Reason Roundup

No, AOC Didn't Snub Joe Biden

Plus: Laura Loomer's win, another hotel accused of sex trafficking, and more...

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upiphotostwo757259 | BRIAN SNYDER/UPI/Newscom
(BRIAN SNYDER/UPI/Newscom)

AOC nominates Sanders. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D–N.Y.) spoke to the Democratic National Convention last night for less than two minutes, but that was more than enough time for her to prove the most controversial part of the virtual gathering.

"In a time when millions of people in the United States are looking for deep systemic solutions to our crises of mass evictions, unemployment, and lack of health care, and espíritu del pueblo and out of a love for all people, I hereby second the nomination of Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont for president of the United States of America," said Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most left-leaning members of Congress in addition to the youngest.

AOC snubs Joe Biden!, or so the story immediately went.

Not so fast. Ocasio-Cortez's role last night was part of the planned convention procedure, not a way of sticking it to Biden, the party's presidential nominee.

"Convention rules require roll call & nominations for every candidate that passes the delegate threshold," explained Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter. "I was asked to 2nd the nom for Sen. Sanders for roll call. I extend my deepest congratulations to @JoeBiden—let's go win in November."

Ocasio-Cortez has been calling out NBC for making it seem otherwise:

Sanders' nomination "was symbolic," notes USA Today. "Sanders was allowed to keep many of the delegates he would have otherwise lost when he suspended his campaign due to an agreement with the Biden campaign, which was intended to show party unity."

There wasn't much for the party's leftier contingents to like in last night's convention segment, however. It was about as centrist, status quo, and swampy as you can get, complete with a gushy and sycophantic mini-doc about the friendship between Biden and late Sen. John McCain (R–Ariz.).

Some on the left saw Ocasio-Cortez's words as a bright spot nonetheless. "Joe Biden is the short-term future of the Democratic party: that much is obvious. But tonight, AOC … gently gestured toward a different kind of long-term future," writes Holly Baxter at The Independent.

Socialists versus war hawks—yippee!

Either way, we lose.

QUICK HITS

• The new American dream:

• President Donald Trump was demonstrably excited about Laura Loomer's win:

• State attorneys general are suing to stop planned Postal Service cuts.

• Another hotel is being targeted by advocate lawyers looking to make hotels criminally liable if prostitution takes place in hotel rooms, in the name of fighting "sex trafficking" and "human trafficking."

• A national Human Fetal Tissue Ethics Advisory Board stacked with a bunch of people who oppose all human fetal tissue research recommended against funding 13 of 14 research proposals under consideration.

• "While navigating a mammoth advertiser boycott and potential federal antitrust charges, Facebook Inc.'s chief financial officer may be most concerned about California's strict new privacy law." Here's why.

• Sex workers in Ireland are fighting for a say in the country's laws about them:

• "There is now a market, measured in attention and approbation, for anyone who can sniff out a Karen," writes Helen Lewis, in a piece dissecting The Karen.

• Politico looks at "how the Supreme Court dropped the ball on the right to protest."

• The Senate Intelligence Committee's final report on Russia and the 2016 U.S. election was released yesterday.