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The house is on fire. There is slow combustion that is beginning to consume the walls and bend the supporting columns; some people are juggling to try to put out the fire and keep it from collapsing, however, others have decided to destroy everything, hitting those who are trying to rebuild from behind, and pouring more gas on the fire. If they are going to govern, let it be in ashes, that is what the little dictator has determined.
In both parties — Democrat and Republican — there are characters with an incendiary discourse, there are already irreconcilable differences, and it seems difficult to make peace; however, they agree with the laws, and respect the institutions — although they do it with great suspicion — and maintain a certain composure to prevent everything from collapsing. This last rule has an exception: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
The nation is going through the most polarized stage since arguably the Civil War, Democrats and Republicans live in completely different realities, the former in the world created by CNN where a young and vigorous Biden is seen; the latter, bewitched by Trump, they use insults, they detest each other, but they use our institutions to settle conflicts. I make an exception again: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, neither respects the rules nor is she interested in appearing to do so. She directly hits the institutions, pushes to impeach judges and change the rules of Congress so that things can be done as she pleases, asks to harass senators and congressmen, and calls on mobs to protest in front of the homes of public officials. The nation is on fire and she seems to enjoy the fire, she wants the whole country in a bonfire and to rule over ashes.
The dangerous thing about Ocasio-Cortez is that she is barely a congresswoman and she already wants to destroy the system, she is attacking members of her own party and institutions, if she goes any further, God knows what could happen.
In her fantasy world, or in her absurdly deranged mind, it is her “constitutional” duty to call for the dismissal of Supreme Court justices who rule against her cases. For her, it is legitimate that, if what she considers right is not done, that person should be dismissed.
For the little dictator, ending the filibuster and changing the rules of the game to enforce her will is not enough either, we must end it all, and she writes it, as if she had only 7 followers on Twitter and managed an anonymous account. We have to end it all “for the sake of the planet,” she assures.
The unhinged mind of the little dictator
The New York congresswoman is insistent and reticent in her agenda, she does not hide it, she openly says that the Supreme Court must be expanded, enough so that her party can do whatever it wants with the institution; she also calls for ending the filibuster, to the same end, and basically, she believes that the separation of powers must be buried and the state — as long as it is in the hands of her party — must have absolute power over the people.
But don’t worry, it’s not all bad. She is doing all this because she wants to take care of the planet and allow women to have abortions, actually, if you think about it, it is not so terrible, she says it herself if everything has to be destroyed, go ahead, it is for the good of the planet; since, according to her, we are in the presence of a judicial coup. Because of course, judges who make a decision based on the Constitution and not on partisan agendas, are traitors against the homeland, and therefore, the president must restrain those evil judges.
Excuse me, did I mention Ocasio-Cortez’s sympathy for dictators like Nicolás Maduro? Did you know that members of her political group “Democratic Socialists of America” traveled to Venezuela to embrace the tyrant in Caracas and wash his face? And, furthermore, when Cubans protested for their freedom on the island, the socialist kept absolute silence and then blamed Cuba’s problems on the U.S. “embargo”?
The little dictator is not interested in truth, data, democratic rules, or respecting institutions, nor does she care, as she claims, about bringing down the whole country, if that allows her to continue with her political agenda. The danger of these little tyrannies is that their discourse, in addition to radicalizing the Democratic Party’s voting base, forces the Biden administration to assume the same positions under threat of turning its electorate against it. It is a fire that is growing and increasingly difficult to control.
Alexandria’s tactics have worked, now, Biden himself criticized abroad a Supreme Court ruling in the middle of an international summit with the leaders of other countries. Imagine the embarrassment, of a President of the United States speaking ill of his country’s institutions in front of his political partners and leaders of the free world. What image is the United States reflecting abroad?
Ocasio-Cortez, the little dictator, is one of those problems that democratic republics must face in order to survive, it is a challenge, either the system — the voters — will remove her from power, or her power will consume the institutions, peace and democracy of the country.
Those of us who, despite our differences, want to continue living in a country of order, law and institutions, have the duty to denounce these characters and alert the population to be vigilant, for as the father of this great nation, John Adams, said: “Liberty once lost is lost forever.”
Emmanuel Rincón is a lawyer, writer, novelist and essayist. He has won several international literary awards. He is Editor-at-large at El American // Emmanuel Rincón es abogado, escritor, novelista y ensayista. Ganador de diversos premios literarios internacionales. Es editor-at-large en El American