‘It’s Not a Joke’: A ‘Simpsons’ Writer Holds His First Presidential Campaign Rally
‘It’s Not a Joke’: A ‘Simpsons’ Writer Holds His First Presidential Campaign Rally
“这不是玩笑”：《辛普森一家》编剧举办首次总统竞选集会
On a sunny Friday afternoon in a park overlooking the Silver Lake Reservoir in Los Angeles, about 30 people—including three in costume as Uncle Sam, Darth Vader, and Elsa from Frozen—gathered to hear the first official stump speech of Dan Greaney, candidate for the 2028 US presidential election. 在一个阳光明媚的周五下午，洛杉矶银湖水库旁的一座公园里，大约30人聚集在一起，其中包括三位分别装扮成山姆大叔、达斯·维达和《冰雪奇缘》中艾莎公主的参与者。他们聚集于此，是为了聆听2028年美国总统大选候选人丹·格里尼（Dan Greaney）的首次正式竞选演说。
“My fellow Americans,” Greaney began, standing at a lectern in front of a row of American flags flapping in a light breeze. After this opening, he added, “Yeah, let’s go with that. It’s a classic.” “我的美国同胞们，”格里尼站在讲台前开始了他的演讲，身后是一排在微风中飘扬的美国国旗。说完这句开场白后，他补充道：“没错，就用这句吧。这是经典。”
That self-aware little aside is the sort of thing you’d expect from a veteran TV writer who has worked on The Simpsons since its golden era in the 1990s. Apart from penning classic episodes like “Summer of 4 Ft. 2” and “King-Size Homer,” Greaney is also known for writing “Bart to the Future,” a flash-forward episode, originally aired in 2000, in which Lisa Simpson is the newly inaugurated US president and struggling with a financial mess left behind by her predecessor. “As you know, we’ve inherited quite a budget crunch from President Trump,” she explains. 这种带有自我意识的小插曲，正是你对一位自20世纪90年代《辛普森一家》黄金时代起就担任编剧的资深电视人所期待的风格。除了创作过《Summer of 4 Ft. 2》和《King-Size Homer》等经典剧集外，格里尼还因撰写了2000年播出的闪回剧集《Bart to the Future》而闻名。在那一集中，丽莎·辛普森刚就任美国总统，正为前任留下的财务烂摊子而苦恼。她解释道：“如你们所知，我们从特朗普总统那里继承了相当严重的预算危机。”
Because of that joke, Greaney is often credited with predicting the real Trump’s unlikely rise to the White House. “It was a warning to America,” he told The Hollywood Reporter early in the 2016 election cycle. “It was pitched because it was consistent with the vision of America going insane.” 正是因为这个笑话，格里尼常被认为预言了现实中特朗普入主白宫的“不可能事件”。在2016年大选初期，他告诉《好莱坞报道》：“那是一个给美国的警告。之所以提出这个构思，是因为它符合美国陷入疯狂的愿景。”
For months now, Greaney has been leaning into his “Prophet” alter ego, posting Instagram videos of himself predicting the downfall of Trump and his allies in an Old Testament-style gray beard and wig. On Friday, however, he wore the more conventional suit and tie of a politician running for office. And his message was earnest. 几个月来，格里尼一直沉浸在“先知”的化身中，在Instagram上发布视频，戴着旧约风格的灰胡子和假发，预言特朗普及其盟友的垮台。然而，在周五，他穿上了竞选公职的政客们更传统的西装和领带。他的信息也变得严肃起来。
“It’s pretty ridiculous for me to be running for president,” he said. “It’s the sort of thing that a cartoon dad might do—somebody like, you know, Peter Griffin,” he said with a smile, referencing the patriarch of Family Guy rather than Homer Simpson. Yet, Greaney went on to say, he was moved to stand up for the values that he believes most Americans still share. “I think democracy is under attack, and in many ways [has] been demolished by a rogue Supreme Court, by a lawless president, and by the cliques of billionaires that they work for,” he told the crowd, mostly made up of friends and colleagues in entertainment. “我竞选总统确实挺荒谬的，”他说。“这就像是卡通片里的爸爸会做的事——比如彼得·格里芬（Peter Griffin）那样的人，”他笑着说，引用的是《恶搞之家》的家长，而不是荷马·辛普森。然而，格里尼接着表示，他是为了捍卫自己认为大多数美国人依然认同的价值观而站出来的。“我认为民主正受到攻击，在许多方面，它已经被一个流氓最高法院、一个无法无天的总统以及他们所效力的亿万富翁集团所摧毁，”他对着人群说道，台下大多是他在娱乐界的朋友和同事。
“It’s not a joke,” Greaney said of his campaign, despite his long career in comedy going all the way back to a stint as president of the Harvard Lampoon. (He has also worked as a journalist and practiced law.) “Comedy isn’t just about laughter,” he continued. “Comedy is about truth. And at The Simpsons, one of the things we all tried to do was to say the truth about American life, to look behind the humbug and hoopla and say the truth about America with love and humor in a way that people saw and connected to, and that is what I hope to do here.” “这不是玩笑，”格里尼在谈到他的竞选时说，尽管他有着悠久的喜剧生涯，甚至可以追溯到他担任《哈佛讽刺家》杂志主席的时期。（他还曾担任过记者并从事过法律工作。）“喜剧不仅仅是为了欢笑，”他继续说道。“喜剧关乎真相。在《辛普森一家》，我们所有人努力做的事情之一，就是说出关于美国生活的真相，透过虚伪和喧嚣，用爱与幽默以一种人们能看到并产生共鸣的方式说出关于美国的真相，而这正是我希望在这里做到的。”
“So, yes, it is a bit absurd, but it’s not a joke,” he reiterated. “And, in fact, it’s an act of conscience.” “所以，是的，这有点荒谬，但它不是一个玩笑，”他重申道。“事实上，这是一种良知的行为。”
Greaney concluded his own remarks by saying, “I invite you all to join my movement and create an America that works for all, including Darth Vader.” 格里尼在结束发言时说：“我邀请大家加入我的运动，共同创造一个为所有人服务的美国，包括达斯·维达。”
Running as a progressive Republican in the tradition of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, Greaney has laid out a platform that includes a pledge to expand the Supreme Court to 13 justices while reforming the judicial branch to limit its purview and investigating corruption among its members. He favors universal health care, a Green New Deal, and policies to increase access to affordable housing. 作为一名秉承亚伯拉罕·林肯和西奥多·罗斯福传统的进步派共和党人，格里尼提出了一个竞选纲领，其中包括承诺将最高法院大法官人数扩大到13人，同时改革司法部门以限制其职权范围，并调查其成员中的腐败行为。他支持全民医保、“绿色新政”以及增加经济适用房供给的政策。
Greaney also advocates for a constitutional amendment to repeal Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the landmark SCOTUS decision that lifted restrictions on the political spending of corporations, and prosecution for any contributions to Trump’s campaigns that may have constituted the illegal buying of influence over the administration. In his speech, he vowed to refuse corporate PAC money—“not that it’s pouring in,” he quipped. 格里尼还主张通过宪法修正案，废除“联合公民诉联邦选举委员会案”（Citizens United v. FEC）。这是最高法院的一项里程碑式裁决，取消了对企业政治捐款的限制。他还主张对任何可能构成非法购买行政影响力的特朗普竞选捐款进行起诉。在演讲中，他誓言拒绝企业政治行动委员会（PAC）的资金——“虽然也没人排着队给我送钱，”他打趣道。
Greaney was introduced by artist and writer Mieke Marple, his campaign director, and Brent Forrester, another Simpsons alum. Marple encouraged attendees to sign up for email updates and donate to the campaign. “We will spend your money wisely, I promise,” she said. 格里尼由他的竞选主管、艺术家兼作家米克·马普尔（Mieke Marple）以及另一位《辛普森一家》校友布伦特·福雷斯特（Brent Forrester）介绍出场。马普尔鼓励与会者注册接收电子邮件更新并为竞选捐款。“我保证，我们会明智地使用你们的钱，”她说。
Marple tells WIRED that she has been friends with Greaney for 15 years and came aboard the campaign in part because she “had some free time.” 马普尔告诉《连线》（WIRED）杂志，她与格里尼是15年的朋友，加入竞选团队的部分原因是她“正好有些空闲时间”。
“As an artist, I saw its potential to resonate,” she says. “I know that Dan cares and is sincere, and I wasn’t afraid to do something that looked a little unconventional on the outside and take it really seriously. Because in some ways I feel like that’s what artists do, right? They take unexpected things very seriously, and then it stirs people’s hearts.” “作为一名艺术家，我看到了它产生共鸣的潜力，”她说。“我知道丹很在乎，也很真诚。我不怕去做一些表面上看起来有点非传统的事情，并认真对待它。因为在某种程度上，我觉得这就是艺术家所做的事，对吧？他们非常认真地对待意想不到的事情，然后这会触动人们的心弦。”
For his part, Greaney says that kicking off the campaign “felt good,” even if he was hoping for a better turnout from social media messaging. He emphasized that he’s still learning the ropes of campaigning. Greaney plans to launch a podcast about his run, featuring politically experienced guests who can give him advice. Though there’s a lot of work ahead, he’s energized. “I love a big swing,” Greaney says. “I love a big project.” 格里尼本人表示，启动竞选活动“感觉不错”，尽管他曾希望社交媒体宣传能带来更多人参加。他强调自己仍在学习竞选的门道。格里尼计划推出一档关于他竞选的播客，邀请有政治经验的嘉宾为他提供建议。虽然前路漫漫，但他充满活力。“我喜欢大动作，”格里尼说。“我喜欢宏大的项目。”
And he says he looks forward to meeting new people, including Republicans who are alienated by MAGA extremism and may not hear much “empathy and sympathy” from Democrats. “I don’t really care where it goes in the sense of, if people dislike me, people get in my face—whatever, it’s fine,” Greaney says. “I can take it.” 他说他期待结识新朋友，包括那些被“让美国再次伟大”（MAGA）极端主义疏远，且可能从民主党人那里听不到太多“同情与共鸣”的共和党人。“我并不在乎结果会怎样，如果人们不喜欢我，或者当面指责我——无所谓，没关系，”格里尼说。“我承受得住。”
With his optimism and continued faith in the American project, it seems no coincidence that Greaney was the Simpsons scribe who coined the fictitious word in the town of Springfield’s motto: “A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man.” Perhaps that sentiment, too, was more earnest than anyone realized. 凭借他的乐观精神和对美国事业的持续信念，格里尼正是那个为斯普林菲尔德镇座右铭创造了虚构词汇的《辛普森一家》编剧，这似乎并非巧合：“高尚的精神能使最渺小的人变得伟大（A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man）。”也许，这种情感也比任何人意识到的都要真诚。