Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., wants everyone in a state of perpetual terror, but the news media will never describe it that way.

Ocasio-Cortez, at the South by Southwest conference on Saturday. described the current U.S. economy in dark terms, charging without any economic evidence that “people can’t afford to live.”

She claimed, again, without evidence, that the American capitalist (-ish) system is not “sustainable” and that all of the public “should be scared right now because corporations have taken over our government.”

Last month, she said on her Instagram page that the effects of climate change make it “legitimate” for potential parents to ask, “Is it okay to still have children?”

In January, she forecast the coming apocalypse. “The world is going to end in 12 years if we don't address climate change, and your biggest issue is how are we gonna pay for it?”

Ocasio-Cortez is never asked to account for her warped, pessimistic view of America. That would require TV news anchors to do something other than nod along thoughtfully to each of her painfully ignorant utterances. Magazines would have to run something about her other than spreads that feature her in designer clothing.

What happened to the positive, optimistic message Democrats supposedly monopolized after the rise of the dour President Trump, author of " Crippled America?" After the 2016 Democratic National Convention, Chuck Todd at NBC said that "it was immediately clear that Donald Trump and Republicans made a fundamental mistake by abandoning a hopeful, optimistic message ... [a]nd Obama and the Democrats seized that message."

[Read more: Bill Nye: 'AOC gets it. She sees that fear is dividing us']

Ocasio-Cortez is a hysterical alarmist, but journalists don't confront that "fundamental mistake." They instead excuse it, and make as if the real story is that her critics are “obsessed” with her.

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes had a chuckle with the sharp observation that at the Conservative Political Action Conference, “The obsession with Ocasio-Coretz was truly something to behold.”

Washington Post reporter Elise Viebeck described Ocasio-Cortez as “an obsession for many on the political right.”

Adam Serwer at the Atlantic began an article in January with, “Conservatives’ obsession with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez may seem ridiculous.”

Yes, it’s Ocasio-Cortez’s critics who are showering her with praise for her “clap backs,” dolling her up in make-up for yet another cover shoot, and rabidly defending her from the most basic scrutiny deserved of any public figure.

Wait, no, that’s not right …

Ocasio-Cortez is fear-mongering and spreading her gloomy view of the country. For some reason, journalists are loath to describe it that way. They love her too much.