Hindsight Is 2020

[Blackacre]

Tuesday, April 7th, 2020



Breaking news out of Washington DC: Georgia Senator David Perdue is in the hospital! He appears to have suffered a stroke. Senator Perdue is expected to recover, but at this point it is unclear whether that recovery will take three months or a year.

“Senator Perdue will make a full recovery,” a spokesman for the Senator said.

When asked how this might impact his run for re-election, there was no comment.


On behalf of the entire Senate, I would like to wish my friend from Georgia a complete and speedy recovery. The United States Senate is a poorer place for his absence.

Next time: Mood whiplash! Wisconsin votes!

[UWS]

Go Brown!

[jburnx2]

Last Week Tonight: Debates

Now tonight we need to focus on something that's been cursing the political system for years. Debates. Or as I like to call them, Nationally Televised Sh*t-shows Involving Usually Extremely Wealthy Men. Now, I say usually extremely wealthy, because, well... you can't forget everybody's favorite elderly Socialist Jew. *picture of Bernie Sanders* Now, I bring up debates because over the past two election cycles, the debates have gotten nasty. For example, look at any 2016 debate that involved or came within a 3,000-mile radius of mentioning Donald Trump. Things got nasty. Things even got to the point where poor little Jeb Bush admitted that he had smoked marijuana. Now, the Democratic primary debates this year have been fairly nasty. If you watch debates from earlier in the season, you can see everyone insulting each other on stage... well, everybody except for the god-d*mned former comedian. *shows picture of primary debate, circles Al Franken* Now, at the latest Democratic primary debate, the DNC reached out to some famous people from the internet to host. The guy of the pair they ended up picking makes a living by whining about politics on camera and uploading it to YouTube. What kind of loser does that?  *picture of John Oliver comes up on screen* Now, this pair promised a new form of debates, taking away from the bias that the mainstream media has shown in past debates. And things went well for the duo, with Kyle Kulinski asking predictable but good questions. He asked things about universal healthcare, etc, etc, Bernie Sanders gibberish. And then Mr. Kulinski got to Cory Booker.

"Senator Booker, in 2017, Senators Sanders and Klobuchar introduced an amendment to allow for the cheaper purchase of medical drugs in the United States. You joined a majority of Republicans in voting the amendment down. Later, your excuse was that they did not meet FDA regulations. Senator, how can these drugs not meet FDA regulations when they're manufactured in the United States?"

Senator Warren, what color is an apple?
Senator Booker, if President Trump adds 9 trillion dollars to the national debt this quarter, how do you plan on assassinating Vladmir Putin while increasing our banana imports from Australia?
Now, admittedly, Cory Booker is part of the Clinton wing of the party that nobody wants anymore. But how can you claim that you're getting rid of bias in debates if you're clearly showing bias towards America's backup plan for Barack Obama?
And the bias didn't stop there. When Booker stumbled on the loaded question, the moderator, yes, the guy supposed to be asking unbiased questions to some of the most powerful people in the world, said this:

"I guess my question Senator is this: How do you sleep at night knowing that you have denied the ability of sick people to pay for their medication?"

NO BIAS!? NO F***ING BIAS?! This is almost as ridiculous a claim as Trump saying nobody is less anti-Semitic then he is! "I don't like violence. Hold on, Jerry, let me shoot Martha's f***ing house up because she disagreed with me." Do you not see how f***ing stupid this is? If you want to get unbiased debates, edgy progressive mid-20s men who wank to Bernie Sanders in their free time is not the answer.
I guess my question is this, Kyle: How do you sleep at night knowing that the hype around you bringing integrity back to debates was complete bulls***?

[Kingpoleon]

John Avlon Tweets:

@JohnOliver stands with me against Kulinski's bias. I hope Cory Booker receives a full apology from Kulinski. #BookerBias #BiasedKulinski

The MS media mistreated Booker & response - completely ignored Kulinski's bias. I'm proud to have said so first. #BookerBias #BiasedKulinski

I hope Booker will endorse someone soon - great guy who was ruined by Kulinski's overwhelming bias against him. #BookerBias #BiasedKulinski

[rpryor03]

The Situation Room Panel

Wolf Blitzer: What do you all think about this Cory Booker scenario?

Kayleigh McEnany: CROOKED DEMOCRATS! VOTE FOR TRUMP, #MAGA!

Ana Navarro: Like my friend Ben Constine says, [MODERATE HERO DRIVEL GOES HERE].

Van Jones: As a supporter of Cory Booker, I am still very outraged. He needs to endorse Elizabeth Warren or Tammy Baldwin to ensure that his ideas are kept in the picture.

Nina Turner: CORRUPT DEMOCRATS! KYLE KULINSKI NEEDS TO APOLOGIZE AND THEN GO DIE IN A HOLE!

[Blackacre]

Im surprised Nina Turner would side with Booker over Kyle

But also I should probably have an official response from Booker considering everything around that debate and his treatment

[GoTfan]

Public statement issued by Kyle Kulinski in conjunction with legal counsel

The accusations of Mr Avlon and Mr Oliver merely show how mainstream media feels threatened when someone does not defer to the established sensibilities. Mr Kulinski's refusal to apologize for a relatively simple question that should've been easily answered is soemthing that has been lacking from the mainstream media for generations.

Both Mr Avlon and Mr Oliver showed deference to Mrs Clinton four years ago while openly mocking Mr Sanders, and we can produce evidence of this upon request. All this does is showed that they feel threatened.

Furthermore, I would be very interested to hear how Mr Oliver got a hold of my recordings; The Young Turks, Secular Talk, no other TYT affiliates nor The Plog Show have freely released footage, despite the fact it was streamed live on these channels.

I have consulted with legal counsel and am currently reviewing all available legal remedies to the situation.

[America Needs R'hllor]

Fun fact: real life Tal Schneider shared a John Oliver video yesterday. Quite ironic
Antway, I should probably write something soon.

[Blackacre]

yeah, I might delay the Wisconsin primary for a bit to make the next update a response, using my own character, Stephen Colbert. Not sure though, it might be out of my place to comment on things the pundits are doing, but on the other hand real-world pundits affect the news cycle and the national conversation.

However, before I make an in-universe reaction, I may as well make an out-of-universe one.

I'm actually really pleased with the ripples caused by the debate. This is exactly the kind of thing I wanted to see when I put the pundit system in place: various pundits engaging both with the story and with one another. In-universe, the idea to have internet political talk show hosts was a major risk, and clearly it was a controversial one that might not have paid off. Kyle Kulinski got a lot of bad press for his questions, while also being dissatisfied with the debate as a whole, the candidates got questions they did not want to have to answer (mostly) and wouldn't have gotten from a different debate format, and mainstream news outlets get one of their most vocal non-Trump critics on the air with millions of views.

On the other hand, these things might all be positives. If you're an undecided primary voter, maybe these questions resonated with you and gave you answers you would not have otherwise gotten. TYT and The Plog get a lot of new publicity, and important debates on biased questioning get rekindled. It's a fascinating development. Plus, I highly doubt anybody's going to point any fingers at Tal Schneider

On a more meta note, the debate actually didn't affect any primary results; I had those written a while ago and the debate was more last-minute. Cory Booker's campaign was already on life support due to his geographic base of support not coming through for him like he needed and the endorsements not really coming. The only way I would have adjusted his trajectory is if he absolutely nailed the debate, (and with Kyle co-running the show that was simply not possible) which would have given him wins in Missouri and North Carolina, but even then that would only have carried him to the Northeast Primaries or Super Tuesday 4.

However, there actually is an in-universe consequence: Booker's gotten a lot of sympathy from the press after his withdrawal, and he might metaphorically cash that goodwill in for influence in the form of an endorsement.

[The_Doctor]

This is an amazing timeline.

[Kingpoleon]

Spenstar, before Booker gives a response, could I appear on John Oliver's show?

[jburnx2]

John Oliver tweet: @iamjohnoliver
@KyleKulinski debate footage was obtained by my team directly from @TheDemocrats. If you'd like to go into a further debate...
...about media bias, I'd be glad to have a non-satirical debate about it on my show. #DemDebate

[Blackacre]

Spenstar, before Booker gives a response, could I appear on John Oliver's show?

Sure. You'll have to cooordinate with jburnx2 for that, since he controls the John Oliver character, but yeah I'm more than willing to wait for that before continuing the story

[Blackacre]

This is an amazing timeline.

I don't think I could possibly overstate how much this means to me

[jburnx2]

Spenstar, before Booker gives a response, could I appear on John Oliver's show?

Sure. You'll have to cooordinate with jburnx2 for that, since he controls the John Oliver character, but yeah I'm more than willing to wait for that before continuing the story

I'd be more than happy to have him on Oliver's show.

[Tricks33]

This looks like a cuality timeline to me. I am interrested in who will win.

[Blackacre]

Hey jburnx and Kingpoleon, have you two talked about or started working on the John Oliver thing? Is Kingpoleon just borrowing Oliver or are you two doing a collaborative thing? If I'm halting story progression (Booker's response, Wisconsin, and so on) until this happens, I'd like to know what the status is

[Blackacre]

So I'll do the Colbert response now, and I'll give you guys the weekend to do the Kingpoleon/John Oliver crossover before I have Booker respond and continue with the story.


Welcome to The Late Show! I'm Stephen Colbert. How's everybody's day? Good? Nice. You know who isn't having a good day? Kyle Kulinski. You see, now that US Senator and Democratic Ghost of Christmas Past Cory Booker has dropped out, there's been a backlash against Mt. Kulinski, because a lot of people seem to think that his treatment of Booker at the last debate is what killed Booker's chances. Now, that is a great story for the Booker campaign to tell itself, but come on. We've seen the formula of your campaign, Senator. There's just a little too much Jeb Bush for it to have ever worked.

But that's not to say Mr. Kulinski shouldn't be criticised at all. Now, I've had him on the show, he's a nice man, very intelligent, very thoughtful, but if you remember, he did go out of his way to talk about how much he disliked Booker. So when I found out he was co-hosting the debate, I was intrigued. How would this man square his concerns with Booker, with the need to remain impartial? The answer: he didn't. Not at all. I've seen fairer questioning of an establishment Democratic Presidential candidate at the Benghazi hearings.

But let's give credit where it's due. There's been a lot of back-and-forth over that aspect of the debate, but there was also a lot of talk about healthcare, super PACs, campaign finance, and so on. Kyle Kulinski has a lot to learn, sure, but thanks to him, discussions have been sparked that wouldn't have happene without him, both intentionally and not, and for that, I feel like the debate was a success. Also, let me point this out, and everyone seems to be in agreement here: Tal Schneider did an amazing job! We got a great show for you tonight! Ron Wyden will be joining us, and we have some decrees courtesy of one Big Furry Hat!

[mjwatts1983]

Glad to see Colbert is going strong in 2020.

Also 2020 has a significant anniversary.

On 17 October 2005, the world was introduced to greatness that is the #ColbertNation

[jburnx2]

I can't yet send private messages, so I'll let Kingpoleon borrow the Oliver character for the crossover.

[Blackacre]

[America Needs R'hllor]

The Plog- Tal Schneider's Political Blog

April 10th 2020



Well, this has certainly been a very interesting month for our Blog! Moderating a Democratic debate, which was without a doubt the highest point of my career as an independent journalist and an amazing reward for all this time dealing with media companies not paying for my work and other issues small businesses have to face. I'm very humbled by all the love that my long-time readers were giving me for such a long time, and the overwhelming support I now have from so many people after this debate.
But the month that followed the debate was certainly not lacking action! I had no doubt that the debate, moderated by two non-mainstream journalists such as me and Kyle Kulinski, would be controversial, but I did not imagine that it would cause such a big controversy. Since I was, obviously, a big part of this debate I think it's time I commented on it at length. Three points:
1. Kyle is a great guy, and it was a pleasure working on this debate with him. He's intelligent, he's funny and he's very passionate about progressive agenda.
2. I do agree that his questioning was not the most balanced one ever, but I don't think it's fair to say that it was extremely biased. More like, it was extremely progressive. Let's all remember that he asked Senator Brown a very critical question about his support for a public option instead of a single-payer system. I was also there when we chose the audience questions, and the questions eventually chosen for Senator Baldwin was a very critical audience PACs question. He insisted on this question. The one chosen for Senator Warren was an even more critical one about donations from the securities and investments industries, and Kyle pursued it stubbornly when Warren dodged.
3. So while the questioning against Booker did show Kyle's opinion, I think he was, overall, a wonderful moderator. No one else would've pursued these questions, which are very important to the Democratic base, with such dedication. He doesn't deserve to be attacked so harshly.

So with that aside, let us inspect The Road to the Presicency.

As always, I will link to the first part of this segement, which serves as a reference to the various candidates' starting positions: https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=252835.125

  President Donald J. Trump- 46%
Having secued the Republican nomination, and with a Democratic field in an extremely contentious environment, Donald Trump seems to be having a good time. But despite all this, he remains unpopular and his Presidency remains plagued by problems, so his chances remain below the 50%.
Of course, this also depends on which of the Democrats he will be running against- for example, Senator Brown is considered liklier to unseat the President than Senator Warren. On this subject, we sent a question to the Trump campaign:

Now that the Democratic field is consisting of three candidates, and we know that one of them will be running against President Trump, which of the three does your campaign think would be the easiest to defeat, and which do you think would be the toughest?
Response from the Trump Campaign: We believe Donald Trump could easily prevail against anyone nominated by the Crooked Democratic Party.

  Senator Sherrod Brown- 25%
Sherrod Brown, in the recent months, has succeeded in winning consistently in grounds where he was not expected to win. First, he pushed out Bill de Blasio and Cory Booker by doing surprisingly well with the African-American voters in the South. Then, he showed his strength in the Midwest, and did very well in other areas. He seems to be the favourite for the Democratic nomination.
We sent a question to Senator Brown's campaign, too:

Senator Brown appears to be on the lead, but there's still a long path until the end. Do you believe that a continuing contentious primary is harming the Democratic prospects, and that your opponents should drop out so that the Democrats can concentrate on Trump, or do you think that the primary is actually good?
Response from the Brown Campaign: While it would be wonderful for our campaign if Senators Warren and Baldwin dropped out tomorrow, we know that won't happen. The Democratic nominating process is designed to give every primary voter a competitive choice. Senator Brown knew from the start that he was going to be competing with other Democrats until every state votes. If we do win, we want it to be because we've earned it, not because it was given to us.

Senator Brown's campaign manager, Justin Barasky, added to the response a letter thanking me for moderating the debate fantastically. I'm humbled. Thank you, Justin!

  Senator Elizabeth Warren- 17%
Warren, initially, was the frontrunner. But now she seems to be lagging behind Sherrod Brown- she does well almost every week, but he seems to always edge her out. Still, she remains popular, and with the coming contests in the Northeast, from which she hails, and the staunchly liberal pacific coast, she's still a very strong candidate.
We sent Warren's campaign the same question as Brown's:

Senator Warren, right now, is trailing Senator Brown. Do you not think that a continuing contentious primary is harming the Democratic prospects, and that dropping out so that the Democrats can concentrate on Trump would be best, or do you think that the primary is actually good?
Response from the Warren Campaign: the Primaries are far from over. Wisconsin votes soon, and New York soon after that. We don't believe stifling debate by dropping out is good for anybody, and we certainly don't believe we don't have a chance to win. Senator Warren will fight for every single vote in every single state.

  Senator Tammy Baldwin- 12%
Baldwin's campaign seems to have slim chances. She seems poised to either lose in her homestate, wisconsin, or barely win it, and afterwards she doesn't seem to have many openings to pass Warren or Brown. There's only one place that might save her- California.
We sent her campaign this question:

During the campaign, Senator Baldwin seemed to make Hispanics her base in the Democratic party. If Senator Baldwin wins her home state, will she continue fighting until the California primary, which seems favourable to her, despite lagging behind Senators Brown and Warren?
Response from the Baldwin Campaign: Tammy Baldwin's goal right now is to convince the people of Wisconsin, who have sent her to the Senate twice, to support her for President. That is our current top priority.

  Senator Cory Booker- 0%

  Senator Al Franken- 0%

  Senator Ted Cruz- 0%

  Mayor Bill de Blasio- 0%

  Governor Kate Brown- 0%

  Senator Ron Wyden- 0%

  Governor Tom Wolf- 0%

  Senator Tammy Duckworth- 0%

  Senator Maria Cantwell- 0%

  Governor Andrew Cuomo- 0%

[Kingpoleon]

John Avlon answering one of Oliver's questions

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[Blackacre]

I decided against a response from Booker. He wisely chose to stay mum and let the controversy fade into the ether. So, on with the story! We had a state about to vote...

Thursday, April 9th, 2020

Wisconsin Primary Vote Count/Delegate Allocation:
Sen. Brown: 41% - 38 Delegates
Sen. Baldwin: 40% - 37 Delegates
Sen. Warren: 19% - 19 Delegates
(93 Pledged, 3 Unpledged)

American Samoa
Northern Mariana Islands
Americans Abroad
Guam
US Virgin Islands

Senator Sherrod Brown: 882 Delegates
Senator Elizabeth Warren: 635 Delegates
Senator Tammy Baldwin: 567 Delegates
Unpledged: 657 Delegates

• 131 Superdelegates
• 148 Delegates won by Senator Al Franken
• 378 Delegates won by Senator Cory Booker

4,707 Delegates
2,740 Allocated
2,382 To Win

Well, Tammy Baldwin suffered a large setback today, with her own state voting against her by the slimmest of margins. I wonder how she’ll bounce back from this one.

Being a candidate sucks…

She still has New York, and the Northeast, and California waiting to vote. Delegate-rich states that could change the entire dynamic of the race, a race where nobody’s hit 1,000 delegates yet and she’s only 300 behind the frontrunner.

You fight for survival, aware of the corpses surrounding you and your opponents that used to be your friends…

She’s performed great among hispanic voters, and California has a ton of them! That alone could close up the gap and help her make a case to be the party’s nominee.

All the while we in the media cheer you on, or boo you, because we want to see spilled guts!

Tammy Baldwin still has a chance! It’s a setback, but she still has a chance! Remember the first debate? She was a nobody before that, and now look at her!

Because this is a blood sport.

Please don’t do this.

It’s like the Hunger Games/

Please, no, I’m begging you, don’t do this!

No, it’s more than that.

Stop!

It’s…!

Hungry for Power Games: And Then There Were Two (and Donald Trump)




Yes, yes! Welcome, citizens, to the Hungry for Power Games! Tributes, assemble! Oh, so few remain. Three liberals, two women, and a racist in a pear tree! Yes, I love it! Sadly, citizens, we lost one of our bravest tributes: Wisconsin Senator and the Billy Baldwin to Elizabeth Warren’s Alec Baldwin… Tammy Baldwin. The liberal Senator from Wisconsin, who somehow became the candidate of choice for the Democratic Party’s latino voters, and the first LGBT candidate to get this far. Sadly, she was undercut by a rival with many of her skills, much of the same appeal, and John Kasich’s severed head.

It all came to a head when she asked her home state’s voters to throw her a lifeline, and they said “new phone who dis?” So sad for her! With no viable path forward, It’s come to the end of the line for Tammy Baldwin. Let us bid farewell, to the fallen.

THE FALLEN
TAMMY BALDWIN
DISTRICT: CHEESE

Next time: Start spreading the news....

[America Needs R'hllor]

Nooo, Tammy!
Ah, well. Brown 2020!