The left is always expected not to "sink to their level" and look where that has gotten us. The entire world is lied to, constantly, right-wing politicians are also constantly making claims about left-wing ones being nut jobs, being communist, being terrorists.

Right-wing people make claims like, being trans is a mental illness, or that trans people are dangerous, or that trans people are pretending to be trans to compete in womens sports.

The minute a left-wing politician stands up and says: "You are a fucking asshole" they are held to a higher standard. It HAS to stop. We HAVE to be able to talk back. If we keep being polite and taking the higher road, they will continue to RAILROAD us, because the forceful and outspoken seem to win the narrative.

Case in point: If AOC had said something nice and polite here, we wouldn't be reading it.