On this day in 2018, 29-year-old New York progressive Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. Eight years on, she is seen as a potential senator – or presidential contender.
Good morning, friends! Prem here. Today I write to you with, admittedly, a bit of ire. I’d like to say I’m surprised – but I’m not – at how the corporate media machine immediately sprang into motion to deflate the momentum of what just happened in the midterm elections.
We are seeing a type of double, perhaps even triple, standard that is genuinely devoid of any logic or sensibility, other than the media’s final attempts to harden the conflation of Israel with Jewish people, and discipline the ascendant left by any means necessary.
It’s despicable stuff that I hope you read on for – because it’s only going to get worse.
Additionally, in today’s ‘First Draft,’ we cover the increasingly poor decisions of Defense Secretary and impeachment magnet Pete Hegseth, and a whole set of new and worrying developments in Donald Trump’s Iran war.
An Absurd Double Standard
“Do you believe that leaders have a responsibility to challenge the extremist views within their own religion – especially as you’re the first Muslim Senator of the United States?”
This is what Sara Haines of ‘The View’ asked Democratic Michigan Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed after his historic seven-point win over Republican Mike Rogers.
“What is your message, now that you won this election, to Jewish voters in the state of Michigan, and frankly, national voters who have been watching you very closely and want to know what you will do to protect them in this era of antisemitism?” asked MS NOW.
Immediately after being elected by the mandate of his state, the first Muslim senator in U.S. history, who faced perhaps one of the most racist campaigns in modern American politics, is facing questions that have a subtle yet pernicious implication.
Why would El-Sayed, specifically, have a responsibility to answer as to whether leaders should “challenge the extremist views within their own religion,” especially as he’s Muslim?
How often does the media ask Christian and Jewish politicians the same question, with regard to Christian nationalists or Jewish supremacists?