Explaining Another Mystery
In my last essay I discussed the strange case of Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez. In that piece I focused on the surprising political ascendancy of young woman that appeared so completely bereft of common sense. What was the key to her success? It certainly wasn’t her articulation of a reasoned and coherent policy platform. It certainly did not appear to be an intuitive grasp of the issues. Neither did it seem that she was an erudite student of either politics or history. What was it then? Was it her pretty face? Was it her charismatic personality? Was it her enthusiasm for politics?
None of these things, I’m afraid. While attractive looks, charisma and enthusiasm are indisputably important traits in a political hopeful, none of these, nor all of them together, appeared, in my mind, to be cogent enough explanations for the political success of someone who was so blatantly clueless. I puzzled over this enigma for some time. Recently a reader (thanks PB) forwarded a video to me that presented the only plausible explanation I have yet to run across. As explained in more detail in my essay yesterday (Explaining A Mystery, 3/11/19) the surprising explanation was that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez was, in essence, an actress recruited, groomed, prepped and scripted by a number of clever radical (but, apparently, much less charismatic) leftists that belong to a group that calls itself “Justice Democrats”. I concluded that essay with a video presentation on this theme by a political blogger that posts video essays under the nom de guerre, “Mr Regan”. If the reader has yet to watch the actual video I would hardily recommend it, as the author makes a very strong case (with a surprising number of video quotes from Justice Democrats themselves) for this rather bizarre and unlikely, but none-the-less true, state of affairs.
Upon further reflection on the enigma of Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, it dawned on me that the “scripted” narrative explains another mystery regarding this woman: her apparent IQ.
As part of my initial research on her, I watched numerous YouTube video clips of her interviews on CNN, Fox and other networks. After watching 20 or so of them, I came away with the rock solid impression that she was stupid. Obviously stupid. Painfully stupid. I was surprised to learn, therefore, that she had actually gone to college and graduated, and that it was a reputable school (Boston University). And, not only had she graduated, she did so suma cum laude. Now, as a bachelor of science and doctoral diplomat myself, such an achievement is not lost on me. I am quite sure, accordingly, that her academic resumé is incompatible with actually BEING stupid. In my mind, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez MUST NOT, ACTUALLY be as intellectually challenged as she appears. SO, why DOES she sound like such a lightweight when off script in interviews? Hard to explain, isn’t it? Something again just didn’t seem to fit. Another mystery.
Then, upon further reflection, the answer dawned on me: the reason that she fails, again and again, to cogently defend her “positions” is quite simple: her “positions” are NOT REALLY HER POSITIONS. The reason she’s so inept at defending them is that she DIDN’T ACTUALLY THINK THEM. Indubitably, she MUST be given scripts of her so-called positions by her handlers. And, apparently, she’s quite good at memorizing them (because she is, in fact, smart) but not quite as good at fully assimilating them. So, when these scripts are challenged logically in an interview forum, the poor thing CAN’T defend them well because they don’t flow from her own thinking. Mystery number two solved.