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The quote used to be, “All they had to do was stop acting crazy”; now it is “If they would just stop talking…”

It has been a fascinating, amazing week to behold. Beginning last week, the Democrats in Washington sparked an internal civil war, with skirmishes taking place between various factions of the party, from Nancy Pelosi, the Black Caucus and, at the center of it all, the freshman clan of pot-stirrers.

As the press continues to give the AOC/Omar/Tlaib/Pressley group all kinds of credit and affectionate nicknames, they really have, through their behavior, earned the moniker The Suicide Squad. The amount of credit they are given with the sheer amount of disaster they cause is proportional. It is also hilarious. By last weekend, the Democrats were in such disarray the only real pair of challenges for anyone outside of the party was where to look, and do I have enough Reddenbacher’s on hand?

While the likes of the Suicide Squad gets airplay, and as a result generates reactions, my position has long been to let them have their airtime. When it comes to the initial traction their comments may seem to have, what inevitably happens is something they abhor — reality. Once their positions have been digested they have not been beneficial. Sure, an AOC tweet or an Ilhan Omar soundbite on the sycophantic news nets may generate initial heat, but they actually end up leaving a burn mark by the end of the news cycle. They always suffer once common sense and logic become applied.

The Impetuous of The United States

So when the recent infighting erupted over on the Democrat bench, I just chuckled and remained silent, imploring others to do the same. This is the party that has been hailed as the answer since the midterm elections and, ever since, they have accomplished nothing of significance. They have resembled a millennial who has won a car on a game show, but because it is a manual stick shift they cannot operate it, nor even get the garage door open.

Going into last weekend, it was a delicious time to watch politics. The Dems had warring tribes breaking out, and the weekend pundits struggled with how not to report on the squabbling, or how to spin once forced to give coverage. All the GOP had to do was keep their mouths shut and hit the RECORD button, for fundraising sake. Silence was golden but the President, who uses gold as a towel rack, could not shut up.

He delivered the now infamous batch of tweets calling out the Drab Four, and just like that, the miracle of a Democrat nuclear core meltdown seemed to dissipate. The tweetstorm galvanized the Dems, and they suspended their food fight to all unite in their hatred of the President. “That’s racist” became the battle cry, and we who are right of center ordered another round — in fact just leave the bottle. A massive opportunity seemed lost to the official Twitter Account With Tourettes. But then something unsurprising took place; the Dems managed to take the opportunity and toss it right on top of a tire fire. The real surprise is just how quickly they mangled things.

On Monday, as the press and social media went into upheaval, the Suicide Squad called a press conference for late in the day. The intention was to specifically address Donald Trump, which is already a massive error. Look at the whole reason you ladies were upset; it was over his comments where he essentially said you were insignificant. But your little petulant presser is really going to register with the man?

As per their track record, the Suicide Squad delivered as expected. It opened with Ayanna Pressley stating flatly that the Democrats should not take the bait the President had lain for them. Next, her fellow members — AOC, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib — stepped up to the mic and in turn and promptly consumed Donald Trump’s bait within moments. The ladies were mewling over the President’s words (in defiance of all of the tough-girl descriptions we have been force-fed), complaining about racism (a tough lecture to swallow from a proven anti-Semite) and then Rashida came up with her forceful message — they will now push forward with impeachment proceedings!

And just like that, the Democrats went directly back to the internecine bout within the party. Nancy Pelosi has exhibited a rare dose of wisdom in being very strident in her opposing moves for impeachment. The public has no interest in it, and certainly internal polling shows this. The problem is that for all the praise the Ocasio-Cortez faction gets for their social media dexterity, they are not savvy enough to realize their digital traction does not amount to nearly as much in the brick and mortar reality we live in.

Falling for the Clickbait

Sure, the rabid sugar gliders in AOC’s digital bubble are in loud chorus for his removal, but the public overall has no taste for it. And that is where the Suicide Squad makes its biggest, and very consistent errors. They operate based on the reactions they receive in their media accounts, feeling imbued with a firsthand knowledge to which the crotchety veterans in Washington are not privy. Hey, that Tweet of mine got 5,000 likes and RTs — this has to become policy…NOW!

But that 5K strong “army” in your personal feed is not enough to move the needle on the House floor. Consider how many of those 5K are not ardently supporting but are underage, from foreign countries, are repeating it for the opposition, or are sharing it ironically, and suddenly that astroturf movement is not large enough to fill the stands at a weekend T-ball tournament.

The result is these newcomers feel they have more influence than exists, bolstered by a fawning press corps that refuses to cover them objectively. They are operating with an inflated sense of import that is not supported by a mandate. Look at the polls that showed how AOC and Ilhan Omar only have a 50% recognition among voters, and lowly approval numbers that are 22%, and 9% respectively.

These metrics reveal support that fails to convey power. Those are not the kind of numbers that get your legislation passed in the House of Representatives; they are not even the kind of numbers to get a STOP sign installed with a city commission. But this is what the Democrats are stuck with as their mouthpieces. They, as a party, pushed these fresh faces to the front of the class, and after months of badgering critics with charges of sexism and racism these four are now cemented as the figureheads.

After effectively demanding they be respected as the new leaders of the party The Democrats are realizing what they have done, and the infighting is the result. They have the Suicide Squad on their watch, and they have proven to be ineffectual. And Trump is loving it, all while the migraines mount for Pelosi and the party leaders. So I will continue to do little to combat their narratives, because look at the results when they are permitted to glom the microphones.

At this pace they will all be 1%-ers by year’s end.

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