A Sweet Gal With Traditional Values

I can unabashedly say that I've been a fan of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez since her arrival on the political scene.  I remember seeing her campaign ads on NYC subway platforms, and getting the impression that they could be advertisements for a television drama or romantic comedy about a young woman trying to make it in the big city (I'd say she's made it in two big cities).  She's smart, media savvy, and dedicated to her constituents, mainly working-class residents of the Bronx and Queens.  She's also a sweet girl who better embodies 'traditional values' than the Republicans who claim to espouse them... here she is giving up meat for the entirety of Lent to memorialize Representative Jaime Raskin's son:

Ok everyone, I need help!

A few weeks ago I told @RepRaskin that this year I wanted to adopt a vegetarian diet for Lent in memory of his son Tommy.

Jamie said, “Well you’d have to do it the way Tommy would, which means bring people along with you!” ☺️

So, I have 3 requests:

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 18, 2021

I'm tempted to join Twitter just to give her my falafel recipe, learned from a Coptic neighbor decades ago, and refined over the intervening years (protip: use a 50/50 blend of chickpeas and peeled fava beans). The responses to her post are so sweet and wholesome, she has a nice community of fans, many of whom appear to be fantastic cooks. It's weird how such a wholesome, caring woman could be porttayed as a Stalinist menace by a bunch of hypocritical faux-Christians. Even better, Representative Ocasio-Cortez has proved to be a more effective advocate for Texas residents than their own senators (I'm looking at Fled Cruz, in particular). While they have been AWOL or MIA, AOC has raised money for relief for beleaguered Texans:

Wow.

We officially raised $1 million for Texas relief at 9:17pm.

Thank you all so much. 🙏🏽 I’m at a loss for words. Always in awe of movement work.

💯% of this relief is going straight to Texan food assistance, homelessness relief, elder care, and more. https://t.co/DSkTSqfbkZ

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 19, 2021

She still had time to take the creep to the woodshed, in her typical 'raised in the internet age' fashion:

If Sen. Cruz had resigned back in January after helping gin up a violent insurrection that killed several people, he could’ve taken his vacation in peace. Texans should continue to demand his resignation.

But don’t blame me for this, my points are on Amtrak! 🚊 https://t.co/CAWCgtxQ73

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 18, 2021

Sure, 'Don't Mess With Texas', an anti-littering campaign slogan, has become a meme, but the real takeaway here is 'Don't Mess With the Bronx'.