can you answer my question

What's wrong with the story? Is anything in it false? Is it inappropriate for a New York paper to cover a New York Congresswoman? Is the fact that a Congresswoman hasn't opened an office yet when all of her colleagues have irrelevant?

[melman]

207. No

I'm not going to do that because the article is not at all the point here. The article is merely a pretense for yet another bash thread.

[Empowerer]

209. Because you can't

At least you can't answer it honestly and maintain your position that this was a hit job.

[George II]

214. Bazinga!

[melman]

219. Is that my position?

Show me where I said that. Thanks.

[George II]

213. The OP is about a NY Times article. Period. Are you calling it "fake news"?

[melman]

216. What?

No idea what you're on about but I'd appreciate not having words put in my mouth. Thanks.

[George II]

212. Okay, tell us. Please?

[melman]

221. Why on earth would you expect me to play this game?

[George II]

222. "Game"?

[klook]

202. Ok, that does it. AOC must resign NOW.

[ellie]

220. Just no.

[beachbum bob]

228. she is too enamored with her new found celebruty status to take on being a Congresswoman.

First thing she needs to learn is just because a microphone is there, you don't have to say anything.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

249. You do realize she is mobilizing a lot of people

and getting them involved in politics through her social media campaign.

She's not fucking around with her opportunity to make change. One would think that would been as a good thing in Democratic circles. YMMV, I guess.

[Danmel]

229. She is in a pretty high need district

She really should at least have a staffed office to assist people. I've worked for a local elected official for 13 years. Constituent services drive the bus.

[cwydro]

230. Interesting.

Time will tell how this plays out.

[sharedvalues]

232. Hatchet job article. No K, no R

[Empowerer]

234. No R, but you definitely K'd

[Vinca]

233. I feel like I need a fainting couch.

From the article, it appears she's working on getting one open. Considering she's been in office less than a month it's surprising this warrants a thread that has more that 200 replies. Haven't we got bigger fish to fry?