It's a shame that more young people these days don't know much about the Soviet Union. If they did, they'd get a fascinating and instructive look at what socialism - communism - can bring on a nation. Us older Cold War folks remember the images from inside the Soviet Union in those days; the lines of bedraggled people, wearing gray, baggy, ill-fitting clothing, standing in line for hours for the monthly potato ration and maybe a half-liter of vodka to drown their many sorrows.
We also remember hearing of the Party elites, with their private stores full of Western merchandise and foodstuffs, with their Zil limousines and their dachas in the woods outside Moscow. It was a hideously unbalanced system, with those same Party elites justifying their privileges in a manner that would have socialist Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) nodding in agreement: "We're important."
Obviously New York's socialist communist mayor-elect, the self-described "democratic socialist" Zohran Mamdani, thinks he's important too. He's jetting off for a "conference" at a luxury hotel in Puerto Rico, only days after winning the election.
An Empire State Republican is criticizing New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani for his attendance at a conference in Puerto Rico, days after winning his race and during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
"If Zohran Mamdani is truly serious about helping working families, he wouldn’t be jetting off to a luxury resort the moment he wins an election," Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., first told Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital confirmed that Mamdani is expected to travel to the 2025 SOMOS Conference in Puerto Rico on Thursday.
Mamdani is attending a cocktail reception on Thursday hosted by New York's Democrat Attorney General Letitia James per a schedule of the visit obtained by Fox News Digital.
He's already been asking supporters for money, to fund the mayoral transition. How much more he will ask remains to be seen, but apparently asking some of the key people in the city to stay in the city is not going to go over well, because boy, howdy, the exodus has already begun.
Read More: And So It Begins: Big Resignation in NYC Just Hours After Mamdani's Win
The Incredibly Ironic Request Mamdani Has of His 'Working People' Supporters
Here's where he's going:
The annual SOMOS conference acts as a policy summit for New York officials and others in the state's political sphere. Both Republicans and Democrats have been known to attend.
This year, the event is taking place at the El Caribe Hilton in San Juan.
The hotel's website bills it as an "iconic beachfront paradise" with "17 acres of tropical landscaping, nine restaurants, island-inspired rooms, spa, and oceanfront pool complex, all right on the beach."
Seems like if it's a policy summit for New York officials, they could have it in, I don't know, New York? Does the Big Apple have no suitable conference venues? Not one big convention venue in the whole city? Maybe in Long Island? Queens? Poughkeepsie? Anywhere closer than Puerto Rico? Granted, these things aren't set up overnight, and the venue was almost certainly decided before the election, but did nobody else in New York's government think of the optics of all this?
Also, couldn't Zohran Mamdani, if he really wanted to make a statement, simply tell them to set up a Zoom that he'd attend remotely? That would actually be a good move; it would look good to the constituents and be an actual statement of principle. Coming from a socialist, where principles are scarcer than a vegan at a barbecue, it would seem to carry even more weight.
Ah, but then the Mayor-Elect wouldn't be able to take advantage of Puerto Rico's fine beaches. I've seen those beaches, and they are fine - but the taxpayers weren't picking up the tab for my flight and lodging.
I've been saying, and writing, since Zohran Mamdani won the election, that it's only a matter of time before the Mamdani people are building dachas in the woods outside the city, and setting up their own personal stores so they don't have to brush up against the grimy sleeves of the peasants who are waiting in line for their potatoes. Socialists - communists - always seem to end up like this.
Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
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