Who Could've Possibly Predicted That Goops Would Punk Dems on Infrastructure?

[wellst0nev0ter]

Link to tweet

Remember, AOC is a fellow Dem. No bashing her.

[drray23]

1. everybody did.

which is why we have this two track strategy. Biden made it clear he won't sign a bipartisan bill if the reconciliation bill which has all is not passed first. So did Nancy Pelosi.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

3. What are you talking about?

Democratic leaders are fools, the only people who know the truth are angry Internet randos!
/s

[wryter2000]

47. Thanks for the sarcasm tag

I was about to blow a gasket. You've described the angry internet randos perfectly, and they're in this thread in force.

[mcar]

2. Once again, attacking Democrats instead of Republicans

Lather, rinse, repeat.

[wellst0nev0ter]

5. Read the tweet again

AOC was ONLY attacking the goops, like the rest of us should.

[StarfishSaver]

7. No. This is an attack on Democrats

suggesting that they are naive and got played by Republicans. A common smear from some people on our side (even in this thread).

[wellst0nev0ter]

12. So We Can't Attack The Goops

Without some people on our side feeling that they are attacked themselves??

Do you see anything wrong with this picture?

[StarfishSaver]

16. I do see something wrong with this picture.

I can also read.

[wellst0nev0ter]

17. Good, then you can read that AOC wasn't attacking Dems

Just the goops. You should be doing the same.

[StarfishSaver]

18. You don't know what "punk" means, do you?

[gab13by13]

25. In all fairness

I don't think he's a lawyer so terminology can get tricky.

PS/ AOC was not attacking Dems, it was pellucidly clear to me.

[wellst0nev0ter]

34. Punking people is bad

The goops are the ones doing the punking.

You know whom that reflects badly on?

*Biden whispers* The goops.

[EarlG]

41. Yeah but that's not what she said

I don’t see her ridiculing Dems in that tweet. “Punking” was your language, and it’s a much more negative interpretation of her words than what she actually wrote, IMO.

[StarfishSaver]

46. Saying someone "got punked" is an insult

And the fact that so many people in this thread saw it that way and used the OP and AOC's tweet as a jumping off point to talk about how ineffective they think the Democrats are is further proof.

[wellst0nev0ter]

73. Be angry at the goops

not the messenger

[StarfishSaver]

74. I'm not angry. Just observant.

[wellst0nev0ter]

77. No, actually be angry. At the goops.

[SidDithers]

85. You're the messnger here...

You used the term "punked".

AOC isn't attacking Dems. You are.

Sid

[wellst0nev0ter]

86. Yes, I am the messenger

Now be angry that the goops are being a bunch of rats, yet again.

[EarlG]

20. Not sure I see it

She said a) Republicans have wasted Democrats’ time, b) Republicans have negotiated in bad faith, c) Republicans have reneged on a bipartisan agreement, d) Republicans have made mercurial demands.

“Who could have possibly predicted…” is a sarcastic turn of phrase meaning “Everybody could see this coming,” which is true, because we all saw it coming.

I don’t see her making a comment on the merits of the Dem strategy — merely pointing out that Republicans are full of shit and everybody knows it. In fact it seems to me that this is actually PART of the strategy — wait for Republicans to renege, which we all knew they would, and then trash them for it.

Just my 2c…

[Viz]

37. Yes indeed, agree wholeheartedly with your analysis.

Her message is a perfect complement to the Biden/Pelosi/ Schumer strategy. It amplifies the Republican nefarious actions in a way that bolsters the Democratic position to now go forward without them. it is called a 1-2 punch.

[ShazzieB]

88. I agree.

I can kinda sorta see why some here felt there was an implied insult to the Dems, but I don't think that was AOC's intent.

[c-rational]

55. +1

[George II]

66. "Who could have possibly predicted..." is a sarcastic turn of phrase meaning.....

.....“Everybody could see this coming,” implying that Democrats were too gullible and went along with it or weren't smart enough to recognize it. It's knocking Democrats' negotiation strategy.

That's how I see it and apparently others in this discussion see it.

[ChubbyStar]

71. I am pretty sure Earl G knows what the expression means n/t

[EarlG]

72. I understand what you're saying, but

Where’s the implication? It was the OP who said that she said Democrats were getting punked — I don’t read her tweet as saying that at all. She’s trashing the Republicans for negotiating in bad faith, just as we all knew they would.

I thought the strategy was to keep pushing the Republicans to negotiate — demonstrate that Democrats are willing to be bipartisan — and then when the Republicans renege or negotiate in bad faith, call them out on it and then go it alone.

Isn’t she actively participating in that strategy by calling out the Republicans at this point?

[George II]

76. That's the way I see it too. Looking at it objectively it's obvious.

[mcar]

43. I read it fine the first time, thanks

AOC is attacking Democrats. Lather, rinse, repeat.

[brush]

53. You need to take the word "punked" out of your OP headline. That's your word not AOC's.

You're causing trouble with your interpretation of what she said.

[George II]

58. It's an attack on Democrats, implying that they don't know how/can't/are gullible in negotiations.

I trust my Democratic House and Senate Leadership and President at times like this. They've proven over and over again that they know what they're doing.

[GoodRaisin]

91. It seems to me this tweet can be taken in more than one way.

Just move on with both bills like we intended and see where it lands. What other options are there? What other options did we ever have?

[StarfishSaver]

4. If only President Biden, Leader Schumer, and Speaker Pelosi were as savvy as AOC

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

8. We still had to make them an offer

Now that they've refused we can tell them to go fuck themselves.

[StarfishSaver]

11. Tell that to AOC

She seems to think they should be using a different approach to this - although she hasn't said what that is.

[gab13by13]

26. Where did she say that?

[George II]

61. She never does. I was told more than 50 years ago, "if you're going to criticize or complain about..

....the way something is being done, you'd better have at least a suggestion of how else to do it better."

We have too many willing to complain without offering an alternative.

[PortTack]

65. +1000!! I for one get really tired of it

[kacekwl]

33. Let me know

when that is said. I've been waiting to hear it.

[wryter2000]

48. Exactly

They have to back out of their own "bipartisan" agreement. They're the ones who got played.

[George II]

60. Exactly. It's happened like this a couple of times already this year, and Biden has said over and...

...over again. If we can't do it with them we'll do it without them.

I honestly think that there's a plan, or a plot, to undo the filibuster and make it look like the republicans did it. But it has to be done correctly to get the most PR out of it.

[paleotn]

30. Pelosi?

https://www.businessinsider.com/progressives-bipartisan-infrastructure-reconciliation-bill-together-pelosi-wyden-biden-2021-6

[wryter2000]

49. That's exactly what the Dems re proposing

They only get the "bipartisan" bill if they agree not to block the other bill.

[paleotn]

67. They'll block the other bill.

McConnel can't let the Dems have anything. So, in my mind, the reconciliation bill gets modified to include the infrastructure pieces of the bipartisan bill McConnel will kill + a means to fund them. We get everything we wanted in reconciliation and the Republicans go "tax and spend! tax and spend!" which is all they ever wanted. Only this time, "tax and spend!" won't play too well when Americans see and feel the good sense of the Dem's proposals.

[wryter2000]

75. Bingo!

And the people are thrilled with all the good in the bill.

[Gore1FL]

63. True, but that isn't wat she was saying. nt

[bdamomma]

6. AOC

knows what she is talking about. Don't except the GQP to do anything constructive for the American people. I only wish we could rid ourselves of these bastards.

[StarfishSaver]

10. Yes. She knows more than President Biden and the leadership about how this should be done

Funny, though - If she knows better than they do how this should be handled, why hasn't she stepped up and gotten involved in any of the negotiations or pronounced any alternative solution for getting any of these bills through the House and Senate.

Tweeting's easy. Getting things done is hard.

[pnwmom]

23. Rereading her tweet, AOC isn't the one who used the word "punked."

I'm wondering if she is possibly helping to set this up from the left. If the R's do reneg, that would give Manchin and Sinema an excuse to vote to end the filibuster, since bipartisanship is no longer possible.

[StarfishSaver]

44. The whole "Who would have guessed ... Especially after the 1/6 commission" tone

speaks for itself, especially knowing things she's said previously.

This is clearly a swipe at the Dems.

[paleotn]

28. Granted, but that doesn't mean she's wrong on this.

There's no way this side of hades that McConnel and other Senate Republicans will ever let anything pass Congress that benefits Joe Biden or the Dems. No matter what they say, it ain't gonna happen. Thus, Pelosi's demand for a parallel reconciliation bill containing the care-economy measures, that could quickly be expanded to include Republican killed infrastructure initiatives and an actual, viable mechanism to pay for it all.

[wryter2000]

50. Of course, she knows more than Pelosi and Biden

She got herself elected in a heavily Democratic district, didn't she?

[George II]

70. She has declared more than once that Democrats need new leadership. No recommendations....

....on who they may be, but just "new".

[jalan48]

9. Careful AOC, you'll upset the cheerleaders.

[wellst0nev0ter]

13. Yeah you can see it coming

at least in her thread

[BannonsLiver]

14. Meh

2/10

[Bettie]

15. Hopefully, after they get kicked in the teeth enough times

those who cling to the filibuster will come around and be willing to, at very least, carve some stuff out.

Or get rid of it.

Maybe this is a plan to have them show what asses they are... I hope so, because never getting anything more done is not a good look.

[Treefrog]

19. "Goops?"

[wellst0nev0ter]

35. The word has been used here since the founding of DU

[JoeOtterbein]

21. I've said it many times before. I'll say it again. AOC is still....

...smarter than 99% of the men in DC, and 100% smarter of the republics!

[BannonsLiver]

54. "100 percent smarter of the republics"

[paleotn]

22. Good. I didn't like the bill anyway.

That's why Pelosi demands a plan B ready to rock-n-roll when the Repukes inevitably scuttle the bipartisan "camel" bill.

[brush]

24. Which is why Biden and Schumer are insisting on the two track route...reconciliation and Manchin...

and Sinema's precious but Quixotic bipartisan route/dream. Why doesn't AOC see that? Maybe she should sleep on her tweets criticizing Dems before hitting the send button.

[tavernier]

31. She sees that.

She’s just being sarcastic and pointing out the obvious.

[dianaredwing]

81. And they are all talking to one another

AOC is not a rebel. She is pragmatic and will discuss whatever with the powers that be before 'tweeting.' It is the off the wall idiots who tweet without thinkinging. I would imagine that everyone was aware of what she was going to say before said it. That is the way that efficient parties work.

[Rebl2]

27. Oh wow

I am so surprised-NOT🤬. Democrats, including Biden, have wasted precious time dealing with these idiots. Enough!!!

[WA-03 Democrat]

57. Your right!

We had more than enough votes to get the $4b plan done!

Checks math…sorry we have a supper skinny majority in both chambers, and some senators are trying to appeal to the common good.

Is bringing broadband to the middle of Kansas Sen. Moran so controversial but he has to waiver at this point? The stimulus bill, many republicans took credit for but voted against it. It directly benefits their constituents.

[tavernier]

29. Quite sure she is just pointing out the obvious...

It was set up this way because we all knew they would back out once their game came to an end. They just thought Biden, Schumer and Pelosi would drop the part two of the bill, based on their Republican “word” to negotiate honestly.

[Dawson Leery]

32. Dems should pass the entire project (with tax hikes on the top) through reconciliation.

The conservative yet again is showing their deceptive nature. They will string along their opponents until it's too late. Then they reneg on their deal.

[gab13by13]

38. Yes that is the plan

has been the plan all along. How are Dems going to do that? They need to secure 50 Democratic Senate votes. AOC is making the point to the few Senate Democrats who believe that the GQP will compromise, that they in fact will not.

This criticism of AOC serves no useful purpose but to divide Democrats. Maybe centrist Democrats are upset that president Biden ran in the primary as a centrist but is governing as a progressive?

[StarfishSaver]

52. "This criticism of AOC serves no useful purpose but to divide Democrats."

But maligning the motives of "centrist Democrats" is just fine.

Gotcha ...

[WA-03 Democrat]

62. An interview with AOC

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview published Monday that Democrats nationwide can cultivate “too big of a tent,” asserting that she and her party’s 2020 frontrunner, former Vice President Joe Biden, would be in different political parties in any other nation.

Asked for a profile by New York Magazine about what role she might play as a member of Congress should Biden capture the White House, the freshman House Democrat from New York responded with a groan.

“Oh God,” she said. “In any other country, Joe Biden and I would not be in the same party, but in America, we are.”

“I will be damned if the same politicians who refused to act then are going to try to come back today and say we need to find a middle-of-the-road approach to save our lives. That is too much for me,” Ocasio-Cortez said, after Reuters had reported that Biden was crafting a “middle ground approach” to combating the global threat.

For his part, Biden has praised Ocasio-Cortez and other members of the left-leaning “squad” of freshman congresswomen as “brilliant” and “really smart,” but warned their political ideology was not representative of most elected Democrats.

“They are the exception rather than the rule,” he told MSNBC in July. “If you listen to the guys and women in your business, they say, ‘That’s the majority of people who got elected.’ We need that kind of energy, but that’s not the majority of Democrats who got elected last time.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/06/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-joe-biden-not-same-party-094642

All or nothing-sound good to every one?

Wow, social media makes for poor politics😱

[gab13by13]

36. AOC is actually pushing the only realistic strategy that can work.

Did any AOC detractors ever think 1 or 2 moves ahead? Maybe AOC is talking to a couple of Democratic Senators, ehh?

The Tweet to me is directed at Manchin and Sinema. Her entire point is that the GQP can't be trusted, will not compromise, are only working to obstruct everything that Democrats propose. Now, with that said, what is the next logical step for Democrats, you bet, go it alone.

Thank you AOC for making this pellucidly clear.

To the AOC detractors I ask this simple question, what would your strategy be to get 50 Democratic Senators to vote for an infrastructure bill that is wanted by president Biden and Speaker Pelosi? What is your strategy for convincing 50 Democratic Senators to exclude the fiibuster for election bills?

[StarfishSaver]

68. What "strategy" is she pushing?

FYI, "Get tougher," "don't negotiate" and "go it alone" aren't strategies. They're slogans.

So, what specific "strategy" do you believe AOC pushing and how exactly will that lead to success?

[WA-03 Democrat]

69. I believe her "strategy"

Is just Tweeter likes because it drives reaction. She a populist and wants to talk to her people. You don’t need plans if your a populist. Just ask Trump

[Eyeball_Kid]

39. Why bash AOC? What? For sport???

AOC is right on the money. She's not addressing the reconciliation bill, and that's okay. It's not about reconciliation in her post. It's about the GOP lying AGAIN. That's what she's writing about.

[ChrisF1961]

83. Unfortunately

There are some who are triggered by an intelligent woman of color. They show up in most threads about AOC to spin every thing she says as negativity as possible.

[jalan48]

90. I think the reason many here on DU are triggered by AOC is not because she is a woman of color

but rather because she upset powerful 20 year Congressman Joe Crowley in 2018. He had been endorsed by almost all of the Democratic establishment while AOC on the other hand had been an organizer for the Sanders campaign in 2016.

[ChrisF1961]

92. So it's because

the woman of color defeated the white man.

[jalan48]

93. No-it's because a Bernie Sanders organizer beat an establishment Democrat. There was and still are

bad feelings between Bernie and Hillary supporters here on DU. It has nothing to do with race in this case.

[ChrisF1961]

94. Maybe

that is a part of it. But only a small part.

[DENVERPOPS]

40. All I can think of

Is Lucy, time and time again, pulling the football as Charlie Brown starts to kick it ????????

[dlk]

42. Rebpublicans negotiating in bad faith is entirely predictable

No surprises there. Republicans' number one goal is to block any significant Democratic progress or success, no matter how beneficial for the country. Moran has quite an ego when he believes his support warrants the defection of two Democratic senators against their own party.

[wryter2000]

45. Um

I think Nancy and the Dems pulled a switch on the R's by tying the two bills together. They thought they'd get a "bipartisan" bill to their credit, along with bragging rights, but they only win if they let the second bill through. The Dems say that wasn't a secret, but I didn't remember it. So, either we get both or we put them back together and pass them with reconciliation. We need all 50 Dems to do it, bit I think we've proved we can be "bipartisan."

[stillcool]

56. but of course. There's a long game afoot

I am pleased as punch that they let it play out this way. There is no way any Democrat can have any excuse for voting against the best opportunity they now have for voting for the big one. Republicans had the ball in their court and they choked.

[Bristlecone]

59. Definitely running out our clock.

The GOP is good faithless and shameless. Dems would have better success negotiating with a wooden fence.

[Orrex]

64. Those GOP fuckers have nothing to gain from bipartisanship

It is disappointing to see promising policy initiatives fail due to futile efforts at reconciliation and compromise.

[Passenger]

79. No bashing AOC -- I'm a big fan -- but ...

Really now. Of course they did.

[questionseverything]

80. Aoc is great

Out of 79 responses I only see 30

[patphil]

82. Screw the Repugs, proceed without them.

The possibility of bipartisan agreements is just a tool they use to delay Democrats. They never actually intend to cooperate at any level, unless it is a total capitulation by the Democrats.

[jaxexpat]

84. To those who enjoy the privilege to go off on AOC, cease your actions.

There is a reason the GQP goons love to hate her. She sees straight and talks straight. It's unusual to the untrained ear. T'would be nice to get used to it. "Friendly" and "fire" are not supposed to be sequential words in a sane society.

[StClone]

87. Do you understand this Thread?

I sure must be opaque. Because I read where AOC is stating a fact about Republicans, but contrarily it is clear to many here she is actually sneak attacking Dems!?! I think I may leave DU for a while. Really, I have left for years at a time when my awareness is not sufficient to make coherence of what is abundantly clear to the best of the poster here. AOC does not deserve this crap.

[jaxexpat]

89. Huh?

I think I do understand the thread. My intention was to condemn criticism of OAC by Democrats. I felt that some were confused. Maybe some were thinking that this was a special occasion, when it would be okay to jump on her public statements with negativity. From what I've seen of her with her clever and, I think, genuine sincerity, I think it would behoove Democrats to try a little introspection if she touches a nerve.

Perhaps they're trying to curry favor with people who think they're patriots because they claim to be "anti-socialist" and other even dumber stuff.

I went back and reread the whole thread. Came away with three things:
1. Some people drink more than others on a typical Saturday PM.
2. There are some "argument addicted" folks on this website. For them, an argument is a terrible thing to lose. Such is addiction.
3. There might be trolls in these woods. For them it's like a chess game played with words, the point being to generally pervert and obfuscate the integrity of communication for fun. The old bon mot trick.

[StClone]

95. Thanks for the reply-we agree

This OP should have been closed looking back at it: They are attacking a true DEMOCRAT (AOC) which is not allowed under DU rules. AOC is a lot more than a brave, smart voice for many. She is an inspiration to a lot of young women, and many who are not white.

My opening query "do you understand this post?" was a rhetorical question to DUers in general. I was uttered frustrated that some long-time posters were interpreting what AOC TWEETED as snarky towards Dems.

My best!