A REVOLUTION IS NOT A DINNER PARTY.

It's possible to make the case, as Brendan O'Neill does, that the "squad" wing of the House Democratic Caucus are a disciplined cadre.

Here’s what’s funny about The Squad, the toytown radicals in the Democratic Party who titillate the Twitterati but piss off mostly everyone else. These are the kind of people who would have been Bush-bashers back in the 2000s, shaking their heads at the post-9/11 ‘culture of fear’ and warning against the rash introduction of illiberal anti-terror laws. And yet today these people are agitating for a new war on terror, for an all-out crusade against ‘domestic terrorism’, for an unforgiving, even McCarthyite offensive against an enemy that is apparently so terrifying, so evil, that even America’s constitutional norms must be ripped up in the battle against it.

The "toytown radicals" is closer to the truth, and I suspect that the Chairman Mao who wrote of cadre who "must not relax in the least their will to fight; anything that relaxes the will to fight and belittles the enemy would be wrong" would not be impressed. Mr O'Neill might see that will to fight.

Right now, AOC might just be the most authoritarian politician in the US. Her hyperbole about the Capitol riot, her fearmongering about the threat of ‘domestic terrorism’, her animosity towards the free press, and her demonisation of her critics as being pro-murder or similar to sexual abusers, in the full knowledge that her army of devoted online followers will amplify these shrill, censorious accusations – this all points to how determined AOC is to crush anything that she considers too right-wing or too offensive.

Chairman Mao, on the other hand, might see these cadre being "cowed by the bluster of reactionaries," no matter how loudly Abby Zimet denies it.

Facing a Trump impeachment trial that could put their collusion with domestic terrorists on record, a craven and ever-hypocritical GOP is frantically backpedaling on history, downplaying the mayhem they unleashed, declaring themselves innocent of wrongdoing, blithely insisting it's time to "move on" and for good measure deriding those insisting on the facts and the need for accountability - thus following a long national tradition of willful denial that led writer Gore Vidal to proclaim us "the United States of Amnesia." In truth, the damage from the Capitol riot - and the "insurgents" the FBI is still tracking - runs deep and wide. On Thursday, several lawmakers spoke out in the House about the panic they felt that day, the ongoing trauma it engendered, and the rage they still must struggle with. Said Missouri Rep. Cori Bush, a former social justice advocate, "This was like one of the days out there when the white supremasits would show up and start shooting at us." Among the most visible of those speaking up has been New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In a 98-minute video this week, she described her fearas she hid with Rep. Katie Porter - especially, AOC revealed, as a sexual assault survivor - and called out complicit GOPers who "continue to be a danger to their colleagues."

As a longtime target of right-wing vitriol and so many death threats her staff grows uneasy when a stranger appears at the office, AOC has keenly felt that danger.One of the rioters has been arrested for threatening to assassinate her; his lawyer says he's now trying to "de-program" his client from Trump, who he calls "a cult leader." Still, AOC determinedly argues, "We cannot heal without accountability" for those who "chose to tell the lie." For her bravery, she's become the target of a nasty smear campaign - classic abuser move - by right-wing pols and media:: She's "a petulant child" and a la Jussie Smollett the country should “unify in telling you to go fornicate yourself," her account was a “loopy delusion” of “amazing acting” and “gross manipulation,” she wasn't even in the building, and from Glenn Greenwald (yes, that one), she didn't have "even a tiny little bruise on her body," though damn you'd think he'd know about the long history of women needing to show bruises to prove they were harmed. The vicious clap back prompted several outraged pieces - here, here, here - about the indignities visited upon women who speak out. The gist, from one: "I am so fucking sick of men telling women they didn't experience what they experienced."

Name and shame Glenn Greenwald, and claim to be intensively sick, that's true "courage in battle, no fear of sacrifice, no fear of fatigue, and continuous fighting."  Not this cadre.  Yes, the following stories are from Twitchy, treat them accordingly, but the real paper tigers are the young House Democrats.  Specifically, "Congress has turned into some kind of bizarre public psychotherapy session where elected officials compete amongst one another for who can exhibit the most overbearing narcissistic personality disorder."  That includes, "Rep. Dean Phillips is tearfully apologizing to AOC for previously failing to recognize his privilege."  That might be what "dare to struggle, dare to win" has deteriorated to.  Or the parody has only begun.  "Rep. Mark Takano condemns those who have sought to "gaslight" AOC and others who claim they underwent trauma."  Then the profane representative from Michigan can't hold it together.  "Rashida Tlaib is bawling on the floor of the House. She can't even get through a sentence."  An observer sums it up.  "The more they talk, the more voters can see the crazy bullshit they’re peddling."  Not exactly "Be resolute, fear no sacrifice, and surmount every difficulty to win victory."

Undermine them with mockery!