2019-2020 US Elections Megathread I- It Begins

[Pasong Tirad]

A lot of this hate just feels like the right lusting over her by now.

People's dislike of others is just weird suppressed sexual tension? Does that mean that you, as a socialist, have a thing for old stuffy white men in corporate boardrooms?

I'm always being erotically violated by capitalism anyway.

[Bombadil]

Attention is currency, that much is true. Which is why I propose the right-wing should continue attempting to discredit and attack her through Twitter, such as that time those guys tried to "birther her" by saying she's not working class because she lived in a neighborhood with people who were well off, or that time a journalist took a creeper shot of her to show off her "designer clothes" and thereby discredit her working class background again.

Bernie Sanders is a man that at least knows what he's talking about, sometimes. Ocasio-Cortez gives me pause even when her intentions are good.

I suspect she's very smart and will be a pretty strong force in politics for a few years to come. I mean.. for a girl to come second in the largest pre-college scientific research event in the world as well as come from relatively nowhere to take a seat in the House of Representatives at 29..

..I can see why she'll rapidly become the Right's favourite hate figure. Female - check. Hispanic - check. Smart - check.

[Outer Sparta]

I don't really know where to put this but for a more lighthearted piece of news today.. a good while back someone made a mash up of Lisztomania by Phoenix with the dance scene from Breakfast Club..

I remember it and I also remember this..a kind of tribute from students at Boston University.. anyway that first girl in it is apparently Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

I only know this now because..

An attempt to humiliate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as she was sworn in as the youngest ever US Congresswoman has backfired impressively, prompting a huge outpouring of support for her.

A 30-second video was posted by a Twitter user called AnonymousQ, showing Ocasio-Cortez dancing on the roof of a building while in college.

“Here is America’s favorite commie know-it-all acting like the clueless nitwit she is,” read the post, with the user, who has since deleted their account, claiming it was a “high school video of ‘Sandy’ Ocasio-Cortez”.

But instead of humiliating Ocasio-Cortez, who was elected to represent New York’s 14th congressional district in November, the video has bolstered her popularity, with many people on social media praising her for being joyful and having fun.

Comedian Patton Oswald joked: “She’ll never recover from the world seeing her … (watches video) … dancing adorably and having fun with her friends in high school?”

That tweet got a Twitter-slapping (which means ratioed).

[Axuva]

I really hope Kamala Harris runs. really.

[Outer Sparta]

Bernie Sanders is a man that at least knows what he's talking about, sometimes. Ocasio-Cortez gives me pause even when her intentions are good.

I suspect she's very smart and will be a pretty strong force in politics for a few years to come. I mean.. for a girl to come second in the largest pre-college scientific research event in the world as well as come from relatively nowhere to take a seat in the House of Representatives at 29..

..I can see why she'll rapidly become the Right's favourite hate figure. Female - check. Hispanic - check. Smart - check.

Also since Hillary's political career is over and Nancy Pelosi will step down in a few years or so, AOC is naturally the next one to be targeted.

[Bombadil]

I suspect she's very smart and will be a pretty strong force in politics for a few years to come. I mean.. for a girl to come second in the largest pre-college scientific research event in the world as well as come from relatively nowhere to take a seat in the House of Representatives at 29..

..I can see why she'll rapidly become the Right's favourite hate figure. Female - check. Hispanic - check. Smart - check.

Also since Hillary's political career is over and Nancy Pelosi will step down in a few years or so, AOC is naturally the next one to be targeted.

She'll receive cover from Elizabeth Warren for the moment.

Otherwise back on topic.. I'm actually not too bothered by the Democrat primary, far more interesting to me is who will come out to contest the Republican primaries..

[Western Vale Confederacy]

Eh, as much as I dislike Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, thinking that her past teenage stupidities (roof climbers? I catch those every bloody month as a security guard!) will somehow affect her career is pretty fucking stupid.

[Jolthig]

Eh, as much as I dislike Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, thinking that her past teenage stupidities (roof climbers? I catch those every bloody month as a security guard!) will somehow affect her career is pretty fucking stupid.

Smear campaigns are often used to discredit a politician.

[Shrillland]

I suspect she's very smart and will be a pretty strong force in politics for a few years to come. I mean.. for a girl to come second in the largest pre-college scientific research event in the world as well as come from relatively nowhere to take a seat in the House of Representatives at 29..

..I can see why she'll rapidly become the Right's favourite hate figure. Female - check. Hispanic - check. Smart - check.

Also since Hillary's political career is over and Nancy Pelosi will step down in a few years or so, AOC is naturally the next one to be targeted.

No, the next one to be targeted is actually in one of my neighbouring districts, Peoria-Rockford(IL-17). Most of the dissenters yesterday voted for Bustos and she's now head of the DCCC because she's damn good at her job. She will be the one to watch in the leadership.

[Western Vale Confederacy]

Eh, as much as I dislike Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, thinking that her past teenage stupidities (roof climbers? I catch those every bloody month as a security guard!) will somehow affect her career is pretty fucking stupid.

Smear campaigns are often used to discredit a politician.

If politicians were disqualified based on the stupidities we did as kids and teenagers, we'd have no fucking politicians.

[Kowani]

Smear campaigns are often used to discredit a politician.

If politicians were disqualified based on the stupidities we did as kids and teenagers, we'd have no fucking politicians.

If politicians were disqualified based on the stupidities they did in office, we'd still have no fuckin' politicians.

[Major-Tom]

Eh, as much as I dislike Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, thinking that her past teenage stupidities (roof climbers? I catch those every bloody month as a security guard!) will somehow affect her career is pretty fucking stupid.

Smear campaigns are often used to discredit a politician.

Exactly. If I ever stepped out of the sort of political volunteering/interning I currently do and jumped into elected office, I have no doubt that my teenage years would be used against me persistently. Just how it is, unfortunately, name of the game.

[Jolthig]

Smear campaigns are often used to discredit a politician.

Exactly. If I ever stepped out of the sort of political volunteering/interning I currently do and jumped into elected office, I have no doubt that my teenage years would be used against me persistently. Just how it is, unfortunately, name of the game.

They did the same with Trump too. Granted, what he said in his video from 2005 was completely wrong and abhorrent, but it's the motive behind the release of that video is what made it a smear campaign.

The internet can be a dangerous place at times.

[Major-Tom]

Exactly. If I ever stepped out of the sort of political volunteering/interning I currently do and jumped into elected office, I have no doubt that my teenage years would be used against me persistently. Just how it is, unfortunately, name of the game.

They did the same with Trump too. Granted, what he said in his video from 2005 was completely wrong and abhorrent, but it's the motive behind the release of that video is what made it a smear campaign.

The internet can be a dangerous place at times.

Well, perhaps I'd argue there is a substantial difference, on account that what our POTUS said versus the stupid bullshit I used to do is vastly different (IE, I'd never brag about grabbing someone by the you know what).

As an add-on, I respect the politicians who own up to their mishaps and fuckups, accepting full responsibility and burden for their actions. Not those, like Trump (and others both Democratic and Republican) who would rather stay cemented in the defensive.

[Phoenicaea]

If politicians were disqualified based on the stupidities we did as kids and teenagers, we'd have no fucking politicians.

If politicians were disqualified based on the stupidities they did in office, we'd still have no fuckin' politicians.

indeed, that is the purpose of the propaganda, to discredit republics and appoint their puppets at office. it is not, obviously, as it works.

it is how it 'works' merely in obscure eras. it is also a matter of prestige, they say there is no prestige, still if not you can t see why amounts of money are spent for discredit republics.

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

Eh, as much as I dislike Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, thinking that her past teenage stupidities (roof climbers? I catch those every bloody month as a security guard!) will somehow affect her career is pretty fucking stupid.

Smear campaigns are often used to discredit a politician.

Just wait until they start using some AI thing like DeepFake to produce fake videos, that large sections of the population will choose to believe are real, if they are for someone they don't like. That will truly fuck up politics,

[Page]

Smear campaigns are often used to discredit a politician.

Just wait until they start using some AI thing like DeepFake to produce fake videos, that large sections of the population will choose to believe are real, if they are for someone they don't like. That will truly fuck up politics,

On the flipside, if Deep Fake becomes more prevalent, everyone will have greater plausible deniability, even the people who are actually really in the video.

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

Just wait until they start using some AI thing like DeepFake to produce fake videos, that large sections of the population will choose to believe are real, if they are for someone they don't like. That will truly fuck up politics,

On the flipside, if Deep Fake becomes more prevalent, everyone will have greater plausible deniability, even the people who are actually really in the video.

I'm pretty certain state actors and trolls will make it more prevalent. I suspect the result will be a further loss of trust in the political process, and lower turnouts.

[The Archregimancy]

Bernie Sanders is a man that at least knows what he's talking about, sometimes. Ocasio-Cortez gives me pause even when her intentions are good.

I suspect she's very smart and will be a pretty strong force in politics for a few years to come. I mean.. for a girl to come second in the largest pre-college scientific research event in the world as well as come from relatively nowhere to take a seat in the House of Representatives at 29..

..I can see why she'll rapidly become the Right's favourite hate figure. Female - check. Hispanic - check. Smart - check.

You forgot 'Liberal New Yorker'.

[Trumptonium1]

If you pay 30 a month to your gym membership, but the VIPs pay 100 a month, ..

@Trumptonium; I don t care so doesn t matter, truly. still, I would suppose this is a ban violation, against forum tules as you do, perhaps temporary ban.

I don t know the rules of the forum, again it diesn t matter for me, however it s strange. some things get temporary ban, this 'false news acount' talk always goes.

I m not even American, I don t care about the discussion, still it is quite ashaming for the forum. a few of accounts like this and all threads get scarse.

perhaps you are not false account, perhaps it is simply your believe, pardon in this case if it is rude. for me it is false news paid account and I would set a permanent ban.

it is sospicious to me. @Trumptonium, @Soferchia (where is him-her with support?). if it was for me, it was a ban. people, you should do again the forum rules.

It is fine if you people don t accept this and instead ban mine account, it is not interest for me. so I would like to do you a favour and denounce it.

You are correct, I am a fake news account paid directly by CGTN.

But honestly, please, please, and I don't mean that rudely, please, use Google translate. It's going to do a better job at making people understand what you're saying than what you're currently doing.

[Trumptonium1]

If you pay 30 a month to your gym membership, but the VIPs pay 100 a month, and you get offered a one-month discount of $10 if you agree for VIPs to get a permanent discount of $15 p/m, will you say no thanks?

Yes, absolutely. Because otherwise, you end up paying $30/month for a worse-funded gym with less equipment.

They'll just leave somewhere where their $90 goes further. Permanently.

[Ngelmish]

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/03/martin-omalley-beto-orourke-endorsement-iowa-caucuses-1080480

Although they're relatively minor developments overall, the article's not wrong to suggest that this could be a godsend of a pipeline of networking for O'Rourke if he does decide to jump in.

[The Black Forrest]

Yes, absolutely. Because otherwise, you end up paying $30/month for a worse-funded gym with less equipment.

They'll just leave somewhere where their $90 goes further. Permanently.

Problem ace. You forgot to mention those VIPS already get 40% of national income (probably more since donnie and the repubs were running things).

They can afford the "hit"

[Varaskia]

Sanders is the only potential candidate radical enough to give the Democratic party any hope of long-term survival. While they insist on putting forward staunch capitalists who simply want to tweak around the edges, and who insist "America never stopped being great", they will continue to lose to a Republican party which loudly acknowledges the discontent the working class feel, which declares that it'll fight for them (obviously not the case, but what does it matter?), and will only continue to get more and more extreme, to the point of near-fascism.

A Sanders presidency wouldn't necessarily be able to achieve much in and of itself, but it would be a massively powerful way of shaping the narrative in American politics, and shifting the boundaries of what is considered politically realistic and possible. I mean, we've seen that effect already; Trump hasn't done much so far that your average, run-of-the-mill Republican establishment type wouldn't have also done as president, but his more extreme and hateful priorities and speech has led to an increase in far-right extremism, and the normalisation of those types of views.

I'd also bet any money on AOC becoming the youngest-ever president in 2024 lmao

[Trumptonium1]

They'll just leave somewhere where their $90 goes further. Permanently.

Problem ace. You forgot to mention those VIPS already get 40% of national income (probably more since donnie and the repubs were running things).

They can afford the "hit"

How is affordability measured?

Is shopping at 24/7 instead of Costco any more of an unacceptable affordability downgrade than going from Armani to Zara?