The Morning Briefing: I Liked the Dems Better When AOC Was Their Craziest Commie

Top O' the Briefing

Happy Tuesday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. The Sine Qua Non Sequitur is currently giving organizational advice to a gathering of dyspeptic Kazakh yurt brokers.

Seriously, these lunatics are going to have me writing about how much I miss Jasmine Crockett before St. Patrick's Day rolls around next year.

Democrats are big fans of election year chaos. It helps cover up the fact that they are bereft of any substantive ideas to offer the voters. This year, they're flooding the zone with crazies and waiting to see what sticks. Thus far, it's mostly the communism that's sticking.

I wrote in last Friday's Briefing that the Dems will never believe that their party is so broken that it needs to be fixed. Of course, the reality divide between us is so wide that what we think is broken they might think is perfectly fine.

The way that the Democrats used to go about playing the game of politics was impressive. Until President Trump came along, I maintained that they played the long game much better than the Republicans. That's one of the many things that he flipped on its head.

The Dems have been in pure rage mode since then, just seeking out opportunities to tell the world that they hate Trump. It seemed to me that they lost their mojo for long-term strategy. Because nothing is ever too weird anymore, I'm willing to reconsider my opinion.

Rather than back away from the issues that have turned their party into a coastal elitist insane asylum, the Dems and their flying monkeys in the mainstream media are now pointing to the commies of the Democratic Socialists of America as proof that the establishment isn't so bonkers.

No, really:

Jessica Tarlov claims AOC now is a "Moderate Dem" as compared to the "core DSA wing."

Scott Galloway agrees that this is a "fair point."

AOC is a member of NYC DSA.

The gaslighting levels coming in an attempt to rebrand AOC for 2028 are going to be stratospheric. pic.twitter.com/AYypbHSeZu
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) August 10, 2026

That's right, things are so topsy-turvy now that people can speak of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a member of the Dem establishment. Squeaky is no longer the biggest thorn in the side of the elder Democrats, or so some would have us believe.

She's actually the Queen of the Thorns, which is the surest sign that the Dem elders aren't that freaked out by this so-called DSA insurgency. Once more, with feeling: the DSA has been an accepted coalition in the Democratic Party proper all along. It's not as if its members just emerged from the fog and surprised the geriatric Schumer wing of the party.

The only real thing that the Democrats have to sucker the voters is the promise of "free" stuff that isn't really free, and the upstart honest commies in the party are even better at that than the more seasoned officials. The old way was to offer the voters fake freebies that were at least in the realm of possibility. With the DSA Stalinistas, it's all unicorns and free housing in cities that run on cotton candy wishes.

When you consider that, the internecine drama in the party looks a lot less genuine.

I'm all for them heading into November trying to sell a narrative that says Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is whatever passes for a centrist over there. She's not even "commie lite."

My RedState colleague Sister Toldjah wrote about Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong, the next looming DSA "problem" for the Dems. Hong's past is littered with campaign fodder for any eventual Republican opponent. The post mentions a recent interview with AOC and her attempt to cover for Hong. Put mildly, she's not the best at being the grownup in room.

As I also wrote on Friday, when November rolls around, every Democrat will be all-in on the DSA commie kids. It'll be fun to see what kinds of faux tortured rationalizations they come up with to pretend that wasn't the plan from the beginning.

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The Mailbag of Magnificence

We will kick off the Mailbag fun with Ron J. today:

Mr K: I instantly recognized the behavior of Monday's fish. That's exactly what happens every Fall in neighborhoods with lots of big trees. I thought I should point that out since you're unlikely to see it in your corner of the world.

There is a lot in that short note that I am unlikely to see here in the Sonoran Desert. There are fish, but nowhere near my 'hood. We do have big trees, but not many that shed leaves every year. Fall is the thing I'm most unlikely to encounter. We go from Second Summer to Winter.

This is from Friend of the Briefing Brice:

"Well, they wanted to keep the conversation going, and they're getting their wish." ESPN is solely responsible for the PR fallout the WNBA is getting from this. The only reason to ask Sophie her opinion was to create controversy. She's an open Christian from a rural area and I suspect this is what they wanted... "controversy". It backfired, giving us another warrior goddess in the fight against transgenders in women's sports, and turned Sophie into a household name increasing her popularity. Can't wait to see Royce White play in the WNBA.

I've read a couple of things recently about Sophie's ever-growing brand and her endorsement deals. It's unreal what she's been able to accomplish mostly from being a good teammate and nice to her fans. It's almost as if there is a life lesson for everyone there. Brucelyn (partial dead-naming) Jenner has been making a fortune as a public speaker for decades. I think Sophie would be brilliant at that when she's tired of the WNBA undermining the only players who make it money.

Morning Briefing stalwart Alex K. writes:

Aside from the humor of seeing the libs paint themselves into a corner with their own absurdity, the WNBA soap opera is rekindling my previously waning interest in professional sports. I’ve seen comments now such as “We’re talking about trans women, not men pretending to be women” (What’s the difference???). So do they want proof? Is Steve Buscemi going to demand as in I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry that these guys kiss? I don’t recall this being a requirement for Will Thomas et. al. I suppose they could get around that by saying they are trans women lesbians.

Yes, it's all insane. The Olympics have decided to go full binary again and will only allow biological females to compete in women's sports. The beauty of that is that the new rules kick in for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. Oh, the triggering.

Fellow Arizonan Gene T. has an Aussie Navy tale:

Hi Kruiser, First time writer, long time reader! For the U.S. Navy 200th Birthday the USS Ouellet FF 1077 was designated as the flag ship for the Pacific Fleet and would host dignitaries for the celebration in Honolulu Hawaii. The evening before, we spruced up the ship and set up for the event. Then the X.O. gave the CPO a couple hundred dollars to buy everyone a drink in town. My buddy and I decided to go off on our own and ran into a group of Aussie Sailors who were in Port. Man, did they drink us under the table! The next morning we had to get into our Dress Whites and pipe all the dignitaries aboard for the ceremony. That Bosun's Whistle sure doesn't sound good when you have a hangover. BTW, I've never been to Bangkok nor gotten a tattoo. I live just up the road from you in Sun Lakes, love Tucson.

I already had a good buzz that night when one of the British sailors said, "Mate, you know those Aussies will kill you if you try to drink with them." Instead of taking that as the warning it was meant to be, I took it as a challenge. Thankfully, we didn't have a gig the next night, just a plane trip. And the post-sunrise walk from the Aussies' hangout to where we were staying was only a couple of blocks. Lemme know if you're ever in Tucson. Or decide to go to Bangkok.

We will finish with Lynn N. and another "drinking with the Aussies" cautionary memory:

I read your response to an email wherein you referred to Aussies drinking. I learned that lesson all too well in 1972. We were in the Philippines on an R&R break from the gun line in Vietnam. We ran into some Aussies and proceeded to try to out drink each other. The next thing I remember is being violently drug out of my rack (bunk for the non-Navy readers) after projectile vomiting all over the guy in the rack across from mine. It wasn’t a pleasant experience. Love your writing. Keep up the good work and keep the cat and/or dog, et al, videos coming.

One last story that I can remember from that blur of a night. Most of the guys were in the Australian Navy, but the guy whose house we went to had recently retired and was working as a contractor. He and his wife had a huge house and they'd converted the garage into a very nice bar. Somewhere around dawn, I asked him and the other guys what the commanding officer was going to say if they all rolled in late and/or hungover. His reply: "It won't be a problem. The CO is my wife." Good, good times.

Keep writing — you guys are the best!

Everything Isn't Awful

Kinda the way my week started. Better now though.

pic.twitter.com/E12np2lsKQ
— No Cats No Life (@NoCatsNoLife_m) August 10, 2026

The Kruiser Kabana

Kabana Gallery

Edward Hopper’s Bridle Path (1939) shows horseback riders in Central Park near West 72nd Street.

The bridle path preserves remnants of an older New York, while the rising skyline behind them signals modernity overtaking 19th-century tradition. #artbots #hopper pic.twitter.com/F1vwjpVw0c
— Edward Hopper (@artisthopper) August 10, 2026

Kabana Comedy/Tunes

POTUS Press Today

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
08/10/26

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