Mike proved the American Dream is real. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (aka AOC) is the socialist darling of the moment. You couldn’t find more polar opposites.

This is a teachable moment.

Mike was one of seven children born to my grandparents Anna and Louis Root in Brownsville, Brooklyn in the early 1900’s. These seven Jewish kids in Brooklyn were born into abject poverty.

Then it got worse. Their father Louis Root died of a heart attack. My grandmother was left penniless with seven young mouths to feed. There was no welfare, no food stamps, no Medicaid, no Social Security.