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Ocasio-Cortez gets judged by an unfair standard

Ruben Navarrette Jr. on

SAN DIEGO -- It seems nearly everyone wants to give Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a scolding. But what we should really do is give her a break.

Much of the criticism is driven by fear. The worlds of media and politics are largely controlled by old white men, and a 29-year-old Puerto Rican congresswoman from New York doesn't check any of those boxes.

Some of it is fueled by jealousy. I can't think of another freshman member of Congress who was sought out for an interview by CBS' "60 Minutes" or who gets mobbed by tourists asking for selfies.

Whatever drives the backlash, it's obvious and undeniable that the political novice is being singled out for criticism and held to an unfair standard. Put simply, she's being picked on. Her most unforgivable sin? Standing up for herself, and hitting back whenever she gets punched -- by the right or the left.

In this divided country, conservatives and liberals finally have something they agree on: Ocasio-Cortez needs an education. Not just on the ways of Washington, but on the ways of the world.

The newly minted representative has barely unpacked her bags, or moved into her office. And already, they expect her to know the answer to every question the media hurls at her. Many of those questions are ridiculous, and some are even unfair. She is expected to have it all buttoned down, while many of her colleagues will maintain low profiles and keep their mouths shut for at least the first year they're in office.

 

Thank goodness, that's not Ocasio-Cortez's style. After 30 years of writing about politics, I'm burned out on politicians who talk for a living and still don't say a darned thing. The bartender-turned-lawmaker doesn't hold back. She spouts off.

And she takes heat for it. One minute, Fox News' Sean Hannity is blasting the lawmaker's "radical" ideas. The next, Whoopi Goldberg on "The View" is bristling at Ocasio-Cortez's criticism of establishment Democrats for compromising too much and is telling her to "sit still for a minute and learn the job."

Rest assured, folks. Ocasio-Cortez is getting an education all right. Just not the kind her critics intended.

For instance, if there is one thing that people of color eventually learn in life, it's this: White people are held to different standards.

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