Column: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez turns the 116th Congress into Thunderdome

Not so long ago—as recently as the cover of the March 2019 Rolling Stone, in fact—they seemed like the best of friends. I'm referring to Nancy Pelosi and the members of "The Squad": Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and (not pictured) Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley. They shared some good times.

It was the dawn of a new era. House Democrats had returned to power after eight years. And these Democrats were remarkably diverse in age, ethnicity, race, and gender. Ideology, too: Ocasio-Cortez and Tlaib belong to the Democratic Socialists of America. "Our nation is at an historic moment," Pelosi said in January. "Two months ago, the American people spoke, and demanded a new dawn."

Well, the sun has set. And fast. Whatever Pelosi's plans might have been, they've been lost in a fog of anti-Semitism and left-wing radicalism. If Ilhan Omar isn't causing Pelosi trouble, Ocasio-Cortez is. And vice versa. One day the speaker has to respond to the charge that Jewish money controls American foreign policy. The next she has to downplay flatulent cows. It's enough to make one pity her. Almost.

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