NYT: Leave Britney, er, AOC Alone!

They did the meme. They really did the meme. 

For those who don’t recall, here’s the short version of the 2007 video rant that reached meme status during the peak of controversy around Britney Spears. I won’t subject readers to the long version, but it’s on YouTube if your masochism knows no bounds:

Nearly twenty years later, the New York Times has decided to offer the same kind of defense for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose own intellectual meltdown in Munich matches the emotional breakdown in the original video. Ocasio-Cortez went to the Munich Security Conference to establish her bona fides for Democrat Party leadership. Instead, in a series of gaffes and fumbles, AOC demonstrated that she had no grasp of foreign policy, history, geography, and even biology … and even demonstrated that her “Democratic socialism” is just a tired rehash of failed policies. 

The phrase tour de farce barely covers the damage. Now comes the Gray Lady to scold conservatives for, er, noticing Ocasio-Cortez’ complete failure on the world stage, because … well, just because (via Twitchy):

It was the most prominent foreign trip to date by the progressive New York congresswoman, who had mostly focused on domestic priorities until now. Her remarks last week about addressing working-class concerns around the globe, and the reception from world leaders, were both eagerly awaited and highly scrutinized.

But rather than the substance of her arguments, it was her on-camera stumbles when answering questions about specific world affairs that rocketed around conservative social media and drove plenty of the discussion about her visit, as political observers speculated whether they would make a dent in a potential presidential run in 2028.

The most notable instance was when she was asked whether the United States should send troops to aid Taiwan if China invaded the island. She stalled for roughly 20 seconds before offering a response that reflected the United States’ longtime policy of strategic ambiguity.

The way her performance was microscopically dissected through the lens of what it meant for a hypothetical White House campaign frustrated Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, 36. She said she worried that her message — warning that wealthy world leaders must better provide for their working classes or risk their countries sliding toward authoritarianism — was being lost in all the commotion.

“The substance of her arguments”? Ocasio-Cortez argued that the US attacked Venezuela because it is “below the equator” when it is entirely above the equator. NYT ‘reporter’ Kellen Browning mentions this a grand total of one time. She lectured Marco Rubio on the origins of cowboy culture and got it entirely wrong, which Browning doesn’t mention at all. Browning also doesn’t mention AOC’s weird “whiteness” TED Talk to Germans either. Instead, Browning tries to shrug off these faceplants as just verbal typos rather than an exposure of Ocasio-Cortez’ utter vapidity:

Still, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s missteps were striking for a politician who is usually quick on her feet and is considered one of the best communicators in politics. In addition to the answer on Taiwan, critics highlighted comments referring to the “Trans-Pacific Partnership” (she clarified online that she meant Atlantic) and suggesting that Venezuela was below the Equator (the country lies just to the north).

Considered “one of the best communicators in politics”? By whom? The sequence on Taiwan alone makes that claim entirely laughable. Browning’s attempt to paint that as “strategic ambiguity” rather than “bartender vacuity” ignores Matt Whitaker’s coherent follow-up that contrasted sharply with Ocasio-Cortez’ misfiring cortex. 

This reads more like a PR flack’s defense than a news report. The New York Times sees itself as AOC’s damage control team. And that’s pretty amazing, considering that the New York Times itself raised expectations for Ocasio-Cortez in anticipation that the Munich Security Conference would provide her a boost as a world leader and thinker less than two weeks ago. Kellen Browning co-wrote this PR fantasy too, along with Reid Epstein, who should know better:

Seven years after she swept into office as a progressive agitator unafraid to hammer fellow Democrats, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has emerged as an increasingly sought-after leader within the party she set out to disrupt.

She has positioned herself as a top antagonist of Vice President JD Vance, a potential heir to President Trump’s political movement, sparring with him on social media. …

Next week, she plans to expand her progressive pitch to foreign policy, by speaking at the Munich Security Conference in her most significant overseas trip since taking office, according to Mike Casca, her chief of staff. There, she is expected to present a left-wing alternative to Mr. Trump’s shoot-from-the-hip approach to world affairs.

Bwa-hahahahaha. “Shoot from the hip” beats “shoot yourself in the lip” any day, even if one believes that description of Trump’s foreign policy. The NYT went on at length in this pre-Munich profile to extol AOC’s communication style, her grip on the issues, her finger on the pulse of American populism, and her qualities as a rising leader in the Democrat Party. The only thing missing in this planned PR push by the Times was the Annie Liebovitz photo spread that usually accompanies these efforts from the “news media” when they want to sell an empty head as a political prodigy. 

Translation: AOC didn’t just show up at Munich. She and her team prepared for it as a launch for her national and global ambitions, even getting the NYT to fluff her for it. Ocasio-Cortez flopped in every single phase of the mission. And now, the NYT wants us all to trust them when they discuss AOC’s brilliance instead of our lying ears and eyes, which sounds very similar to the way that the NYT and the rest of the Protection Racket Media covered Joe Biden’s dementia while in office, and for that matter, Kamala Harris’ incoherence during the 2024 election cycle.

At least Ocasio-Cortez has an excuse: she’s an idiot. Browning and the New York Times have no excuses for selling out for AOC. We see them very clearly now as well.

The latest episode of The Ed Morrissey Show podcast is now up! Today’s show features:

•  Marco Rubio wowed Europe with his speech at the Munich Security Conference. But did he say anything different than J.D. Vance did a couple of weeks ago? 
• Andrew Malcolm and I speculate on a good cop/bad cop dynamic from the Trump administration when it comes to Europe and NATO. We also weigh in on the speculative analysis and conspiracy theorizing over Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance. 
• Andrew takes a sharp look at Capitol Hill retirements, and we both share memories of the late, great Robert Duvall.  

The Ed Morrissey Show is now a fully downloadable and streamable show at  Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the TEMS Podcast YouTube channel, and on Rumble and our own in-house portal at the #TEMS page!

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