Doesn’t this strike anyone besides Cockburn as deeply pathetic? The first rule of online arguments is “do not feed the troll.” AOC thrives on attention, and the right just gave her even more of it, gratis. It’s not like any of this is going to make AOC embarrassed about her rhetoric. Three years on Twitter and Twitch have made it obvious AOC is beyond embarrassment... The tiff over AOC’s abuela exposes the embarrassing shortcomings of what might be called ‘own-the-libs conservatism.’ In place of actual ideological achievements, this fake conservatism believes it wins huge victories through meaningless stunts, like driving gas-guzzling cars, eating Chik-fil-A (oblivious to the fact CFAcaved to liberals years ago), or buying up every Dr. Seuss book on Ebay. For the better part of a week, the most visible conservative cause has landing some dumb high-school own on a high-profile Congresswoman. It didn’t achieve anything or convince anyone, but it made participants feel pleased with themselves for a while. Cockburn hopes that’s enough for them.