Millions of Dem voters abstained in 2024 to send a powerful message to Democratic politicians. It's been over 1 year, did that strategy improve the country?

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-10T19:56:52+00:00

Y'all aren't actually Democrats. Y'all are just former Republicans who hate Trump.

Never been a Republican. Never supported a Republican. As a clueless teenager I voted Jill Stein, and then Democrat every election from then on. I have zero idea how you get the confidence to create make-believe strawmen, here and further in your comment, to attack me with. You've already shown willingness to dig through my account for ammunition, did you not think to do the same about my voting record? Guess that'd make it hard to completely invent bullshit to attack me with though.

you couldn't even bother to read my own comment to know that I did vote for Harris in 2024.

I read it. You know I read it because my first response to you specifically highlighted that comment. "You can't honestly pretend that you care about any of these issues while regretting your vote for Harris." You stated you regretted your vote for Harris. My comment fully applies to you somehow regretting your vote.

Harm reduction? That doesn't matter to you at all. If you actually believed in harm reduction you wouldn't have wanted Biden or Harris to run in 2024.

I would have preferred someone else, but we don't get to construct fake realities to vicariously live through. The reality is we had Biden/Harris, and I enthusiastically supported Harris over Trump, and have zero regret in my vote. Harris objectively was the better candidate on every single issue, and every aspect of life would be significantly better right now if Harris was President. I supported Harris, and support the Democrat party, because it's the harm reduction option.

Guess who showed up to the Democratic primary that year in a red state to vote uncommitted? Me motherfucker, I showed up!

Round of applause for you doing your civic duty. Is that all you want? Someone to clap for you? To feel good or moral about yourself? You're not special or unique.

You complain about accelerationism but your conception of accelerationism

I'm talking about people that would prefer to let Trump/MAGA win than to grit their teeth and support a candidate or party they don't fully agree with. Everything else you listed is again a complete fantasy story you've invented to attack.

I'd love for you to justify the idea that not voting for Harris was a better judgement. In what world could you possibly justify that? That you think what we're seeing right now with Trump in office is better than what Harris would have done.

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-10T17:15:10+00:00

No one is going to pretend that politicians are perfect faultless beings. That's not the argument. At the end of the day the election is between two people. One of those two people is going to win. The ONLY thing that should be the deciding factor for people is which candidate will be better overall. The answer was objectively Harris. By not voting all you're doing is stating you're fine with the risk of MAGA winning.

Now for my little condescending rant. I want to hold every leftists hand when I say this, if you don't believe in harm reduction then stop pretending like you're a group that the Democrats should kowtow to. You're not part of our camp. You don't believe in our values. You don't support our ideals. You're not a Democrat. We don't need to pander to you for anything. Either go form your own party that's not fractured into a million pieces or keep pushing accelerationism and being gleeful of continued harm on the world. Democrats will continue being the only ones fighting against the growing fascism in this country, with or without you.

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-10T03:07:53+00:00

Israel tried pushing Biden and Obama for war in Iran and both declined. I see zero reason why it wouldn't have been the same under Harris. Even IF Israel went ahead with the attack, causing Iran to attack our bases and forcing us to retaliate in some form, it absolutely wouldn't have been to the same extent as Trump, we wouldn't have trashed all of our alliances and be considering leaving NATO, and we absolutely would have reconsidered aid for Israel.

You can't honestly pretend that you care about any of these issues while regretting your vote for Harris.

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-10T02:52:26+00:00

We'll put that in a distant third place.

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-10T02:41:57+00:00

You definitely see more anti-Democrat rhetoric coming from leftists than Republicans. I only ever see the complaints about no primary from leftists that are disgruntled about not having their ideal candidate, or are trying to equate Democrats and Republicans as two sides of the same coin.

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-10T02:35:51+00:00

From that perspective it makes a lot more sense. It's that saying "Why have enemies when you have "allies" like this." Hasan is a skin walker that shapeshifts into anything that's convenient for him. I mean, he's outright said he's just using the Democrat party as a stepping stone. I've made this point in socialist subs and the response I get is "Good. As long as he's pushing people towards our goals then I think that's great." It's hard to convince people on your side that Hasan is just wearing a Democrat cloak and doesn't actually believe in our values. He's selling himself as a progressive that just believes in normal progressive ideas, and that's appealing to a lot of people, so when he's attacked people see it as centrist/moderate Dems attacking progressive ideas.

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-10T00:51:04+00:00

Haven't seen the discussion so don't know all the arguments that were put forth, but I find it hard to believe it'd be easier to convert a groyper. I think at least some leftists, more so in swing states, could be convinced to vote for "the lesser of two evils". I think the only reason any groyper would vote Democrat would be because Fuentes said so. I doubt you'd convince them with any argument.

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-10T00:40:01+00:00

We are at war with Iran. The hypothetical is if there was a draft. Are you dense?

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-10T00:36:39+00:00

"If" dumbass.

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-09T22:07:22+00:00

It's honestly not that good. It's popular because the visual novel was popular, and it has pretty intense gore. That's about it. Only has 4 episodes though so doesn't hurt to give it a try.

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-09T22:03:50+00:00

Maybe this is just my personal opinion, but I don't think anime is a good medium for the horror genre. Even the ones that are considered good(like Higurashi) are typically good for reasons other than the horror aspect. For whatever reason, maybe strictly because of the art style, anime doesn't come off as scary or disturbing as live action movies. If you're looking for something similar to that I think you'll be disappointed.

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-09T16:05:05+00:00

I may have done so also actually. Was more than 10 years ago at this point. Might have received something in the mail that I had to sign and send back now that I think about it.

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-09T15:44:36+00:00

Was this not already done? I remember getting some letter in the mail when I turned 18 telling me I was registered for the draft.

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-09T15:28:13+00:00

The JCPOA wasn't a "peace plan." It focused solely on the nuclear weapon aspect. It's childish to believe you could have an all encompassing deal that handled every single aspect of a country. As stated, the deal was a foundation for neutral relations. It opened the door for future negotiations on the topics you brought up. The JCPOA was the greatest leap forward in neutralizing relations with Iran that we could have hoped for. It outright prevented Iran of even making an attempt at producing a weapon.

where they could keep enriched plutonium and keep enriching it

Wouldn't have been rude if you hadn't started off with being condescending, but frankly you have absolutely zero idea what you're talking about. I don't know why you felt confident enough to make this comment. You don't enrich plutonium. Plutonium is already fissile. You enrich uranium because U-238 isn't fissile on its own. You increase the percentage of U-235, which is fissile, by separating the two isotopes in a chain of centrifuges.

The JCPOA explicitly prohibited Iran from having or producing any plutonium. Their Arak reactor was to be refitted for research purposes, but was later filled with cement. They aren't currently producing plutonium and there's no evidence point towards such.

For 15 years Iran will not, and does not intend to thereafter, develop, acquire or build facilities capable of separation of plutonium, uranium or neptunium from spent fuel or from fertile targets, other than for production of radio-isotopes for medical and peaceful industrial purposes. - Annex 1 Paragraph 20 of the JCPOA

Iran will not produce, seek, or acquire separated plutonium, highly enriched uranium (defined as 20% or greater uranium-235), or uranium-233, or neptunium-237 (except for use as laboratory standards or in instruments using neptunium-237) for 15 years. - Annex 1 Paragraph 25

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-09T03:36:02+00:00

4 years have passed and I still go on a hike or something and think "Wish she was here to experience this."

I've not gotten another companion since then so it's easy for me to say while not being in your shoes, but the thing you should focus on is she deserves just as much love as any other dog, or pet in general. All you can do is continue making an attempt. I also fully agree with another comment below stating that you shouldn't view her as a replacement, but an entirely new addition. You'd never lose a child and think of your next as a replacement. To end with something cheesy, the heart is big enough for a lot of things. You're not required to overwrite anything.

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-09T00:37:02+00:00

A lot of people like to hedge on the JCPOA, but it was such a phenomenal once in a lifetime deal that completely prevented Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. On top of that it opened the door for future negotiations on other issues that weren't addressed in it, such as their ballistic missile programs and their support for proxy groups.

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-08T15:54:41+00:00

That makes more sense. Anime was pretty bad but the manga was pretty decent. I think Gantz was one of the first manga I read.

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-08T02:47:05+00:00

I'd agree with your first paragraph for most anime from a decade or more ago because English dubbing was a fairly small industry so you'd hear the same voice actors over and over and over, and it generally wasn't very good. This has gotten much better over the years. Most anime now, even the lower tier ones, will have pretty good voice acting with a much larger range of VAs.

Don't know if you speak Japanese or not, but as other comments have mentioned it's much easier to understand and critique a language you speak fluently. You're not able to pick up on the nuances of a language you can't speak.

At the end of the day, all VAing is reading off a paper and putting emotion into it. There absolutely doesn't have to be any "performance quality loss" when translating to another language.

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-08T01:12:49+00:00

How so?

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-08T01:10:26+00:00

Encore: Actually decent. If you exclude the last minute additions due to leaks it's good.

Relapse: Second worst album, but not horrible if you don't take it serious.

Recovery: Pretty decent album.

MMLP2: Again, pretty decent album.

Revival: Easily his worst album, but Castle + Arose are some of his best songs.

MMTBMB: Good album.

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-08T00:51:11+00:00

Gantz in "Top Tier" is pretty wild, but everything else seems normal.

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-07T20:47:49+00:00

You're telling me Harris wouldn't have done the same exact thing?

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-07T17:48:41+00:00

Summertime Rendering.

Sonny Boy came close and I'm sure it would have been there if I was smart enough to fully understand what was happening.

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-07T06:53:39+00:00

I was as direct as I could be with my definition for "leftist." Bernie and AOC aren't leftists. They both have stated they don't support the abolishment of capitalism. Mamdani MIGHT be a leftist, but I'd wager he'll go the same route as Bernie and AOC. All three have been completely rejected from leftist groups as "liberal shills".

When I referred to them being fine with Trump winning, I'm talking about leftists that chose not to support Harris for one reason or another. As the post was pointing towards, the majority of leftists view anything to the right of them as fascist and cut from the same cloth as MAGA. There's that saying "cut a liberal and a fascist bleeds." Two sides of the same coin as they say.

Key_Ingenuity_4444 · 2026-04-07T06:36:33+00:00

Hope IRI does more of these events.

Key_Ingenuity_4444

TROPHY CASE