-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
-
Congrats to the winners of the 2023 Smog Awards!
Serious 2020 Democratic Primary Thread
- Thread starter MikeDawg
- Start date
The cong retards are funnier than firebot morons giving themselves hernias trying desperately to be funny
Just finished listening to Hear the Bern ep. 24!!
FDR, who won 4 presidencies and 48 states, said that not only Americans but people around the world should have 4 inalienable rights:
1) Freedom of Speech
2) Freedom of Religion
3) Freedom from Want, or Poverty
4) Freedom from Fear, or War
“These last two, the President clarified, meant a healthy peacetime life for everyone... and world wide disarmament, so that no nation would be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression on another.”—Hear the Bern 24
Can you imagine a Democratic candidate being such a “pie in the sky” dreamer today?
Also featuring Cornell West!
FDR, who won 4 presidencies and 48 states, said that not only Americans but people around the world should have 4 inalienable rights:
1) Freedom of Speech
2) Freedom of Religion
3) Freedom from Want, or Poverty
4) Freedom from Fear, or War
“These last two, the President clarified, meant a healthy peacetime life for everyone... and world wide disarmament, so that no nation would be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression on another.”—Hear the Bern 24
Can you imagine a Democratic candidate being such a “pie in the sky” dreamer today?
Also featuring Cornell West!
fanyfan
i once put 42 mcdonalds chicken nuggets in my anus
I wanna bring something up that I haven’t really heard people talk about that much. When we talk about Yang, people usually bring up UBI. Fair, that’s the main thing he’s running on. However, the real thing I think is Yang’s strongest aspect is his other proposals. I’m not a fan of his UBI implementation, I’m not the biggest fan of him going back and forth on healthcare between Medicare for All and a Public Option. I don’t like how he doesn’t support tuition-Free college or $15 minimum wage. Also, I don’t like his automatic sunset of regulations idea.
With all that said, Yang is very policy focused. As such, he actually has a shitton of policies on his website. I think there’s a lot of really good policies from him that don’t get much attention, and I want to highlight those today.
The best one imo is Democracy Dollars. The idea is that, yes, we should have a constitutional amendment to get big money out of politics. However, it’s really hard to do that and it’s going to take a lot of time to do. So what do we do in the meantime? Well, his idea is that we give each person a $100 voucher to give to their favorite candidate. This voucher can only be used for the purpose of giving to campaigns. The idea is to try to give the people way more spending power in elections and to try and wash out the influence of big money.
I can’t tell you enough how much I love this policy. It doesn’t require a constitutional amendment, it doesn’t require overturning Citizen’s United. Anyone that’s anti-big money in politics should get behind this. I don’t think I have to tell you how much better politics would be if big money had its influence lessened. In case anyone’s curious, according to Yang’s numbers, this would amount to people having $23 Billion+ per election, which is way more than the big money from rich donors. I really hope more candidates adopt this idea, it really can make a difference on arguably the most important issue in politics currently.
Yang has recently brought up in an interview that he’s in favor of Decriminalizing all Drugs. He specifically said that includes things like heroin and he was inspired by the Portugal model. This is really good. In fact, he’s the best in the field on this issue. Decriminalizing drugs would be huge for the numbers of people addicted to currently illegal substances. They would be able to get the help they need and not have to worry about getting arrested for what they put in their own body. Amazin’.
Another good one is Financial Counseling for All. Basically, the idea of this one is that Americans have really poor financial literacy. It’s true and tbh it’s really bad. If every American has access to financial counseling, then that could be a really good investment into America’s future.
Now, my favorite part about this is that a right-wing talking point just completely falls flat in the face of this. “Oh, don’t give poor people money, they’ll just spend it on drugs and alcohol.” Well, what if we make an effort to teach poor people how to spend their money to benefit themselves the most? This could help people, ahem... pull themselves up by their bootstraps?
Another unique one is Universal Marriage Counseling. So this idea is you wouldn’t think of, but is actually really good when you think about it. See, the numbers show that two parent households really do produce better outcomes for children. However, generally, forcing someone to stay married that’s being abused or is just in general unhappy is even worse. So the idea is that if you make Marriage Counseling more avalible, you’ll have an increase in happy married couples which has pretty good societal benefit. Like I said, unique idea that’s really cool.
One that I think should be almost a no-brainer is Ranked Choice Voting. In case you’re not aware, RCV basically allows you to rank your favorite candidates in order on your ballot instead of simply voting for one person. First, all the #1 votes are counted. Then, if no candidate gets enough to win, the first choice votes for the lowest candidate gets shifted to the people’s second choice. In effect, see how the election would have gone without that small candidate in the race. Rinse and repeat until one candidate has enough votes to win.
What this allows you to do is vote for smaller candidates/parties without having to worry about the spoiler effect. The whole debate of vote for someone like Biden vs 3rd Party wouldn’t even exist. The spoiler effect might be the worst aspect of our current voting system so this would help tremendously.
I’m tired it’s like 2 am so I’m just gonna throw out more policies of his I like without going into detail (in no particular order).
- Term Limits for the Supreme Court
- Term Limits for Congress
- Make Puerto Rico and DC states
- Make Election Day a National Holiday
- Making the president unable to unilaterally launch a nuke without approval of someone else (VP or Chief of Staff)
- An Automatic Tax Filing Program
Ok there’s more, but I think that’s enough for one post. What do you guys think of these proposals?
With all that said, Yang is very policy focused. As such, he actually has a shitton of policies on his website. I think there’s a lot of really good policies from him that don’t get much attention, and I want to highlight those today.
The best one imo is Democracy Dollars. The idea is that, yes, we should have a constitutional amendment to get big money out of politics. However, it’s really hard to do that and it’s going to take a lot of time to do. So what do we do in the meantime? Well, his idea is that we give each person a $100 voucher to give to their favorite candidate. This voucher can only be used for the purpose of giving to campaigns. The idea is to try to give the people way more spending power in elections and to try and wash out the influence of big money.
I can’t tell you enough how much I love this policy. It doesn’t require a constitutional amendment, it doesn’t require overturning Citizen’s United. Anyone that’s anti-big money in politics should get behind this. I don’t think I have to tell you how much better politics would be if big money had its influence lessened. In case anyone’s curious, according to Yang’s numbers, this would amount to people having $23 Billion+ per election, which is way more than the big money from rich donors. I really hope more candidates adopt this idea, it really can make a difference on arguably the most important issue in politics currently.
Yang has recently brought up in an interview that he’s in favor of Decriminalizing all Drugs. He specifically said that includes things like heroin and he was inspired by the Portugal model. This is really good. In fact, he’s the best in the field on this issue. Decriminalizing drugs would be huge for the numbers of people addicted to currently illegal substances. They would be able to get the help they need and not have to worry about getting arrested for what they put in their own body. Amazin’.
Another good one is Financial Counseling for All. Basically, the idea of this one is that Americans have really poor financial literacy. It’s true and tbh it’s really bad. If every American has access to financial counseling, then that could be a really good investment into America’s future.
Now, my favorite part about this is that a right-wing talking point just completely falls flat in the face of this. “Oh, don’t give poor people money, they’ll just spend it on drugs and alcohol.” Well, what if we make an effort to teach poor people how to spend their money to benefit themselves the most? This could help people, ahem... pull themselves up by their bootstraps?
Another unique one is Universal Marriage Counseling. So this idea is you wouldn’t think of, but is actually really good when you think about it. See, the numbers show that two parent households really do produce better outcomes for children. However, generally, forcing someone to stay married that’s being abused or is just in general unhappy is even worse. So the idea is that if you make Marriage Counseling more avalible, you’ll have an increase in happy married couples which has pretty good societal benefit. Like I said, unique idea that’s really cool.
One that I think should be almost a no-brainer is Ranked Choice Voting. In case you’re not aware, RCV basically allows you to rank your favorite candidates in order on your ballot instead of simply voting for one person. First, all the #1 votes are counted. Then, if no candidate gets enough to win, the first choice votes for the lowest candidate gets shifted to the people’s second choice. In effect, see how the election would have gone without that small candidate in the race. Rinse and repeat until one candidate has enough votes to win.
What this allows you to do is vote for smaller candidates/parties without having to worry about the spoiler effect. The whole debate of vote for someone like Biden vs 3rd Party wouldn’t even exist. The spoiler effect might be the worst aspect of our current voting system so this would help tremendously.
I’m tired it’s like 2 am so I’m just gonna throw out more policies of his I like without going into detail (in no particular order).
- Term Limits for the Supreme Court
- Term Limits for Congress
- Make Puerto Rico and DC states
- Make Election Day a National Holiday
- Making the president unable to unilaterally launch a nuke without approval of someone else (VP or Chief of Staff)
- An Automatic Tax Filing Program
Ok there’s more, but I think that’s enough for one post. What do you guys think of these proposals?
I wish people would get off of this misguided train. Everyone forgets a fundamental fact: poor people work on holidays. If you really want to make a difference, lobby for voting by mail.
have you ever heard of absentee or mail in voting?
TheValkyries
proudly reppin' 2 superbowl wins since DEFLATEGATE
- Your state may require you to have a valid excuse to vote absentee. Acceptable excuses vary by state. Most include:
- Being unable to get to your polling place due to illness, injury, or disability.
- Being on business travel or vacation outside of your county or city of residence on Election Day
- Being a student at an out-of-state college or university
[half sarcasm] If we make it so all voting and polling is done by mobile app, then the country will definitely go in the right direction. [/sarcastic because that would definitely not be democratic but seriously you know in your heart it’s true]
If polling were done by mobile app:
Bernie Sanders 45%
Elizabeth Warren 25%
Andrew Yang 15%
Tulsi Gabbard 10%
Kamala Harris 3%
Joe Biden 2%
xDDD
If polling were done by mobile app:
Bernie Sanders 45%
Elizabeth Warren 25%
Andrew Yang 15%
Tulsi Gabbard 10%
Kamala Harris 3%
Joe Biden 2%
xDDD
Last edited:
Just wanted to reply to myself and retract this.
She's proven to be a far more effective candidate than I thought she would be, though a general is still different from a primary, so I'm not all aboard her train just yet.
It's a start
THE_IRON_...KENYAN?
Banned deucer.
Bernies campaign is done for. The media is gonna be hammering him with this heart thing all the time, and it will resonate with the viewer who already is worried about his health
Rip bernie
When Yang made the announcement people were stunned. The Cato Institute slipped their children cyanide pills. Held their hands while they convulsed and foamed and slipped mercifully into the night. Chelsea Handler set herself on fire. Even the channers couldn’t believe it– and it was them who’d made it happen. But I signed up the next day. It was like my prayers were heard.
Incel had taken out Amazon. Not the whole thing at once– but they’d figured out that you could get an RC chopper at the hobby store. A pack of model rocket engines. Ten Incel fedayeen could blow up transformers next to Fulfillment Centers any given day and that was that. Hundreds of millions vanished. Workers evacuated but still paid as Bezos’ fingers clenched futilely around that precious seven dollars an hour slipping away. And, importantly, no Value Added. No tax collected on every robot delivered package. Every self-driving truck mile. Google and Facebook didn’t even need a bomb. They were ad sales operations. Someone found their real data, sent it to their clients. No tax on every click. Zuckerberg retired to his acreage in Hawaii to live out his days diving. He’d caught the business end of a Portuguese man o’ war. Priscilla had made it through med school. But appearing distraught was the hardest thing she’d ever done.
For the first time in history, the unlaid were organized. People had had Freedom Dividends six months. Now taking it away meant murder. And there, one day, on Jack Dorsey’s hacked Twitter after an introductory FUCK N*GGERS, was a list of demands. It was one item long.
We want GFs
Yang caved. I was 45. My mother had stopped asking about girlfriends. Then about pets. Then about anything but suicidal ideation. I’d voted for Yang. Donated. Even though his signs needled me at night. DO THE MATH. Ever increasing odds of my middle aged sperm causing autism. The math said I’d grow old and die. Never hold my first child. Or I’d spend my days fighting him off as he bit me savagely for moving his oscillating fan. My own fault. Sometimes I’d think of her. Maybe text. Thinking I shouldn’t have let go. She’d text back. I remembered why I did.
The system was National E-Harmony. You punched in stats about yourself. It found you one match, one time. Math. A woman who dated her match two years could quintuple her Freedom Dividend. It’s national sex trafficking, said Rachel Maddow, rasping like male hope was cutting off her air. It didn’t matter. Cable news viewers averaged 78 years old. By the next election they’d be dead.
You punched in stats and she did too and the system gave her your address and one morning the doorbell rang.
**
Hi, she said.
Hi.
I’m Jocelyn.
She looked Irish. That was the first problem. Under 38, over 32. I don’t want to fuck her, I thought. I specifically said Asian. But no, fucking isn’t the point here. Do you want to come in.
I’d rather not, until we know each other.
Jesus Christ is she rejecting me already. 5 grand a month not enough to get a woman in my apartment. Yeah of course, I’ll uh come out– did you have trouble finding the place?
No.
OK well thanks for coming–
Well it was mandated by the government, she said. She wasn’t bad looking. She smiled, and I remembered I wasn’t either.
**
I took her to the duck pond near my apartment. They’d have given me someone who likes birds. I’d mentioned it 10 times in the form. There was a mating pair of ruddy ducks. The small auburn male with his bright blue bill stood on a rock, preening. Diligently pushing air out from his feathers to reduce buoyancy. The longer he can stay underwater, the more small crustaceans he can find, I explained. So you’re into ducks, she said. It didn’t sound like good news.
Nature helps me find peace.
And you write self help books.
Self-published books, they’re about, like– they don’t help people. They actually got flagged when the Incel stuff started–
Wait, are they like bad? Omigod are you alt r–
No, no. It’s just, very honest about sex stuff, society
And you don’t have a job. You make a living from the books.
That and the Freedom Dividend, yes.
Are you going to ask what I do?
OK
I’m a writer too. That’s why they matched us.
She was pitching pilots for streaming, she explained. Or perhaps I’ll get on staff somewhere, but for now my agent’s waiting to hear back from Quibble–
Is that–
They have a billion dollars for development from Dubai. But I also do a lot of work in branded. And with nonprofits. And I’m producing an unscripted series where young women of color rescue dogs using robotics they built. That’s for Comcast.
It doesn’t sound like you need money.
Well none of it’s paying me. But I just did this to see who they gave me.
What do you think?
I asked for someone passionate about food. Travel. Someone passionate about racial justice–
I asked for an Asian.
Oh, because you want a submissive little wife?
No, a tight pussy.
I waited. And she did laugh.
**
She moved in in January with her black Great Dane, Dante. I threw out the antibiotics I’d been hoarding in the medicine cabinet to make room for her pills. The SSRI made it hard for her to cum. It took an hour with two cramped fingers hooked into her and my jaw starting to ache. Feeling like a medieval woodcut of a peasant plowing dry fields, while Death looms over his shoulder. Half the time I’d apologize. Take a walk, frustrated. Leave her alone with the dog. But she said without them she wasn’t herself.
It was hard, but she was mine. In September I asked her about taking the IUD out. It always made me feel like a weasel had bitten me. And she said maybe. Maybe soon. You’re so good with Dante.
Then her pilot got picked up.
She got a Wikipedia entry. Jocelyn Finnegan is an American actress, writer, producer, personality and activist. Be careful, I joked with her. You have a Wikipedia, you’ll want to leave me for a guy with a bigger Wikipedia. And he’ll want to leave you for his 22 year old Asian intern. She just glared. That’s kind of racist, she said.
I didn’t mean it that way.
You know my agent asked about your books.
Oh yeah?
Not like that. She’s worried they’ll be a story. They could be a problem for me.
I asked why, but I knew. Because they’re kind of hateful, she said.
They’re not hateful–
You said “fuck the Jews.”
Not all of them
Well what do you think Buzzfeed would think of that. You think it’s funny but people read this stuff and they become racist. People like you are why Brexit happened. Racists–
Brexit was about Polish people– are they not white
You spread hate and those fucking people read it and that’s why we had Trump–
Jesus Christ can you let it go? He’s gone.
Yeah just like Voldemort was gone
Oh my fucking God is this real–
How can you not get this, she said. You think you’re fucked up because you were alone so long. But you were alone because you’re so fucked up. I’m leaving.
We have a year left
I’m requesting a transfer for abuse. They’ll give me the money prorated. Please, just don’t make this hard. If you ever cared about me, just sign–
I said yes. I was 46.
**
I don’t know what happened to her. The pilot didn’t go to series. I think she froze her eggs. I haven’t become a story, yet.
Since my last partner filed the papers I was ineligible to reapply. This was not uncommon. Less than 9% of couples stayed together for the jackpot. Most partnerships terminated for abuse claims.
A year later I spent my last Freedom Dividend. Hard to find the right material. Amazon wouldn’t ship what you needed. Am I fucked up from being alone so long. Or am I alone because I’m so fucked up.
Looking back it never could have worked. Me and her, or any of it. The world moved on. The normal inherited the Earth. They saw us as the enemy. The last pocket of retrograde evil in a society moving toward sexless pet care utopia. And she was right. I did say hateful things. I did help cause problems.
I’m sorry for that. And for what I’m about to do.
Incel had taken out Amazon. Not the whole thing at once– but they’d figured out that you could get an RC chopper at the hobby store. A pack of model rocket engines. Ten Incel fedayeen could blow up transformers next to Fulfillment Centers any given day and that was that. Hundreds of millions vanished. Workers evacuated but still paid as Bezos’ fingers clenched futilely around that precious seven dollars an hour slipping away. And, importantly, no Value Added. No tax collected on every robot delivered package. Every self-driving truck mile. Google and Facebook didn’t even need a bomb. They were ad sales operations. Someone found their real data, sent it to their clients. No tax on every click. Zuckerberg retired to his acreage in Hawaii to live out his days diving. He’d caught the business end of a Portuguese man o’ war. Priscilla had made it through med school. But appearing distraught was the hardest thing she’d ever done.
For the first time in history, the unlaid were organized. People had had Freedom Dividends six months. Now taking it away meant murder. And there, one day, on Jack Dorsey’s hacked Twitter after an introductory FUCK N*GGERS, was a list of demands. It was one item long.
We want GFs
Yang caved. I was 45. My mother had stopped asking about girlfriends. Then about pets. Then about anything but suicidal ideation. I’d voted for Yang. Donated. Even though his signs needled me at night. DO THE MATH. Ever increasing odds of my middle aged sperm causing autism. The math said I’d grow old and die. Never hold my first child. Or I’d spend my days fighting him off as he bit me savagely for moving his oscillating fan. My own fault. Sometimes I’d think of her. Maybe text. Thinking I shouldn’t have let go. She’d text back. I remembered why I did.
The system was National E-Harmony. You punched in stats about yourself. It found you one match, one time. Math. A woman who dated her match two years could quintuple her Freedom Dividend. It’s national sex trafficking, said Rachel Maddow, rasping like male hope was cutting off her air. It didn’t matter. Cable news viewers averaged 78 years old. By the next election they’d be dead.
You punched in stats and she did too and the system gave her your address and one morning the doorbell rang.
**
Hi, she said.
Hi.
I’m Jocelyn.
She looked Irish. That was the first problem. Under 38, over 32. I don’t want to fuck her, I thought. I specifically said Asian. But no, fucking isn’t the point here. Do you want to come in.
I’d rather not, until we know each other.
Jesus Christ is she rejecting me already. 5 grand a month not enough to get a woman in my apartment. Yeah of course, I’ll uh come out– did you have trouble finding the place?
No.
OK well thanks for coming–
Well it was mandated by the government, she said. She wasn’t bad looking. She smiled, and I remembered I wasn’t either.
**
I took her to the duck pond near my apartment. They’d have given me someone who likes birds. I’d mentioned it 10 times in the form. There was a mating pair of ruddy ducks. The small auburn male with his bright blue bill stood on a rock, preening. Diligently pushing air out from his feathers to reduce buoyancy. The longer he can stay underwater, the more small crustaceans he can find, I explained. So you’re into ducks, she said. It didn’t sound like good news.
Nature helps me find peace.
And you write self help books.
Self-published books, they’re about, like– they don’t help people. They actually got flagged when the Incel stuff started–
Wait, are they like bad? Omigod are you alt r–
No, no. It’s just, very honest about sex stuff, society
And you don’t have a job. You make a living from the books.
That and the Freedom Dividend, yes.
Are you going to ask what I do?
OK
I’m a writer too. That’s why they matched us.
She was pitching pilots for streaming, she explained. Or perhaps I’ll get on staff somewhere, but for now my agent’s waiting to hear back from Quibble–
Is that–
They have a billion dollars for development from Dubai. But I also do a lot of work in branded. And with nonprofits. And I’m producing an unscripted series where young women of color rescue dogs using robotics they built. That’s for Comcast.
It doesn’t sound like you need money.
Well none of it’s paying me. But I just did this to see who they gave me.
What do you think?
I asked for someone passionate about food. Travel. Someone passionate about racial justice–
I asked for an Asian.
Oh, because you want a submissive little wife?
No, a tight pussy.
I waited. And she did laugh.
**
She moved in in January with her black Great Dane, Dante. I threw out the antibiotics I’d been hoarding in the medicine cabinet to make room for her pills. The SSRI made it hard for her to cum. It took an hour with two cramped fingers hooked into her and my jaw starting to ache. Feeling like a medieval woodcut of a peasant plowing dry fields, while Death looms over his shoulder. Half the time I’d apologize. Take a walk, frustrated. Leave her alone with the dog. But she said without them she wasn’t herself.
It was hard, but she was mine. In September I asked her about taking the IUD out. It always made me feel like a weasel had bitten me. And she said maybe. Maybe soon. You’re so good with Dante.
Then her pilot got picked up.
She got a Wikipedia entry. Jocelyn Finnegan is an American actress, writer, producer, personality and activist. Be careful, I joked with her. You have a Wikipedia, you’ll want to leave me for a guy with a bigger Wikipedia. And he’ll want to leave you for his 22 year old Asian intern. She just glared. That’s kind of racist, she said.
I didn’t mean it that way.
You know my agent asked about your books.
Oh yeah?
Not like that. She’s worried they’ll be a story. They could be a problem for me.
I asked why, but I knew. Because they’re kind of hateful, she said.
They’re not hateful–
You said “fuck the Jews.”
Not all of them
Well what do you think Buzzfeed would think of that. You think it’s funny but people read this stuff and they become racist. People like you are why Brexit happened. Racists–
Brexit was about Polish people– are they not white
You spread hate and those fucking people read it and that’s why we had Trump–
Jesus Christ can you let it go? He’s gone.
Yeah just like Voldemort was gone
Oh my fucking God is this real–
How can you not get this, she said. You think you’re fucked up because you were alone so long. But you were alone because you’re so fucked up. I’m leaving.
We have a year left
I’m requesting a transfer for abuse. They’ll give me the money prorated. Please, just don’t make this hard. If you ever cared about me, just sign–
I said yes. I was 46.
**
I don’t know what happened to her. The pilot didn’t go to series. I think she froze her eggs. I haven’t become a story, yet.
Since my last partner filed the papers I was ineligible to reapply. This was not uncommon. Less than 9% of couples stayed together for the jackpot. Most partnerships terminated for abuse claims.
A year later I spent my last Freedom Dividend. Hard to find the right material. Amazon wouldn’t ship what you needed. Am I fucked up from being alone so long. Or am I alone because I’m so fucked up.
Looking back it never could have worked. Me and her, or any of it. The world moved on. The normal inherited the Earth. They saw us as the enemy. The last pocket of retrograde evil in a society moving toward sexless pet care utopia. And she was right. I did say hateful things. I did help cause problems.
I’m sorry for that. And for what I’m about to do.
What the actual fuck did I just read
i knew to stop at 'incel fadayeen'
Well I'm convinced now, yang 2020 folks
