Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said in an Instagram post that she and several other members of Congress were exploring the possibility of setting up a commission to “rein in” the media, whom she accuses of spreading “disinformation” in the lead-up to the Capitol attack.
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Since I don’t think she’s talking about stifling the New York Times or Washington Post, I wonder who she has in mind to “rein in”?
This was the same Instagram interview in which she admitted that she feared for her life during the Capitol attack, so it’s not surprising that the media would ignore her suggestion for censorship and lead with her life being in danger.
But her suggestion that the United States Congress needs to form a commission to rein in the news media has gone largely unreported,
23, 2021; A Trump supporter who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 threatened on social media to assassinate Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that day and also threatened the Capitol Police. Published Thu, Jan 28 2021 12:39 PM EST Updated Thu. In response, Ocasio-Cortez said that Cruz 'almost had me murdered 3 weeks ago so you can sit this one out,' and called on him to resign.
There’s absolutely a commission that’s being discussed but it seems to be more investigating in style rather than truth and reconciliation.
[…]
I do think that several members of Congress in some of my discussions have brought up media literacy because that is part of what happened here.
Here’s our “expert” on media literacy.
I don’t want to hear these coup-supporting GOP talk about “blue lives” ever again.
They never cared about safety.
Never cared about “law & order.”
And certainly do not care for democracy.
They only care for power, & invited chaos in an effort seize it. They are unfit to serve. pic.twitter.com/3XOVOZEolY
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 13, 2021
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How easily could a government commission become a censorship board?
We’re going to have to figure out how we rein in our media environment so you can’t just spew disinformation and misinformation.
It’s one thing to have differentiating opinions, but it’s another thing entirely to just say things that are false, so that’s something that we’re looking into.
What is “disinformation”? What is “misinformation”? What is “false”? What AOC is ignoring is that her “truth” might not be the same as your “truth.” And she wants a government commission to “investigate” which is which?
As a practical matter, we can already envision from “lived experienced” — as a progressive might say — how sanctioning the state to adjudicate the veracity of journalism can be abused.
We need only point to our media “factcheckers,” journalists with political and ideological biases who have regularly, and arbitrarily, labeled completely debatable contentions as falsehoods, while either ignoring or justifying scores of other unsettled contentions. Are these the arbiters of facts who will be manning the government commission appointed by those storied truthtellers in congress?
A recent example was the suppressing of the New York Post’s blockbuster story of Hunter Biden’s business deals and whether or not Joe Biden, as vice president, profited from them. An alliance of Big Tech and left-wing media made sure that either the story was suppressed or “debunked” by “fact-checkers.”
No doubt AOC’s “commission” would help facilitate bringing to heel the conservative media. I don’t know about you, but I’d almost prefer a “truth and reconciliation commission” to a media star-chamber.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Wants to Liberate Red States From Their Suppression
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday expressed solidarity with roughly 1,400 essential workers at the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Market in the Bronx, several of whom were arrested earlier this week while striking for hazard pay and better healthcare benefits during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
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'Essential workers should not have to go on strike for decent pay, and no worker should be threatened for exercising their constitutional rights,' said Sanders, a democratic socialist from Vermont.
Sanders added that he supports the union-led effort, which seeks to raise wages by $1 per hour and secure improved benefits for those who work at the largest produce market in the world and have sacrificed to continue providing most of the fruits and vegetables consumed in the New York City region.
Essential workers should not have to go on strike for decent pay, and no worker should be threatened for exercising their constitutional rights.
I strongly support Hunts Point Market @Teamsters strikers in their struggle for justice. https://t.co/FhsgvxCGYO
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 20, 2021
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Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat who represents a congressional district that includes parts of the Bronx as well as Queens, also endorsed the strike.
She shared information about how to contribute moral or financial support to Teamsters Joint Council 16, which represents 120,000 employees in 27 locals, including the striking workers who are members of Local 202.
See you there! #HuntsPointStrikehttps://t.co/f6LuseM6Ya
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 20, 2021
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On strike since Saturday, six workers on the union's peaceful picket line were arrested between Monday night and Tuesday morning for blocking traffic.
'If you live in New York and had produce during the pandemic, odds are that's because of these workers,' journalist Alex Press tweeted on Tuesday night. After having risked their health to feed millions of people throughout the pandemic, Press noted, 'they deserve the city's solidarity, and it's a disgrace that any of them were arrested.'
if you live in New York and had produce during the pandemic, odds are that’s because of these workers—the majority of NYC’s produce passes through Hunts Point. they deserve the city’s solidarity, and it’s a disgrace that any of them were arrested https://t.co/dKYVqDtWnY
— Alex Press (@alexnpress) January 19, 2021
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Daniel Kane Jr., president of Teamsters Local 202, also condemned the arrests. 'It is outrageous that after being called essential heroes for months, several of our members were arrested while peacefully protesting for a raise today,' Kane said Tuesday in a statement.
'These are the essential workers who went to work every day through the worst of the pandemic to feed New York,' he continued. 'All they are asking for is a dollar-an-hour raise so they can feed their families, too. The fact that they were arrested on Martin Luther King Day reminds us what side of history we are on.'
'They can use riot cops to get trucks into the market, but the workers they need to unload the trucks are still on the picket line,' the union leader added. 'We will stay on strike until these employers pay their workers the essential wage they deserve.'
In a video recorded earlier this week by a local CBS News channel, Kane said that 'it's not good enough just to clap for them, and say they're essential. When they ask for a decent raise, a fair number, they should be told, 'Yes you can have that, and thank you.'
Watch: