Time for a Political Revolution in New York, Wisconsin, and Everywhere

Lessons from the Bronx and Queens for Wisconsin Dems.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is new face of Democratic Party.
(Scott Heins/Getty Images), (In These Times)

Madison, Wisconsin — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez just knocked off a leading corporatist House Democrat who did nothing for mass incarceration, social justice and human dignity during his tenure in Congress.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did not come out of nowhere.

But much of corporate media and the Democratic Party can't figure out what to make of the New York congressional primary results this week.

And if you think about it for even a minute, you'll see how incredibly condescending & dismissive is this now-widespread attempt to reduce @Ocasio2018 to nothing more than demographics and an aberrational district. She ran a highly ideological campaign vehemently critical of Dems

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 29, 2018

The Democratic Socialist, which is to say the FDR-Eisenhower-LBJ Socialist, Ocasio-Cortez came from the community.

One hopes Wisconsin Democrats electing a candidate to face Gov. Scott Walker (R) listen to the community as well. Not to the Molochian call for sacrifice to the police state, and character assassination of reformists, not to a small group of people in Madison oozing slime into the political terrain because they know what's best for voters who get to ratify their typically ill-considered decision.

Listen to the community.

Miles Kampf-Lassin reports on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez' win for the community, dumping the Democratic Party machine:

"Economic, social and racial dignity for working-class Americans, especially those in Queens and the Bronx. We were very clear about our message, we were very clear about our priorities and very clear about the fact that, even if you’ve never voted before, we are talking to you," (In These Times, quoting from MSNBC, Morning Joe).
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If Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were an unknown to most of the nation, she was well-known to readers of In These Times, a good and decent woman who wants to help.
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In Wisconsin, Caleb Frostman (D-Sturgeon Bay) won a special state Senate election earlier this month after Scott Walker and Republicans went to absurd lengths to block the election in the northeastern Wisconsin peninsula.

Frostman was sworn in yesterday in Sturgeon Bay. Here's what Frostman had to say.

From WLUK-TV (Green Bay):

I am ready to serve and represent the people of the 1st State Senate District and look forward to meeting with constituents across the six counties I now represent. Our shared values will guide me in my work as a State Senator, and I will fight every day to expand opportunities and help everyone in our area succeed. I look forward to hearing from community members and encourage everyone to reach out to me for assistance or to talk about how we can improve our local schools and roads, protect access to clean drinking water and our natural resources, and strengthen our local communities.

At the end of a bad two weeks for America leading into the mid-week holiday, Frostman and Ocasio-Cortez offer hope for old-fashioned democracy and decency.