Top O' the Briefing
Happy Friday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. The Poodle Rodeo is held every evening immediately after "Self-Care for Hamstrings" in the Octagon of Irrationality.
Like it or not, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has staying power. Even those of us who count ourselves among her biggest detractors have known all along that she was going to be sticking around in Washington for a long time. AOC was a disruptive force among the House Democrats almost from the moment she was first sworn in back in 2019.
I think most conservatives were hoping that she would remain a burr under the saddle for the Dems, causing an amount of trouble that was greatly disproportionate to her power in the party. She could be a big deal in The Squad, but the adults in the Democratic Party would keep her at arm's length and not let her head get too big.
She didn't get the memo.
Is it time that we stop chuckling when we talk about her potential as the 2028 Democratic presidential nominee? Rick thinks so:
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) may be uninformed, poorly educated, and without scruples. But she's the frontrunner in some polls for the Democratic Party's 2028 presidential nomination and is well-positioned to ride the growing wave of radical-left energy now taking over the Democratic Party all the way to the top.
Getting past superficial profiles of her, AOC has many gifts and a jungle savviness about politics that makes her a formidable opponent for any Democrat who's been mentioned as a potential presidential candidate.
Her clownish social media gimmicks aside, this is a woman with a plan. And Republicans who underestimate her do so at the party's peril.
Mark Halperin, a veteran of several presidential campaigns, writes in The Free Press, "AOC boasts three indispensable factors for a successful presidential race: national name recognition, the capacity to raise tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, and insatiable media interest."
First, the grain of salt. A little over a month ago, Halperin was making the case for Bernie Sanders and predicating it on his belief that AOC wouldn't run in 2028, which Aaron covered. I treated that as a goofy thought experiment. He's probably more on target with this.
The "insatiable media interest" is AOC's gargantuan strength if she decides to take the big leap. While the flying monkeys in the mainstream media are incurious about any Dem's faux pas, they're positively charmed by everything that Squeaky gets monumentally wrong. The MSM hacks have an almost sexual lust for a female Democrat to break the presidential glass ceiling, so Ocasio-Cortez will have an even easier time with them than His High Holiness the Lightbringer Barack Obama did in the 2007-2008 primary cycle.
The success of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) candidates in elections and primaries this past year has elevated AOC from mouthy prog chick status to elder stateswoman of the DSA Stalin Youth village. She was a member of the DSA before anyone was mentioning the DSA. Less than two weeks ago, I led off the Briefing examining an attempt to sell AOC as a centrist voice of reason to counter the DSA loons who are newer to the scene. I wrote that, "I'm all for them heading into November trying to sell a narrative that says Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is whatever passes for a centrist over there."
Still am.
We've been relentlessly mocking the potential 2028 Dem field for a while now. It really is a lackluster circus that's heavy with white dudes who the Dems don't really want to have to resort to nominating. I wrote this in February:
When looking at the list of the likely potential Democratic nominees, America's Dumbest Bartender stands out with the most diversity cred. She's a good fundraiser, too. Her odds are going to start looking better as we get closer to 2028 and Democrats laugh Kamala Harris off the stage and hit Newsom with an oversized race card.
That was way back when Zohran Mamdani was the only other DSA member of note. They're all the rage in Dem Land now, and Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is practically royalty in that crowd.
In February, I wrote that she would be a dream candidate for the Republicans to run against, and I still believe that. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is most definitely a formidable politician within the confines of the Democratic Party. Getting elected in a Coastal Media Bubble™ D+19 urban district is a lot different than convincing flyover country that you should have the launch codes, however.
One thing that AOC keeps proving to everyone, though, is that she shouldn't be written off.
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The Mailbag of Magnificence
Our most prolific Friend of the Briefing, Sharon P., gets us going today:
Thanks, my friend, for your response to my mailbag madness! I got it as I diligently enjoyed all TMOM from your many faithful friends - TN Mark comments are on the mark; along with Jonathon S, I too find KDJ's musings spot on; and hope Sheryl V-R continues to find comfort in her daily visits to get through those trying traumas! To credit TMB with getting my frustrated, conservative juices exploding, while allowing me to comment on your astute observations on the game of politicking, is what I claim with great gratitude! I'm with you on so many 'What the ...?', and sure enough, another daily, disgusting, democrat dichotomy is taken to task by the credible Captain of TMB! Appreciate you being there for the hallowing horde! All hail, King Kruiser!
You will never feel ignored here, Sharon, even on days when I can't successfully follow wherever it is your stream-of-consciousness is running off to. Thank you for being part of the MB Faithful!
Jerome F. weighs in on my Iran musings:
Top of the evening! (Guessing you write the Briefing late at night) Your MB on what’s happening with Iran is spot on. I think the path to some level of success with Iran is more about the strategic game than actual combat. Our options to deal with the jerkwad terrorists running Iran is we either go in and take them out (which would be very messy and have long term negative consequences like Iraq) or do what Trump seems to be doing and set up a situation where that part of the world will step up and contribute to the demise of the Islamic regime. I like the latter because it opens the door for Iranians to take back their country and makes the surrounding countries have some skin in the game regarding stability in the region. We still need to have our military there, which is fine because they gotta be somewhere in the world. And blowing up a few of the jerkwads mentioned earlier is just a reminder to the rest of the world what us and our friends in Israel can do. Both are just another day for our brave and finest in uniform. Thoughts?
It may not be a common stance on either side of the aisle these days, but I'm still not worried that things seem to be plodding along at the moment. We're still shy of the six-month mark in this conflict and, as I wrote in April, "War Is Not a Single News Cycle Spectator Sport." If the UAE stands firm and keeps Iran isolated, that could be the real game-changer.
Our friend Paul S. writes:
Kruiser You nailed it, I agree with you almost 100%, except for one glaring comment. "I'm sure that many will say that the Dems have always lied about everything, but that's simplistic and just not true. If it were, I never would have talked to any of them". I guess I'm wondering what truth did democrats ever speak?
Please bear in mind that I have spent most of my adult life as a conservative in an industry dominated by Democrats. I'm not going to comb through 42 years of conversations to provide specific examples, although I could. At some point, I'd like to think that my overwhelming experience in the American political arena would be enough for regular readers of mine to believe that I know what I'm talking about.
Marlene B. joins the conversation:
I appreciate your What the Heck stance, with a little side of optimism. That’s where I’ll be today.
Yeah, I feel that I may be settling in there for a while. We can make it a safe space or something.
This is from OG Friend of the Briefing Brice:
As you've noticed it's extremely difficult to discuss the war with Iran without burning a lot of pixels. I pay close attention to the war and the most difficult thing is figuring out which "experts" to trust. That said... Even though Derek Hunter has several things wrong in his column he is spot on with his observation... "But mostly the problem is President Trump and his inability to shake his business mentality. He keeps thinking he can make some kind of a deal with those monsters. He can’t. They aren’t interested in one." The Art of the Deal mentality will never work with the mullahs and IRGC.
I'm pretty sure that President Donald Trump knew all along that no deal was possible. As I've written before, he had to go through the motions and exhaust diplomatic options. He now seems to have moved well past any ideas about hammering out an agreement. Heck, there are days when I think that the Memorandum of Understanding was just a set-up by Team Trump. Maybe, maybe not. We'll see how Iran handles its accelerated Soviet bread line era.
Roger R. will take us into the weekend with something that is not about politics:
BEER! Good Morning Kruiser, I believe you may be still avoiding fermented barley and hops to some degree but right or wrong ( I was soaking a line in Canada recently for over a week so may have missed a few things) Regardless I’ve been wanting to ask you a question about beer appreciation for a long time and today is THAT day. My bride and I spend several months in our motor coach in warmer climes than northern Wisconsin now that we are retired. One of our favorite pass times is visiting small independent breweries wherever we go . Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, and yes Arizona. We have a few “must stop” places that fit our travels well and some brews from other small breweries we collect when we can’t actually get to stop at some of them due to location. You’re from Tucson I believe. We have enjoyed some brews from Dragoon Brewing over the past 8 years but were never able to get to their tap room 2 years ago we spent several days in Tucson but we were not there when the tap room was open. 😕 All this just to say, thanks for the Briefing and the Mailbag, and to ask, do you have a favorite brew from Dragoon?
Dragoon's taproom keeps pretty short hours during the summertime. It's in the back of an industrial complex but quite nice inside. It's the only one of my favorite taprooms that is more than a mile from my house. It's a whopping 1.2 miles away. Dragoon's flagship IPA is probably my favorite Tucson beer. Ya gotta love your hops for it, though. Na zdrowie!
There were a LOT of great emails the last couple of days; I'm sorry I couldn't get to all of them. You crazy kids are the best!
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ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard passed away on Monday, leaving guitarist Billy Gibbons as the only surviving founding member of the band. I got to see them live once in the '80s, and it was fantastic. We're teeing up a three-fer today in honor of Beard. #RIP
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