YOUNG AND FEARLESS — The Weekly Opine

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jasmine Crockett and Maxwell Frost are not playing around with MAGA idiocy. (Photos credit National Review, Fox News, ABC News)

Ready for prime time

Today, we open by paying homage to three young Democrats taking the lead and showing the rest of the party what it means to fiercely stand up to Trump’s fascism. Certainly, Democrats of all ages push back against MAGA Republican cruelty. These three Dems are among the leading voices in the struggle to save our democracy. They carry an unmistakable edge that’s beginning to permeate within their party.

They represent a youthful movement as diverse as America itself: New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost are ones to watch as patriotic citizens combat America’s unfortunate move toward authoritarianism.

Seemingly having been on the scene for a decade, AOC has only been in Congress since 2019 and is just 35 years old. Having outgrown her initial immaturity, when she was part of The Squad, AOC is now a force to be reckoned with. She and Bernie Sanders draw huge crowds at townhalls in MAGA districts as they rally citizens to fight back against Trump-Musk initiatives that threaten our way of life. By 2028, expect AOC to have a prominent role as Dems try to win back the White House.

Crockett was elected to Congress in 2023 and, at 44 years old, combines the quick wit of a stand-up improv comic with the intelligence of a shrewd trial lawyer. (Not surprising since Crockett has a law degree). Crockett is unafraid of MAGA bullies such as Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Like a lumberjill chopping down trees, Crockett uses her intelligence to dismantle MTG’s stupidity during meetings of the House Subcommittee on DOGE. Crockett’s takedowns of MTG have become legendary.

The youthful, 28-year-old Frost also joined Congress in 2023, becoming the first member of Generation Z to be elected to Congress. Frost serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. Frost already demonstrated courage when he visited the notorious prison in El Salvador searching for answers pertaining to the illegal deportation of Abrego Garcia. A regular on cable news, Frost is to the 2020’s what young John Lewis was to the 1960s.

This is not discounting contributions to the resistance from Democrats like Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Jamie Raskin, and Melanie Stansbury among others. Recently, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries ratcheted up the heat, too. Jeffries said the blustering fraudster Trump got “punked” by China when the clown president backed down from his massive tariff, without extracting meaningful concessions from China.

Still, the voices of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jasmine Crockett, and Maxwell Frost signal it’s a new day in the fight against repressive, MAGA fascism.

Following threats by the Department of Homeland Security to arrest Democrat members of Congress, AOC served up a warning: “You lay a finger on any [Democrat] Representatives… we’re going to have a problem.” Several weeks ago, AOC dismissed threats from Border Czar Tom Homan, telling the bully “Come for me.” Crockett, responding to Gov. Greg Abbott’s cruelty against Texans, hilariously referred to Abbott as “Hot Wheels.” (Sorry, but considering the meanness Abbott inflicts on the powerless, I find Crockett’s barb funny.) Clearly, AOC, Crockett and Frost are not afraid of the big bad wolf.

PUH-lease go away

Meanwhile, Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi hang around like guests who refuse to leave a dinner party, asking for sparkling water when there is no more champagne. Biden damages his legacy every time he opens his mouth, unaware his talking should have occurred last spring (i.e., interviews, weekly fireside chats, roadshow rallies) to tout his positive economic accomplishments. Biden’s failure to broadly, and emphatically, toot his administration’s achievements left the door open for liars – Fox News hosts and Trump – to distort what was truthfully a solid Biden administration performance.

Pelosi’s inner circle chirps that Minority Leader Jeffries does not consult with Pelosi. To that I ask, why would he? Pelosi (channeling hapless former Attorney General Merrick Garland) delayed impeaching Trump until the clock had almost run out, leaving not enough time for onboarding the American people as to Trump’s treasonous acts. Among those who enabled Trump to avoid accountability, Pelosi, Garland and former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell quickly come to mind, as does the conflicted, near-worthless Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, now the worst Supreme Court Chief Justice in history.

Jim Jones and Trump. If it looks, talks and acts like a cult it probably is a cult. (Photos credit BBC, AP News)

What did they think would happen?

The wealthy business community is upset and surprised (how can they be surprised?) by Trump’s behavior. For example, Trump supporter Ken Griffin, a billionaire investor and CEO of Citadel, says with disgust that “crony capitalism is already happening.” Meanwhile, Trump’s low-and-middle income folks are upset and surprised (how can they be surprised?) because they are paying more, as inexpensive imports become expensive thanks to Trump’s numbskull tariffs.

MAGA podcasters lament the dim-wittedness of what Trump and Musk have wrought. Among other complaints, like tariffs and screwing up the FAA, Looney Laura Loomer, Ben Shapiro and Mark Levin deride Trump’s willingness to accept a $400 million airplane. They argue that would hinder efforts to shed foreigners from holding sway on college campuses.

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow asked a most relevant question this week: Is there a constituency that wanted to lose Medicaid, Social Security or SNAP benefits so that billionaires could get a massive tax cut? Are there really people who voted for Trump so RFK Jr. could unleash a measles outbreak across America? Show us the constituency that voted for Trump because they wanted to pay thousands of dollars more due to tariffs.

Bellwether retailer Walmart just announced fiscal Q1 results. Income dropped from $5.1 billion last year to $4.5 billion this year. And the company says consumers are likely to see tariff-induced price increases next month. (Isn’t this GREAT?)

If you think higher prices = great, well, be my guest. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Trump supporters voted for a stronger border. They voted to stop what they misguidedly call “woke” policies. But they did not vote for Trump to accept a $400 million gift jet from Hamas-supporting officials in Qatar. Conservatives did not vote for Elon Musk to destroy government institutions - like the Food and Drug Administration, National Institute of Health and the Federal Aviation Administration - that make America function and keep us safe.

A staunch Trump supporter, Black rapper Azealia Banks admits she made a big mistake, calling the Trump presidency “an absolute disaster.” Banks also said, “It’s time everyone who voted for Trump admit we made a f-----g mistake.”

Anybody with a brain can see the UK tariff is a bad deal for Americans. Those not blinded by Trump’s pathological lying can see the China tariff is a bad deal for Americans. Even conservative economists like the Manhattan Institute’s Jennifer Riedl say Trump’s policies “make little sense.”

Now, it’s becoming increasingly apparent to Trump voters, at least those outside the Jonestown-like MAGA cult, that Trump is a bad deal for Americans.