New 'Squad' Member Is Already Setting His Sights on Capitalism
The vocal four-member “squad” of far-left Democratic lawmakers in the House has wielded a disproportionate amount of power for the last two years, but the collective of young leftist women might be adding a new member to its ranks when the 117th United States Congress convenes next month.
Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts have all seen their stars rise since they were elected during the 2018 midterm elections.
Each woman is known for making controversial statements and for holding positions considered fringe just a few years ago. But the “squad” isn’t going anywhere, at least not any time soon.
In fact, the cooperative of leftists is being praised by one newly elected House Democrat, who more or less wants to join them in forcing their radical agenda onto all of America.
Jamaal Bowman, a former New York City middle school principal, recently and successfully primaried 16-term Democrat Eliot Engel to take control of New York’s 16th Congressional District. Winning the Democratic primary in the district essentially equates to an automatic general election victory — and it did.
Bowman cruised to victory last month by defeating conservative Patrick McManus by more than 68 points. The former educator is now headed to the House, and he has signaled he believes the “squad” represents the future of the Democratic Party.
Engel was of course the dunce who said out loud what is supposed to be uttered privately when Democrats are fomenting civil unrest.
A hot mic in New York in June reportedly caught him in the aftermath of a riot stating quite clearly: “If I didn’t have a primary, I wouldn’t care.”
Rep. Eliot Engel is in danger of losing his congressional seat to first-time political candidate Jamaal Bowman in New York’s primary election for the 16th congressional district, after he was heard on a hot mic saying, “If I didn’t have a primary, I wouldn’t care.” pic.twitter.com/WhIX2qMSLT
— OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) June 23, 2020
Bowman defeated the ineffectual career politician, and will join the incoming class of freshmen lawmakers with two apparent goals: becoming the sole male member of the “squad” and replacing the free-market capitalism which made America great with something else.
The Democrat, who is a relatively young 44, recently spoke to The Root and criticized the influence of former President Barack Obama, heaped big praise on AOC and the others and equated capitalism to “slavery.”
“I don’t think Obama is the standard we should be striving towards,” he said. “I think the ‘squad’ is more of a standard we should be striving towards because I think the ‘squad’ is more responsive to what’s happening today in our streets,” Bowman told the outlet.
“I think Obama represents a certain demographic of the Democratic Party, but the Democratic Party is a big and diverse tent. I think the ‘squad’ and myself represent more of what’s happening right now in the party, on the ground, in the streets — particularly with parts of the community that we haven’t always engaged very well,” he added.
Per Bowman, Obama now only represents but a fraction of mostly middle-of-the-road Democrats, specifically when it comes to radical ideas such as defunding police agencies, which Obama recently advised against embracing.
The former president said earlier this month that “defund the police” is little more than a “snappy slogan,” which drew the ire of many radical far-left Democrats. Bowman was among them, as he signaled in his interview with The Root.
The radical New Yorker was also very clear about his scorn for free-market capitalism.
It’s as if his words were written collectively by Ocasio-Cortez and her “squad” colleagues.
“I believe our current system of capitalism is slavery by another name,” Bowman said. “We’ve moved from physical chattel enslavement and physical racial segregation to a plantation economic system.
“One that keeps the majority of Americans unemployed, or underemployed and struggling just to survive, while the power elite continues to concentrate wealth in the hands of a few, and allow large corporations to pretty much run the world as multinational corporations.
“The pandemic has revealed it. With almost 300,000 dead from the pandemic, disproportionately black and brown, and Jeff Bezos is the first $200 billionaire. In the next six years, he might become the first trillionaire. That’s slavery by another name. It’s a system that’s not working, so we need a new system.”
You would probably be hard-pressed to find any American at this point who is not upset by the transfer of wealth we’ve seen throughout this year as multinational corporations have made big bucks off of shuttered small businesses.
Still, blaming capitalism for cronyism created by government shutdowns, which actually caused the whole mess, is short-sighted.
Capitalism didn’t fail, thus creating Bezos’ extra billions. Elected officials, mostly Democrats, ordered family-owned stores closed, sending eager shoppers online to help facilitate the historic transfer of wealth.
Bowman fails to see the full picture of what is going on around him, which is perhaps why he might fit in so well as the lone man in the “squad.” He apparently can’t wait to get to Washington to join them.
Many voters, including apparently some Democrats, had hoped the influence of the “squad” would be short-lived. But that doesn’t appear to be the case.
Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Tlaib and Pressley were all re-elected last month, and now another radical Democrat has a mandate from his constituents in New York to join them.
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