Whither The Squad?

By Thomas Neuburger

I’ve written about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the past, including about the 2021 flap where she gave her own campaign cash to help corporate Democrats, so that they in return would … like her more? Or something?

Why on earth is Alexandria Occasio-Cortez, a genuine hero of the people, supporting — with money given personally to her — the pro-corporate Democrats her supporters roundly despise? The answer from her defenders, well-meaning but sometimes tetchy, is "So we can make sure that Democrats keep control of government...stupid! Because, you know, job one is Republicans." Thus the divide. On a scale of one to the-next-eight-years or so, how important is it that Democrats keep control of government? On that scale, very, of course. But on a scale of one to your-surviving-grandchildren-living-like-feral-rats, how important is it that Conor Lamb keep his seat so he can vote with Republicans to his heart's content? I'll let you decide for yourself.

This conundrum and others surrounding the Squad — a group of progressive House members with Justice Democrat roots — are wonderfully covered in Ryan Grim’s new book, apply named The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution.

The book is on sale December 5, pre-orders are available now, and it’s a must-read as far as I’m concerned.

'A Tea Party on the left'

The question the book addresses, and the one I hoped it would address when I learned he was writing it, is the same one that Kyle Kulinski, a founder of Justice Democrats, has regularly asked: The Justice Democrats group was formed to create in the House a “Tea Party on the left” with all that that implies. So, what the hell happened to them?

A great way to preview the book is to listen to the interview linked at the top. Kyle Kulinski and Krystal Ball speak with the author, Ryan Grim, and cover a lot of the book’s material — the Squad members themselves, their history as a group, their future, notable controversies, and why in hell the Israeli government, through its goon squad (sorry, domestic lobbying arm) is spending a ton of cash to see them defeated.

(By the way, if you’re one who thinks AIPAC and DMFI should be registered as foreign agents and treated as such, so does Grim, as he says in the interview.)

The history the book covers is impeccably detailed, and the scope is broad. If you’re someone who hungered for a political revolution — an actual one, not the phony we’re too often sold — this book is for you.

I’ll probably write a full review later. For now though, listen to the interview above. You won’t be sorry.