Graham Platner Wins in Maine, Turning Anti-Establishment Fight on Susan Collins
7d 20h ago by lemmy.zip/u/favoredponcho in politics from theintercept.com
Amid a raft of negative press that emerged in the last days of the primary, Maine voters picked the Marine Corps veteran in a landslide.
I voted for him. Fuck the establishment. He refused to play dirty politics and sling mud, even when it was slung his way numerous times. I wish there were more candidates of his integrity.
Everyone has a past, but people can grow up and change. Graham is no different. It's who he is today that matters.
If you truely don't believe people can change, then what's the point of finding Jesus, going to prison or rehab, seeking mental therapy, etc.?
We don’t generally forgive convicts and let them have a new life, that’s why recidivism is so bad. Society is also quietly prejudiced against people with mental health issues, which is why it’s so hard to get treated or get time off for it. “Finding Jesus” is loaded in so many different ways I can’t cover that here.
That said, I’m totally for understanding people can change and am very much against ghost banning people with a history that they have grown out of. People do change, everyone has things they’ve fucked up in the past.
Case in point: Smedley Butler.
He was a retired Marine Corps Major General, started out as a true believer but paid attention to all the shit he was involved in and eventually realized that he was just violently enforcing the wishes of the wealthy true rulers of the American state.
So when some of them approached him to join the Business Plot, where they'd coup the US government in a similar fashion to Mussolini's Italian coup (basically march a bunch of soldiers and supporters in to the captial while the government is unprepared to defend against a mob and demand the government be handed over, though in Italy's case it helped that they had a system where a monarch held power over the rest of the government and ended up getting their way by promising to leave the king alone). Butler instead sat in meetings to gather information and then turned on them, at which point the government had some harsh words for the plotters (that included GW Bush's grandfather) before sending them on their way to think about what they did wrong (and how to do it more effectively the next time).
This guy wasn't just a marine but a leader of marines and though he didn't question his orders (that we know of anyways) in the moment, he did reflect on everything he had seen and done and didn't like it. IMO former believers who turn are even more important as allies than those who were always on the right side because the ones who have been on both sides have more experience and knowledge about the specifics of how the other side operates.
Yeah I'm really hoping Platner is another Smedley, but I'm afraid he might not be. Giving power to someone like this is scary. Hell the only reason Smedley was able to stop the business plot is that the conspirators assumed he hadn't changed.
In the primaries I was tentatively pro Platner. In the general I'm just pro Platner. And if he wins and his actions match his words then in 6 years I'll be extremely pro Platner.
Hell, for all I hate Fetterman I'm still glad he didn't lose the general, Senator Mehmet Oz would've been worse.
Ah yes, the old American tradition of letting rich white men get away with literally anything, up to and including High Treason.
Maybe I'm crazy, but "guys I grew out of the murderous Nazi beliefs" just doesn't cut it for me. Especially for someone running for office.
They might even be telling the truth. Don't care, you were a fucking Nazi so I will never trust you with the levers of power.
It's there any Nazi ideology you can quote? Or are we still talking about a covered up tattoo?
I'm not astroturfing shit, I'm just fucking pissed at all the "I refuse to vote for someone who supports genocide" people bending over backwards to avoid criticizing a man who has a Nazi tattoo and has openly talked about murdering Iraqis.
Apparently all you need to do is just say some socialist shit, and you're golden.
Have some fucking standards.
I hope all of this concern ends up being unwarranted, I really do. And I would hold my nose and vote for him in the general if I were in Maine.
But this "how dare you be at all skeptical of a man with a dark, murderous, past and a Nazi tattoo on his chest" shit is just too much.
Like that's really all it takes? Just pay some lip service to socialism, and you're willing to ignore the biggest red flag for a Democratic Senate candidate I can remember ever seeing?
If this guy was actually a Nazi he'd be fast-tracked in the Republican party instead of trying to play on hard mode rehabbing his image as a working class Democrat. You don't even have to cover your tattoos up as a Republican, they just let you be secdef
Let's assume for the sake of this comment that it is all bullshit and he's actually right wing or whatever... The Republican party would now be in a win/win situation in Maine. No matter what the outcome is, they've won. They don't even need to spend money on that race.
And if my grandma had wheels she’d be a bicycle.
Good cop bad cop. I don’t believe they are as stupid as you think.
I think you're more of a Nazi than Platner. He got a pirate tattoo he later regretted. You're branding people with lifelong Scarlet Letters for innocent acts, declaring people inhuman for the most mild of actions. I wouldn't call you a Nazi, but you're definitely displaying more Nazi tendencies than Platner is.
Plus they have an encyclopedic knowledge of Nazi symbology and expect everyone should as well
Seriously. I had never even heard of a totenkopf until it came out he had one. To me it just looks like a skull n bones variant. I might've gotten one myself in complete ignorance. If he'd gotten a swastika, that would be an entirely different matter.
Just consider though; he could have been driving a Volkswagen, using an IBM computer, wearing Chanel cologne, while draped in Hugo Boss. Imagine that. Why do esoteric symbols matter, while the corporations that participated in the genocide still get a pass?
Yeah, it's so bad faith it's comical. It's ridiculously transparent. You could create a police line up of various deaths head iconography, from pirate flags to black death symbolism to US military units, with a few Nazi ones thrown in. Then ask these mosquitos sliming about Platner if they can identify the Nazi ones. I imagine 90% of them would fail that test.
Frankly, unless they're an anti-fascist activist or a historian, anyone with that level of encyclopedic knowledge of SS symbols is a little sus. If someone told me they had that level of knowledge of Nazi symbolism, I would ask them if they also have that level of knowledge of other famous military or authoritarian movements. Do they also have such knowledge of Soviet, Chinese, Roman, or ancient Egyptian military symbolism? Do they study military iconography of all sorts? Or just the SS stuff? Honestly, I think anyone with that level of SS knowledge is telling on themselves.
The totenkopf is not an obscure thing, it's literally like the third or fourth most recognizable nazi symbol after the nazi swastika and the SS runes. Even if you manage to have that massive blind spot, the totenkopf does not look like a jolly roger or any other pirate imagery so that excuse falls flat. Dude knew the whole time it was a nazi tattoo. All that is to say nearly anyone is better than Collins and till he shows he hasn't I'm willing to believe he's changed.
I like voting for impulsive people with no foresight to research something they are permanently doing to themselves!
This the game you want to play?
Lmao, people are known to be impulsive in their 20s when drunk. Not to mention the fact he got the tattoo at a time when we weren't walking around with smart phones in our pockets.
So yeah it's not hard to believe that a 40 yr old has better decision making skills than their 20 yr old self
This is braindead as fuck. Pirate tattoo? Are you a literal child? Platner enjoyed killing civilians so much he went back 4 more times lol. Jesus christ, you people.
What Nazi beliefs has he espoused so far on the campaign trail?
Politicians never lie, good point. And it's not like we have at least two examples of this exact thing happening before.
Alright well I guess we will see. Also fuck Susan Collins. I’m glad she’s outta there.
She's not out of there yet, Platner has only won the Democratic nomination. He still needs to run against her.
That's the level of political knowledge these people possess 🤦
Enjoying killing innocent Iraqis. Next question?
“Four tours as an infantryman in the Marines and then Army, did both Iraq and Afghanistan. It's hard to explain how much I enjoyed combat. It is both physically and intellectually challenging, and incredibly exciting (especially the first few times). I was never a huge fan of killing, at least not for killings sake, but I did love winning and that required killing.”
From his 2015 reddit comments.
Sounds like he very much enjoyed it, lol.
I think that requires a wilful misinterpretation of what he said to conclude he "very much" enjoyed killing given he expressly says he did not. It's certainly questionable, but it's not as blatantly clear as many people are claiming.
Right, he hated doing it so much that he just had to go back 4 times. And then he continued to hate it while he joined Blackwater as a mercenary.
I can't find a single record of him saying he hated it. Many examples of him being disgusted with his past behavior and complacency with imperialism, but in none of them does he say he hated it at the time. Do you have a source where he claims that?
I was being sarcastic, lol. He clearly enjoyed it.
And yet, I wasn't being sarcastic. Do you have anything to back up your claim? Because he has consistently represented himself on this issue, and it fundamentally disagrees with your assertions. I can't find any reason to doubt him or his characterization of himself - which I want to add, is still not exactly great. It's just not cut and dry like you're claiming.
I can't help you with your naivety. If someone continues to put themself in a situation where they're killing innocent civilians, says they can't even explain how much they enjoy "combat", and then tells you they don't like it, and you believe them, that's a you problem.
No, I didn't think you could back your claims up. Thank you for confirming that for me.
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Being forgiven doesn’t mean being chosen to lead the people.
People late to their mcjobs are forgiven less than this.
Being forgiven doesn’t mean being chosen to lead the people.
Right. Votes are what counts, and votes are how one is chosen.
People late to their mcjobs are forgiven less than this.
He's not late to a job. He's running for an office, and he's running with a platform that he owns and a background he owns, and he's running against someone else with their own platform and baggage. This "mcjob" has 2 applicants that have passed the HR screening process and stand a chance at securing the open position. Which applicant is best suited to perform acceptably is up to the voter.
Sure people can change, but has he actually shown anyone that he has changed? Time will tell wether he's just another Fetterman or if he has genuinly changed, but I'm not holding my breath.
All the tankies hate Platner, and all the shill bot accounts do as well. Bot traffic is not just a Reddit problem, everyone knows traffic is shifting to lemmy. Everyone here take care, not every account that comments is doing so in good faith
Coming to the conclusion many of the most die hard tankies on lemmy are plants and I'm a leftist with some communist ideations (leaning a bit more toward anarcho socialism these days tho).
Platner could be a right wing plant, certainly despise his past, but the fact that the establishment is going after him like this tells me he's probably legit. Plus, he'd be replacing Susan Collins, it can't get much worse than her.
Great points. I'm still pretty firmly democratic socialist, but I at least try to have the sense that you and I are on the same sidetm
If we don't form a popular front we lose. And over on the socialist side, I (syndicalist/mutualistish leftist) hold two left wing purity tests: equality/freedom and political pluralism.
Since you mentioned shills and bots, I've been wondering if some of the types always shitting on voting were but figured this place was too small to be botted.
No, bots and people pushing propaganda and divisive narratives are all over the internet, in all social media. It's one of the ways Russia and china are aiming to destabilize the western world and it's working really well
I was surprised that Lemmy allows bots. Terrible idea.
It's up to each instance admin team whether to allow bots (where they can identify them) and whether to defederate from instances that do allow them (again, where they can identify them)
Not that easy to block them. Many of them are part of sophisticated overseas influence operations that may be using local proxies. A couple years ago it was easy to spot them, now it takes work. When you're dealing with chat traffic on this scale...it's a time-consuming job.
I have seen no evidence to support these claims.
Meanwhile, your account is less than one day old.
This critique would make sense of they were actually pushing some sort of product or ideology.
It's up to each instance
There are two types of things called bots:
- Actually programmed accounts, which until very recently were limited to algorithmic responses like counting words, doing unit conversations, or giving random facts
- Disingenuous actors seeking to influence conversations by using multiple fake accounts
The former is what some Lemmy instances "allow". The latter is a complex moderation problem that isn't really allowed so much as hard to differentiate from (dumb, wrong, whatever) organic responses. And with LLMs now may be able to be done algorithmically as well.
The latter is traditionally referred to as a sockpuppet, not a bot.
People who find a Nazi tattoo disqualifying also hate him. A Republican would probably be worse but he's nothing to celebrate
I'd argue he's better than Susan Collins, which is kind of the point here
But you started it with more than those two choices. You had better people available. You could've chosen someone else, someone not such an easy target for Republican propaganda. The people defending him will be called hypocrites.
I doubt the Republicans will find that line of reasoning fruitful, given the actual white nationalist tattoos, and more importantly, the open white nationalist rhetoric by the Secretary of Defense, installed by the Pedo in chief.
I'm sort of out of the loop here. What does he have tattooed? I doubt the guys got a swastika on his chest, eh?
It is indeed not a swastika. It actually has a unique name of its own. It's actually just as easy or perhaps even easier to say than Nazi tattoo. But using it's correct name isn't as manipulative or as leading as calling it just a Nazi tattoo. Which is why they will never call it by name. Because most people would have no clue what it was in the first place lol. Even the guys that he served with have corroborated his story that he didn't know what it was and neither did they. But this is all the people have and they will beat it till they die. Why I don't know. What's in it for them? It certainly isn't honest though.
And it's funny that the name people use ("totenkopf") is just "deaths head", i.e., any skull. The specific one he got did match a Panzer division logo, but it's not a well publicized symbol that would be commonly recognized.
What a load of bullshit, of course he knew what it was.
I swear, y'all will convince yourselves of literally anything.
Legit question: how old was he when he got it?
When I was a marine I did and said a bunch of homophobic stuff. I just did it because it was the thing to do and I didn’t have a fully developed frontal lobe. I wasn’t the only one and there were a bunch of people in the same boat.
If he did it at like 34 I would probably assume he is lying. But if he did it before 25 I would say he did a stupid thing and can possibly look past it if his action match his rhetoric.
Remember everyone gooning for fetterman? He turned into a piece of shit without racist tattoos.
He got the tattoo at 23. Deployed oversees during the Iraq war. Almost 20 years ago. Nearly half his life ago.
I think you're a liar if you say you'd have recognized the SS totenkopf before this attack broke.
And I think you're an idiot if you believe this is a secret Nazi plot that involves intentionally getting and keeping a Nazi tattoo for 20 years and only remembering to cover it up when you run for public office.
So, which are you?
Really? That's your argument? That there's no way that a person would ever recognize an infamous SS symbol, so they must be lying? Lol wow.
I don't know what else to tell you beside, yes I fucking did.
Pretty much anyone who has ever, in their life, studied WW2 and the Nazis beyond a surface level knows the symbol. I grew up watching WW2 documentaries on History Channel, so I'm sure that didn't hurt.
And even if you haven't, it's literally the symbol in the "are we the baddies?" sketch.
Regarding the tattoo, my guess is that he never planned on having the electorate see the tattoo. But why the fuck do I need to analyze this guy's decision about not covering up his Nazi tattoo?
For me, "he has a Nazi tattoo" is enough for me to not support him for public office. It's very simple.
As I've said before, I'm not in Maine, but I would vote for him in the general if I was, and hope he's not a fucking Nazi. Because in our shit system, it's still a better choice than any Republican.
But I guess fuck me for wanting the bar to be a little higher than, "just vote for the murderer with the Nazi tattoo and hope for the best."
It's also pretty disheartening (and unfortunately, not all that surprising) to see the "I refuse to vote for anyone who supports genocide"crowd bend over backwards to avoid being critical of this fucking guy. The reddit edgelord who murdered Iraqis civilians.
Lol. So liar.
We all know the reason you're so hot on this ridiculous line of attack is just because you don't like his politics. You weren't driven off by your imagined mastery of Nazi symbology, you weren't ever going to support him in the first place.
There’s some testimonies online even from his own Reddit account that alluded that he knew the meaning all along. I don’t know guys, but Platner just screams Fetterman 2.0 to me. Would really love to be proven wrong.
Yeah, it's not even like one of the more esoteric symbols, it's the one that is most apparently evil at first glance
You sure are spending an awful lot of time and energy in this thread, defending what is quite a weak line of reasoning. Can I ask whose payroll you're on? It might be time to tell the boss it's not going too well here.
It takes me like 3 sec to type out a comment, dude, this isn't hard work. There's very little time, and essentially no energy put into this.
I fucking wish someone would pay me for this shit. I've literally said that I would vote for the guy if I were in Maine, so I don't think they would want anything to do with me.
I figured it was something like this. The Nazis appropriated so many symbols from so many different cultures that some are definitely not well known.
Yes to be clear I had heard of the totenkoph or the deaths head before. But it took till this false controversy surrounding it and looking at it. That I realized that I'd seen it other places as well. But didn't know what it was even though I knew the name. Your average person knows far less than even that. Which is why, wherever mass media is reporting on it. Or whenever someone trying to manipulate people emotionally speaks of it. They always frame it as Nazi tattoo. Leaving people to imagine unambiguous or well known symbols like the swastika.
This is why education is important. We saw the Totenkpf in school for the first time in like the 6th grade here (northern Europe).
Yep, here in the US it wasn't really touched on.
@andxz @Eldritch Education is important and in 6th grade, I was in a good school but in this country, I never heard of it (maybe it was my lack of hearing but I don't think so).
I just read about Totenkpf. Better late than never. I lost relatives in the camps but it was just not brought up with the kids.
It's a fucking totenkopf, it's like the third most popular Nazi symbol after the swastika and the lightning bolt.
Sorry we didn't all grow up as enthralled by nazi symbology as you apparently did.
I'd say the mustache is higher on that list than an otherwise generic looking skull and crossbones.
Today I learned that knowing something means that I'm in its thrall.
Good to know!
Otherwise generic looking skull and crossbones
So disingenuous. It does not look generic at all. This is a generic skull and crossbones ☠️
The death skull is a very specific design
Sorry, to me it just looks like a pirate flag. That's the exact kind of tattoo I would expect a marine to get.
Well, a death's head is no good, I completely agree. I'm European, though, and so saw these in school relatively early on. I'm just playing the devil's advocate here, but would he have had access to the same level of knowledge?
I'm genuinely curious since I have no (or less, at least) skin in the game.
Maybe my opinion here is twisted because I grew up watching shows on the History Channel (back when it did history) about Nazis and WW2.
That said, I'm pretty sure I learned about Nazi symbols in high school, but I could be misremembering
The Totenkopf skull, in fact I'd only seen it as the ones Mitchell and Webb were wearing for their famous Nazi comedy skit, and personally it took me years to make the connection that that had actually been a Prussian->German->Nazi emblem.
People say it was a totenkopf skull and crossbones like you would see on an SS officers hat. I'd encourage you to look up images of the tattoo and that symbol side-by-side though because aside from the outline i would argue they don't look that similar. He has since had the tattoo covered up with something much less divisive.
I'm European. We covered a lot of that stuff in like 6th grade the first time around, so I have no need to look it up as such since I know exactly what a Totekopf looks like.
Can you show me his tattoo before he had it covered up?
I'm not a Mainer so I can't vote for him. I don't know if he's the best candidate and I'm simply unconvinced by all of the hype about his tattoo. I've heard him speak and he sounds good but it's undeniable that he was discovered by the same political strategists as those that found Fetterman. I honestly wouldn't fault anyone for not voting for him but I'm leaning towards likimg him more than I don't.
You're blind if you can't see thats a totenkopf
looks like a smudge to me. I guess you have to squint your eyes.
I hope I'm wrong, but if I'm not what are you going to say when people ask you how you could possibly have fallen for it when the evidence was literally tattooed on his body.
They’ll be blaming us for losing their election again.
If you have to resort to Republican propaganda to "prove" your point just accept that you're wrong
If you defend people "in your tribe" when they do something wrong you're acting like a Republican
This doesn't come across the most unbiased site ever, exactly.
We need more Graham Platners running and winning.
I can't believe how many "liberals" are falling for the smear campaign by the right against him.
I'd rather have a candidate that admits his mistakes and has now adopted the correct positions, than these establishment freaks virtue signaling while supporting an orange pedophile war criminal.
But but but he was a bad boyfriend in 2012 after 5 tours as a marine. Not abusive but a “bad” boyfriend
According to the woman who founded Ladies for Kavanaugh
It's all the murder that gets me.
What's your excuse for the Nazi tattoo
Here is the actual symbol.
If you had asked me what that symbol was before this campaign, I would have just said a pirate symbol. The only people with obsessive knowledge of SS iconography are WW2 buffs, neonazis, and neonazi WW2 buffs.
If you gave the average person a quiz, asking people to pick out nazi iconography from other uses of that imagery such as pirate flags. Most would fail that quiz. You likely would as well.
I'm sorry, but the "Nazi tattoo" thing is bullshit. A kid got a pirate flag tattoo, later found it was problematic, and covered it up. And bottom feeders like you use that as justification to slander him, even though there is no allegation he has ever been involved in any neo Nazi or similar movements ever before. I think you may be the actual Nazi here.
Yes pretend people alive right now haven’t been raised by family directly affected by Nazis. As if our parents and grandparents didn’t exist.
It's not an obscure symbol, it is one of the most commonly used Nazi emblems, for example seen here:
The average person doesn't have this symbol tattooed on their chest, and as such are less prone to learn about it. When you (a person who presumably doesn't have a Totenkopf on their chest) see a Totenkopf in the countless media about WWII, or the are we the baddies meme, or whatever, it doesn't stand out to you, and it isn't memorable, and you forget, and you don't learn about it. And that makes complete sense.
But if you have it tattooed on your chest, and it's what you see every morning when you brush your teeth, you're a bit more likely to go "wait a minute I know that" when a totenkopf appears on the screen. Maybe you'll miss it the first couple times, but in 18 whole years of adult life with this thing on your chest, you will at some point make the connection between your tattoo and the symbol on David Mitchell's cap.
Also, just as a meta argument: arguing that someone who knows what a Totenkopf is is a nazi but that having it tattooed on your chest is fine is completely fucking bizarre.
Notice how the guy's only response to you is to call you ignorant for pointing out that he didn't actually know a goddamn thing about the topic?
Ehm, cough, cough, …, this is the sign of the 3rd SS Panzer Division. So, yep, it is related to the Third Reich and hence to the Nazi regime.
The only people with obsessive knowledge of SS iconography are WW2 buffs, neonazis, and neonazi WW2 buffs.
And those of us who are high enough on their lists to spend five minutes learning to identify common symbols that indicate danger.
I think you may be the actual Nazi here.
Seriously? This is the worst thing about y'all. You simply won't allow for the possibility that criticism is even genuine, let alone legitimate. Every single time someone raises a potential concern, it's always, "You're the real Nazi!" or "You're a DNC bot!" or whatnot. As if there isn't a single person on the planet who gets worried when a guy with a Nazi tattoo and a history as a mercenary is running for office.
You can argue that Platner is a lesser evil or whatever, but this, "If you have a problem with a totenkopf tattoo, you're the real Nazi" shit is just straight up cult behavior.
Your ignorance of history is not something to be celebrated. You sound naive to a fault. Life will be very hard for you.
Nah that's such a cope. First of all he IS a WW2 buff. Second it's fairly common knowledge that the SS used the skull and crossbones symbol. So if you're getting a skull and crossbones tattoo in CROATIA, literally an Axis nation with a strong Neo-Nazi movement, maybe you should have your guard up?
Oh, and then there's the part where he has reddit comments prior to being called out on his tattoo literally talking about the totenkopf. And comments saying how lots of US military personnel have Nazi-adjacent tattoos but it's totally fine.
The only people with obsessive knowledge of SS iconography are WW2 buffs, neonazis, and neonazi WW2 buffs.
I belong to exactly none of these groups but I know the obvious Nazi symbols because I don't want Nazis around me or the people I love. Fuck off with the obvious fallacies.
This is an invalid argument because it pretends dogwhistles aren't real, it pretends the intent is irrelevant of other interpretations exists.
HE KNEW THE ASSOCIATION AND KEPT IT
Its the symbol used on that " are we the baddies?" Skit, people recognize it as a Nazi symbol in pop culture.
I didn't when I saw the tattoo and I didn't recognize it as being the same as the one in from the That Mitchell and Webb Look skit, either. You must have an incredible eye for detail and amazing memory that you recognized the Nazi tattoo and were able to also recall it matched the symbol on a hat ypu saw in a sketch show.
Or maybe you're trying too hard.
Dude got what he thought was a cool looking tattoo, not knowing the Nazi reference. What's the other evidence you're using to judge him here?
I wasn't judging him, I'm saying people know that symbol as a symbol that Nazis used. Perhaps I recognize it because my dad watched WWII films/documentary as a kid.
If I'm suppose to judge him then his job working for Blackwater doesn't paint the best picture of an individuals morals. I'm happy that he won, but his past is strange for a progressive.
That came out roughly 1 year before he got the tattoo.
How many British comedies do you think a deployed Marine was watching?
I still see it as a just a pirate symbol. I'm 90% certain you wouldn't have been able to recognize it as a Nazi symbol in a line up of other deaths head symbols before this campaign started. Here it is:
To me this is just a pirate flag. Do you also call everyone that owns a dog a Nazi, because Hitler owned a dog?
A likely scenario is that a bunch of guys on leave gets drunk and everybody gets tattoos, and he drunkenly chooses this one because it looks wicked cool when you're drunk. Perhaps they all got the same tattoo, and someone else picked it out.
Who knows? It's all speculation, including that it's proof that he's an enthusiastic Nazi, but hiding it to fool the Libz. In fact, the drunken shore leave story makes more sense than being a Manchurian Candidate.
I'm a lifelong unaffiliated independent, and all I know is that I want the Dems to take the Senate majority, and Platner is key to that. I'd rather have a Dem Senate with Platner in it, than a MAGA Senate without him.
Can confirm that drunken sailors will get dumb tattoos. I used to work with a veteran who drunkenly got the Laughing Cow mascot tattooed on his thigh.
Dumb tattoos are not the same as a Nazi tattoo.
A friend of mine came back from the navy with a tattoo of 2 inch high old english block letters:
CHICKEN
POT PIE
Military on leave get some bad judgement tattoos all the time.
Seriously. This is downright tame as far as military tattoos go. A 23 year marine was drunk with his buddies and thought a pirate tattoo would look pretty badass. And honestly? If it weren't for the Nazi connotations, I would say it is pretty badass.
I swear, some people won't be happy with a male progressive candidate unless they have the sanitized and castrated vibe of a gender studies major.
Right on. James Talarico is the perfect example of what you're talking about. His image is so sanitized and insipid specifically to appeal to the milquetoast voter.
Controversies like this one only have staying power not because most reasonable people actually think it's a problem, but because opposing campaigns and political parties astroturf social media and "strategically amplify" the story on mainstream news sources to make it seem that way.
Plus they were in Croatia so I imagine there was a language barrier and it was 2007. The year the iPhone launched, so I highly doubt any of them had access to the internet the moment they got the tattoo. If one of the group did, I highly doubt they would have thought "hold on let me research all possible Nazi symbols before we get this skull tat"
Then you fucking remove it when you learn what it is
He got it covered up last year.
He had it covered, essentially the same thing.
You people do dumb shit? Especially as a marine.
Fuck, I did some dumb shit as a late teen/early 20's that may have got me a a 'watch list' for flying
Well I didn't do Nazi level dumb shit
What actual Nazi things has he done? Not just get a pirate flag tattoo. Like, what neo Nazi groups has he been a member of? What Nazi policies has he advocated for? Make your actual case. Don't focus on bullshit gotcha crap.
OK so you're arguing that he's an idiot for getting a Nazi tattoo then.
Being that stupid is also disqualifying
Yeah, maybe that's something that should disqualify someone from office. Call me crazy I guess.
Ok. You're crazy.
Why is Collins accepting money from actual Nazis?
Everything is a nazi/white supremacy/fascist symbol because nazis/white supremacists/fascists appropriate EVERYTHING. Every symbol they have they stole from someone else because they are lazy assholes and because they have to constantly change the code signals. Normies can't, and honestly don't want to, keep up with every frog skull lightning bolt mustache cartoon character hand signal bullshit icon they use to identify each other. Expecting people to feel bad or jump through hoops when it's revealed that the nazis have "claimed" yet another thing we didn't know they were using gives them power they don't deserve.
So he can walk into the Pentagon and hang with the homies
Having looked at his old tattoo side-by-side with the totenkopf symbol they say it portrays I barely see the resemblance -it was more of a silhouette anyways. -That said, he's since gotten that tattoo covered up with something less divisive.
Have you met an Average American? Many don't even know the history of the confederate flag and you expect them to know a nazi symbol not shown in popular media?
He was shirtless and showed the tattoo in a clip at his sister's wedding where the brother in law's family was entirely Jewish. Yet no one recognized the totenkopf.
Hell, he got through a military screen and served after he got the tattoo. Pete Hegseth also has Nazi tattoos and those were caught by the military.
Blame US education around Nazi symbols of hate. I'm a 29 year old, and I had no clue what a totenkopf was. I knew about the swastika, SS symbol, and iron cross, but NOT the totenkopf.
Graham covered up the tattoo when he learned what it represents. You don't see Pete Hegseth doing that.
Fuck off with these purity antics. He's ANTI-ISRAEL which should be all of our priority these days.
There is none beyond, "vote blue no matter who," which is super ironic since it's coming from the people who always use that phrase as a cudgel against self-avowed leftists who vote Democrat in general elections to minimize harm.
I really hope the guy isn't a fucking Nazi, and I would vote for him if I was a Maine voter... But that doesn't mean I'm going to pretend it's not a MAJOR red flag like people here seem wont to do
He's not a perfect candidate, and Dems have to learn to let go of their weird obsession with perfection. The objective isn't to elect the perfect candidate, it's to elect a winning candidate.
This. I mean come on! People bitch about Fetterman turning right. But this guy has changed, he’s not a plant by the right at all. They won’t even entertain the possibility.
Okay. Hope they’re right.
Fetterman's value is in being one more seat closer to a Dem majority. He may not be a very cooperative member, he may even be a DINO, but he's still a Democrat, and he makes it much easier for Dems to take the House majority. Let's not forget that if Fetterman hadn't won, we'd be stuck with Oz.
I'm sick of Dems having DINOs like Manchin and Sinema, but at least they register as Dems (Sinema eventually went Indy, but she was a Dem at the start), so they offer that tiny, but significant advantage.
It's small consolation, but if we end up with a one vote lead in the Senate, we'll see the value of a Fetterman or Platner. There's a D next to their name, that's good enough right now.
And if I couldn't force myself to vote for Platner, I STILL wouldn't vote for Collins. There is no scenario where I'm casting a vote for any MAGA Traitor Pedophile.
Fetterman had a stroke, which has been shown to change peoples' personalities. Fetterman was also an establishment democrat even before running for senate. The fact that fettermans stroke was not enough to get the dems to replace him really makes their judgment of any candidate ring pretty fucking hollow, doesn't it?
I feel like this is a really big point nobody brings up when this incessant and obnoxious non-sequitur pops up.
I hope you get the person you vote for.
I hope you get that person too
Perfect is the worst enemy of good
Where’s the good? That’s the problem. You stopped at “meh, not as bad as…” which is not the good you promised.
Sound like maga.
Since you seem to be a US-American I'm not surprised you don't know that saying
You really can’t see the similarities??
Wolf in wolves clothing? Do we have another Feterman? Why can't we find someone a little less tarnished is all people are asking and everyone gets brigaded.
If you're looking for perfect people to run for office you're going to be waiting a long goddamn time. Personally, I'd rather somebody who's a little bit tarnished and is publicly regretful of their past mistakes then someone who pretends to be the perfect person.
Susan Collins was like that. She pretended to be perfect. She pretended that she was going to work with both sides and then immediately fucked over the left. Kyrsten Sinema, she tried to convince everyone she was the perfect candidate and as soon as she got in office she switched sides and became basically Republican.
So yeah I'll take somebody with a little tarnish and life lessons that taught them up how fucked up the other side actually is.
Unfortunately I am stuck here in Illinois, having had Dick Durbin as our senator for fucking decades. He's only now being replaced because he's voluntarily stepping down.
Fetterman had a stroke, which has been shown to change peoples' personalities. Fetterman was also an establishment democrat even before running for senate. The fact that fettermans stroke was not enough to get the dems to replace him really makes their judgment of any candidate ring pretty fucking hollow, doesn't it?
I feel like this is a really big point nobody brings up when this incessant and obnoxious non-sequitur pops up.
"Meh"
When did he get it? If at 21 he was young and stupid, if at 31 it's a different story. Maybe you never was young and stupid, most people were.
This fucker better not turn out to be a cryptofascist infiltrator like fetterman
Is really "crypto" when you have a fuckin nazi tattoo??
Sure, it's me who is undermining "the left", not the former Abu Ghraib guard and Blackwater merc with a Nazi tattoo. Like, how are you not suspicious of this dude?
Just the fact that the establishment on both sides is trying so hard to convince people that he's a literal Nazi and a wife beater...when all he talks about is progressive policies...should make you suspicious of their narrative.
But instead, you decide to believe them? Maybe this time, they're telling the truth? This time, it's not just bullshit...right?
You're taking everything they say about him at face value, without even listening to a single thing he's actually saying? Man, you are gullible as fuck.
Dude, I give not a single fuck what the DNC or RNC are saying about this guy. And what do you mean about me believing some kind of "narrative"? What have i said that isnt factual? Just because you can easily look past a nazi tattoo and war-criminaI past doesn't mean they don't exist. Also I think it is painfully ironic, that you can call me gullible for putting more stock in a candidate's past actions, than his current words.
Lol! You think you're "putting stock in his past actions", when all you're really doing is repeating the establishment narrative about them. It's all oppo research being weaponized against yet another progressive candidate, that has an actual shot at unseating a dug-in conservative.
But, good job on swallowing the propaganda without even checking the sources first...or even bothering to listen to what he says about any of it. Seriously, you should be on Susan Collins' payroll, with all the help you're giving her campaign. Maybe you could sell merch for her, too?
I don't think you understand what "narrative" is. Or "propaganda".
If you're listening to what someone else is saying about what someone says, instead of just listening to what they are actually saying...then you are listening to a "narrative". That intentional misrepresentation of the truth is called "propaganda".
Do you understand what those words mean?
Because if you actually listen to what he's saying, instead of what other people are saying about him, then you probably wouldn't fall for their propaganda.
What have I said, that isn't factual? Is it hearsay that he has a Nazi tattoo, or that he worked at Abu ghraib and for Blackwater? Those are just facts, aren't they? I have listened to what he is saying, and his politics sounds good. Excuse me if I take his words with a grain of salt, given his past actions. No "narrative" needed for me to be wary of a guy with a past like that.
Lol! The "What have I said that isn't factually true?", is probably the most "misinformation" response to being called out for spreading misinformation, there is.
Are you actually suggesting that anyone with a skull and crossbones tattoo, is automatically a Nazi? Even if that person has extremely non-Nazi political views?
You say you've listened to what he's been saying, and can't find anything wrong with it...but, you're still skeptical because the establishment keeps calling him a Nazi...but can't understand why I might call you out for falling for their propaganda?
This is such a weird take, man. You should probably give it some thought.
Come on. If I see a "skull and crossbones", I think "pirate". If I see a totenkopf (or a swastika), I think "Nazi". I guess that's a "narrative" but it's not one specific to Mr. Platner, and not something I need "the establishment" to tell me.
The "narrative" is that he knew what it was when he got it...because he's a Nazi. The implication that he's some kind of "secret racist", who's only pretending to hold progressive views. That's the "narrative" the establishment wants you to believe.
Is that not the same narrative you keep talking about? Maybe I misunderstood your position, then? Or are you just playing dumb, now?
If I see someone with a Nazi tattoo, I assume they are a Nazi. Crazy, I know. You on the other hand, are going with the narrative that he didn't know what it was. You could be right! I'm skeptical.
If I see someone with a Nazi tattoo, I assume they are a Nazi. Crazy, I know.
Crazier still, is that you wouldn't even ask them about it...or listen to them, if they tell you they didn't know it was a Nazi symbol when they got it.
Instead, you'd go the extra mile and assume they were lying, and that everything they stand for is some kind of psy-op that just also happens to conveniently benefit the establishment, by keeping a long-standing conservative in power?
Again...are you not the same guy that posted that meme about how "they" are always trying to divide the left with some clever scam? And yet, here you are...faced with one in real time...and you fell for it.
This is exactly how they do it. You're the meme, dude.
No, I'm not in the habit of asking people to explain their obvious Nazi tattoos. Now, if I see something like a Thor's hammer tattoo/necklace, I will ask them about it, since that one can go either way. What I hear you saying is that I'm crazy/dumb for putting more stock in a tattoo (and job history) than in what the guy says. You are welcome to take people at their word, but please try to understand why some of us might need a little more "trust building" in a case like this.
I'm not saying you're "crazy/dumb"...I'm saying you're demonstrating your own meme.
How long has this story been out, now? How long has this guy been campaigning? How many interviews, speeches and rallies has he given? How many opportunities have you had to actually hear his side of this narrative?
You claiming you need to do a little more "trust building", is bullshit. He's been out there for almost a year now, and you haven't listened to anything he's been saying that whole time. You heard exactly what they wanted you to hear, and then you simply ignored the rest. Even now, when people are trying to make you see the truth...you are actively rejecting it.
No offense, man...but that's exactly what programming looks like. It's self-defeating, self-perpetuating, and no amount of convincing is going to break it.
Words are words. Again, could be legit, but he is campaigning for office! Trust is built with action. Someone with his history has kind of a deep hole to climb out of. Left-unity is not some excuse to uncritically support anyone that comes along saying nice-sounding things, particularly when that person has such very suss history.
What "history" are you talking about? Do you think he has a history with Naziism? That he's been secretly going to Klan meetings?
How are you not "uncritically" accepting the narrative that he's a Nazi, without ignoring everything else that says he isn't? Wouldn't critical thinking involve looking at everything about him, not just the one detail that contradicts the rest?
I am looking at everything about him. I'm just giving more weight to his history (ie, his work and his tattoo) than to his last year of campaigning. You are giving more weight to his campaigning. That's fine.
He was at Abu Garib two years after the scandel broke. How about you get your sources from people that don't have an obvious political motivation against the subject.
Why are we not "suspicious"? Because we actually listen to what other people have to say. You keep trying to apply establishment attacks that may have worked on some faceless, airdropped empty suit the DNC " appointed " to be senator, but they don't work on someone that has never been close to power. Someone like us, who have watched corporate interests and the interests of the wealthy take precedence over literally EVERYTHING, even shit like clean water and breathable air.
We know a fraud when we see one, and Platner is no fraud. He has actual policy positions and an actual vision for the future and actual facta, not sound bytes and poster slogans and one liner zingers for the enemy.
And the democrats from Maine saw fit to make him their senate choice.
Best of luck.
Can they though?
It looks like a pirate skull and crossbones bud. Totenkopfs are small and silver, and his tattoo has a very surface level resemblance, that the Republicans (as if they have any leg to stand on) and useful idiots have latched on to this and blew it up to try and make it look like Watergate.
You aren't "just being sceptical", why try and play the " principled centrist" when we all see you for what you are tankie.
"He's a war criminal" His policy is to end american imperialism, end the genocide in Gaza, and end support for the Israeli apartheid state.
Are you saying you support all these things?
He isn't a war criminal, or a secret Nazi. What's puzzling is you criticizing him for "no political track record" in a day when people with political track records are openly dismantling any and all regulatory guardrails and are openly supporting the orange pigshit pedo.
Kinda makes me think you have other motivations that you don't want other people to know.
it's obviously a Nazi symbol. no point in lying about it when anyone can look it up.
It's a somewhat crudely drawn skull and crossbones. Calling it a totenkopf and trying soooo hard to gin it into something more is pretty obvious.
Totenkopf:
https://www.adl.org/resources/hate-symbol/totenkopf
Platner's tattoo before it was covered up:
So you picked the ADL, a Zionist organization, for your source.
That's certainly a choice.
When it comes to Nazi symbolism? Yeah, the ADL is a source...
The Zionist organization determining what is and isn't a hate icon is something you find no issue with.
No, you stating it's not a totenkopf despite the obvious evidence it's a totenkopf just because you don't like the agency telling you it's a totenkopf is something I have an issue with. 😉
If you want to apologize for Nazis, this is not the group to do that.
Accusing me of apologizing for Nazis while hand waiving away valid criticism of your source decisions in a day and age where misinformation is the norm is a really fascinating display of mental gymnastics.
You should think before you post.
You're the one trying to argue a Nazi symbol is not REALLY a Nazi symbol because you don't like the Jewish organization telling you it's a Nazi symbol.
If you want to argue Platner was an idiot for permanently marking his body with a hate symbol he did not understand? Sure, I'd buy that, dumb people get tattoos they can't read all the time.
Coupling that with working for Blackwater? Sus explanation.
But you cannot argue it's not a Nazi symbol.
Zionist organization. Their religion has nothing to do with it. The fact that its the first one you grabbed from is a little Sus.
If we are getting technical, every Nazi symbol was stolen by the Nazis and misappropriated to their cause. Their ideology was more than symbols, and that is why the "secret Nazi" moniker that is being supplied feels so manufactured, because Platner is talking about things like "Class warfare" and "socialism" in a way that is resonating with people who would have normally reflexively shunned the message 5 years ago, and the Epstein class is getting scared, because they know they are running out of ways to control the narrative.
Also, the ADL being the arbiter of hate symbols while simultaneously supporting an ongoing Holocaust is why I reject any and all points made from or with sources quoting them as authority. I expect the institutions that I support to not be disgusting hypocrites.
Doesn't matter, when it comes to identifying Nazis, the ADL is grade one, and have been since the Holocaust.
Sorry you can't wrap your brain around that one.
The Totenkopf is a Nazi symbol.
It's used by white supremacists and neo Nazis as a hate symbol.
Platner either stupidly or intentionally chose to have one placed on his chest.
This "controversy" has already been settled as a nothing-burger. Sorry you can't wrap your head around that. Listen to his words and look at his actions and make your own judgement.
Do whatever you need to do to cope with him winning in November.
It's not about "the controversy", it's shooting down the bullshit statements of "Hurrr durrr, it's not a hate symbol! It's just like a pirate flag!"
Fact is, I LIKE what Platner is saying, but that doesn't take away from the fact that dumbass got a Nazi tattoo.
You can say the right things and still be a moron, they aren't mutually exclusive. 😉
OK. Now explain how talking about this subject every. Single. Time. Is helpful or rational when this is incredibility old news at this point.
You can have your concerns, but it gets really close to a bad faith argument when you keep beating a dead horse. People are tired and angry over hearing nothing but bad faith arguments when their material conditions continue to worsen.
Graham has patiently and clearly explained his story, which has been consistent, if you actually listen to what he actually said, instead of listening to what people tell you he said. He has done it every single time without a shred of indignation over having every bad deed he has ever done strewn over the planet.
That, to me, shows he has principles, and the discipline to enact them as an elected representative.
He's not being elected to be king of America or Americas boyfriend, this kind of shitslinging is what got us to this point, where the only people who got a say were vat grown empty suits.
The fact is that the "vote blue no matter who" crowd is now reckoning with the fact that they are now the ones being told to shut up and get in line because we have bigger problems than a tattoo that a guy got while wasted 20 years ago. And they are not happy about not being the ones in the drivers seat.
It's completely rational when people such as yourself attempt to deny it's a Nazi tattoo.
Your rationale is irrelevant, the only excuse that's valid is "Platner didn't know", but then surrounding himself with Blackwater fascists doesn't help that case.
If all your buddies have Nazi tattoos, I'm sure that seems normalized.
The point is, no, it's not normal to sport a Nazi tattoo and nobody should be normalizing or excusing it.
But that doesn't answer my question of how this relates to the material conditions Mainers face and how it relates to any of Platners policies.
How will sexts early in his marriage change the fact that nowhere is affordable to live for any working class person?
How would a tattoo change his position on the affordability of groceries?
If the "squeaky clean" Establishment was such a better choice, why have their actions lead us to this point?
You can have the moral high ground. Pat yourself on the back for standing up to theoretical secret Nazis. I actually want to be able to take care of my family and halt my tax dollars from going to actual real nazis to kill children in Gaza.
Platners the democratic nominee, support him or support Collins.
It has nothing to do with any of that, it has everything to do with your attempt to deny it's a Nazi symbol and then distract from your denying it's a Nazi symbol.
Because it is a crudely drawn skull and crossbones gotten by a drunk Marine 20 years ago.
You've wormed out every question that asks the relevance to his policy positions. Which is kind of more important than what his tattoo is supposed to be.
It's a perfect rendition of a totenkopf skull which is a Nazi symbol. Why you continue to deny this despite photographic evidence is beyond me.
Again, the correct response is "he didn't know it was a Nazi symbol", which is fair, and just calls into question his sensibility in personal body art in the same way that anyone would question getting a tattoo of words in another language that you can't read.
Symbols do have meaning, but those meanings are assigned by people. I don't think Graham got the tattoo because he thought it was a Nazi symbol, I think he got it because he was a drunk 21 year old who saw a skull and crossbones and though he and his buddies should have a group tattoo. His Jewish family members didn't take offense to it, and they know him best, so I don't see why I should be up in arms like you are.
My problem is with how much this has popped up in national news compared to his message, politics, and policies, all of which are far more important than his taste in tattoos.
The only reason to continue to bring it up is if you want to accuse him of being a Nazi. If so, you are going to need to present more evidence, because this passive insinuation is intellectual cowardice.
Here's their take on Zionism, the ideology that is currently depopulating Gaza and the West bank for "lebensraum".
Doesn't enter into it when they are calling an obvious Nazi symbol for what it is, an obvious Nazi symbol.
Again, if you want to apologize for Nazis, you will not find an audience here.
like I said: there is no reason to lie about it.
Like I said, no need to obfuscate your actual intentions.
Like, how are you not suspicious of this dude?
The viable options in this race are a candidate I am somewhat suspicious of and Susan Collins, who has made her positions and principles (or lack thereof) abundantly clear over the years.
You must take one of two pills. If you refuse, one will be chosen for you. One pill gives you a 50% chance of diarrhea, the other gives you a 100% chance of diarrhea. Which pill are you choosing?
I don't live in Maine, so none of what you say really matters at all. It's just crazy to me that all these people (most of whom also do not live in Maine) are so credulous about a guy with so many red flags.
What a fucking cop-out.
Sorry, I'll go vote in Maine?
He fucking admitted to being inspired by Nazi death troops
Edit: ITT collaborators
You should've pushed him out before the primary and instead you helped the candidate most likely to crash and burn
He'll only crash and burn if you keep spreading Republican propaganda. At this rate I'd wager the CIA is intentionally planting these talking points
How is oppo research not a dead issue in this time of trump hot-mics? Anybody not guilty of human trafficking who has a decent suggestion should be on the ballot.
I've been wondering the same. Do they really think sexts and having a toxic relationship are going to rustle our jimmies after the horrors that spilled out of the Epstein files and the subsequent blatant coverup from the powers that be?
Man the elites tried their best to punch at him with press. I feel so terrible for the attacks hes been going through. Go Platner go!
Why is it that people who present themselves as morally superior often seem the least willing to forgive? Some would rather support establishment figures like Susan Collins or Janet Mills, politicians they view as helping sustain the policies and military interventions that created the problem in the first place, than support a former mercenary who ultimately turned against that system. It seems strange to condemn someone for what they once were while giving a pass to the institutions and leaders that continue to benefit from the same machinery.
That type of behavior benefits the Jeffrey Epstein Class. When the hell will we ever get shit done, if you cannot forgive or accept the people that are closest to the core of the system and have decided to help us? All you have to do is keep an eye on them. I'm not saying you should "blindly" support Platner, you should watch every single one of his moves to confirm he didn't lie. Zohran Mandami has delivered so far, and people had a similar level of skepticism, but it was worse, because they hated him for being muslim, so.
If their only argument is the Nazi tattoo, that's sad. It's a very silly one. The point is that you genuinely think people can't change, and that is really dangerous. And no, I'd not have these standards for people like Trump or similar, because they are already very old and adamant about who they truly are. Platner was a victim of this system, American Exceptionalism and American Imperialism (both still prevalent here in Lemmy; leftists who still want the USA to be the World Police, to intervene everywhere because they think they are Humanity's smartest and best choice or whatever "heroic" Main Protagonist Syndrome nonsense they carry) propaganda, and at least Platner is teaching all those around him to wake up. I prefer that over the other choices, why won't other people?
Hell yeah. Platner said it best in his victory speech:
He's standing up for Mainers that can't afford a senator for themselves.
The messaging is ON. POINT.
I'm glad to see Susan Collins on the way out. Perhaps there's a lesson establishment Democrats can learn from this.
Perhaps there's a lesson establishment Democrats can learn
HA
Like they learned after Mamdani? Fat chance, now eat your Newsome slop.
To Defenders of Platner: It's OK to not want yet another douchebag repping the team. It gets fucking old. Let people advocate for not wanting a shitheel for a senator.
To Platner's Liberal Attackers: Get on the bus. Primary is over, you have your anti-Trump candidate. Voting for a politician isn't declaring undying faith, it's taking a bus ride to get closer to where you want to go. A politician will seldom get you exactly where you want to go, but they can get you closer by the way they vote, even if they suck as people. So come voting time, get on the bus.
I wonder how many establishment Democrats will rally around Susan Collins like they rallied around Joe Lieberman in 2008?
If you've spent the last 8 months calling Platner supporters Nazi apologists, but you didn't mention LaFlamme once, it's time to admit that you just like internet fights. Platner is an extremely problematic candidate, but his platform proved that progressive-populism is more popular than centrism in purple states. Getting his voters to support a better progressive-populist in a state with rank-choice voting was not a heavy lift, provided you actually wanted to do that.
Marine Corps and Blackwater, a paramilitary group known for their crimes against humanity.
Susan is still very concerned.
Who knows? Platner may be a right wing plant. But maybe so is Collins.
I mean, she has been a Republican her whole career. And she votes with the Republicans in Congress. Come to think of it, I’m almost certain Collins is a right wing plant. Platner still seems to be the better choice.
This election in Maine is everything I hate about politics.
... and now for tumblr, wait I guess its called bluesky now, to have an exceptionally normal day.
This guy had a literal nazi concentration camp guard tattoo on his chest and that wasn’t even enough for democrats voters to not vote for him lol.
So the left doesn't think people can change...or they refuse to accept they have...or...they what to approve who is accepted...or...?
Okay, he's a democrat that acts like a republican. How did they get all of his reddit posts in the first place? Front row seats.
Okay, he's a democrat that acts like a republican.
Pele, are we talking about the same person? Platner is a populist progressive.
People say one thing and then do another after they're elected sometimes. I hope stands by his words.
Just like John Fettermam was
Fetterman wore the costume of a populist. Platner walks the walk of of a populist.
Fetterman won because he wasn't doctor Oz.
Platner walks the walk of of a populist.
What does this even mean, he's never held public office.
If you really want to go by the man's actions, there is plenty of info out there about the awful shit that he got up to in Iraq.
Fetterman won because he wasn't doctor Oz.
Not true. People were absolutely excited about Fettermam winning the nomination.
The excitement was muted quite a bit by his stroke. At the time of the primary and for most of the general it wasn't clear if he was even going to be able to serve. He didn't even do unprepared speaking until a month before the election. There was definitely some campaigning that Giselle puppeting him or a special election was better than 6 years of Oz.
But you're right that pre-strike lots of people were excited about his likely win.
Fetterman also has brain damage. People keep ignoring this when framing anyone who hasn't planned to be in Congress since they were 8 as a sleeper centrist.
jfc is this your line of logic? that's about as sound as "hitler was a vegetarian so all vegetarians are nazis" lol
Yeah that's not anything at all like what I said.
In a vacuum, sure, it would be a weird thing to be paranoid about.
But we're not in a vacuum, are we? There are several massive red flags about this guy, including gleeful murder of brown people and a fucking Nazi tattoo on his chest.
So forgive me if I'm a little skeptical when he says left-adjacent things.
Move the goalposts harder daddy
it's ok dude i know you're not serious comparing Platner with someone with literal brain damage anyway, no need to dig into the weeds on more logical fallacies from that point
Are you okay? I'm not even the person you think you're replying to.
Fetterman took AIPAC money. Platner didn't. Also the alternative is literally Susan Collins
Which is why I've been saying that I would hold my nose and vote for him if I were in Maine. Because I understand that "this guy might not be Nazi" is still better than literally any Republican.
Okay, he's a democrat that acts like a republican.
Da fuq does this mean? I haven't heard anything that tells me that he's a homophobic closeted gay man, a pedophile, or a corporate grifter.
It's the drama part, I just don't want another fetterman.
Nazi tattoos and sexual abuse accusations. On top of him being generally unreliable.
Why are people defending him here?
If you are worried you could lose this state election, WHY DID YOU HELP THE WORST CANDIDATE
Okay heritage foundation
This guy is literally linking to the National Republican Senate Committee. He's either steeped in right-wing spaces or too ignorant to recognize the most basic of partisan entities.
And to be clear, his attack comes from other news outlets, but if you don't recognize the actual Republicans as a bad source, I'm not sure you should be participating in political discussions.
Apparently all you need to do is pay some lip service to socialism, and people will ignore literally fucking anything
Since when are Republicans in favor of Medicare for All, wealth taxes and cutting off funding for Israel? You guys should really try Googling him for a minute. It would be far less embarrassing.
The good news? Fetterman called him a creep. We really, really, don't want another fetterman on our hands. If he turns out to do what he says he's going to do, I'm behind him. That's why I said, "front row seats."
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/02/politics/graham-platner-senate-democrats-maine
I found his admission of being inspired by the Nazi death troops and accusations of sexual abuse.
There are grayscales! Here in the real life! Some people are a little bad and other very bad!
It's not unusual at all for random people to have a mix of good and bad traits!
You "found" his admission? Post a link, then. I'd love to see that.
So arguing online that “SS” lightning-bolt tattoos were a “culture” marker within Marine Scout Sniper units, not an expression of White supremacist ideology.
Means he support Nazi's?
Sure maybe it shows that he was told earlier what it means but it by no means proves or is evidence that he knew what it was when he got the tattoo, just that it was a standard thing that many Marines got.
I also had an online handle for years which has the number 88 in it way before I found out that it was a hidden dog whistle for Nazi's. I guess I was a Nazi when I was 8 years old.
In the very best reading he's an idiot who KNEW the association and lied to save his face.
That's STILL disqualifying. He's to dumb to be elected.
Unfortunately it's now a "lesser evil" issue and a Republican would be worse, BUT YOU HAD A CHANCE TO HAVE NO EVIL as a choice and now you picked the guy that's the easiest possible target for propaganda from the Republicans
Because the National Republican Senatorial Committee has a quote where he talked about a symbol that wasn't his tattoo? Fuck, you're grasping at straws here
Lol! You know where I first encountered that symbol, growing up? On the bottom of nearly every skateboard deck I ever owned. Same thing with the Iron Cross. It wasn't until senior year in highschool that I learned both those symbols were also used by the Nazis.
In most places in the US you aren't going to learn that, unless you're already into WW2 history. To the vast majority of people, the only symbol that they recognize as a genuine Nazi symbol, is the swastika.
If he had that tattooed on his chest, I'd take these accusations seriously. But a skull-and-crossbones? No. That's more of an unfortunate mistake, born out of a shitty education system.
He never did any such thing.
Hey, out of curiosity, did Israel commit genocide in Gaza?
You dumbass yes Israel and Russia are both doing genocide and so is Musk by killing USAID
https://www.nrsc.org/press-releases/new-evidence-shows-platner-knew-he-had-a-nazi-tattoo-2025-10-25/
you can be against all evil, not just join a tribe
Lol. Check your source, "dumbass". If you don't recognize the actual Republicans as a bad source to link to for an attack on a Democrat, I'm not sure you should be participating in political discussions.
Care to elaborate in that or just gonna make baseless inflammatory accusations about someone?
I'll deal with "the lesser evil" but I will NOT stop asking for no evil
That dude needs to be watched and if people don't know what he's like because you decided the tribe identity is more valuable than your morals then your not better than the Republicans, because people are rightfully told to be wary of the dude who first said he didn't know he had a Nazi tattoo and THEN admitted he was inspired by Nazi death troops. The guy accused of sexual assault too.
If you haven't seen the news articles screaming about hypocrisy, how do you think you'll beat the Republican if you don't know how to respond to the accusations?
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/04/us/politics/platner-maine-senate-girlfriends-relationships.html
Don't fucking call a Nazi tattoo baseless
The fact that you are swallowing whole the narrative that the mass media is feeding you. Is part of the problem. It's already been corroborated by the men he served with that they didn't know what the deaths head was or what it meant and neither did he. The sexual assault allegations have already been proven largely false and fizzled out. Even one of the women contacted for the article has come out how the paper misrepresented her.
Maybe rather than just reading all these biased articles screaming about hypocrisy. Take the time to look into any of these accusations and see if they actually hold up. Don't trust the media to be honest. Then you might actually see real hypocrisy.
https://www.nrsc.org/press-releases/new-evidence-shows-platner-knew-he-had-a-nazi-tattoo-2025-10-25/
Even if the dude has no trace of evil, he has 100% trace of stupid dumbass and his lying about the tattoo is disqualifying
Knowing after the fact is not even remotely the same as knowing while intentionally getting it. He was 23 when he got it. Nearly half his life ago. And several servicemen that were with him when he got it have corroborated his story. Let's crucify every stupid teenager and young adult. I'm sure the Earth would be much better without humans on it. Seriously do you even read what you type?
I agree with the tattoo, he might have been young and stupid. We just don't want another fetterman in the mix.
The best answer if you end up being one of the people that wonder what Maine sees in this man. The best thing to do is to stop letting yourself be told about him and go talk to him or listen to the man himself.
If Graham has someone who isn't himself advising him. They are both an idiot and a genius. Which kind of makes me think it is him. Kyle Kulinsky of secular talk the other day played a clip from an interview with platner where he spoke about masculinity and toxic masculinity. It's at the end of the segment. I think that clip illustrates fairly well what people see in him.
As to him being another fetterman. I'm not going to say Graham will be perfect. He won't. He's going to disappoint everyone at some point. But he has literally called fetterman out personally. Fetterman didn't just become an asshole overnight. It wasn't the work of a stroke or anything like that. The man was a well-known bully and asshole in his own community. Even if he was a relatively successful mayor. He literally chased down and tackled an innocent black jogger holding them at shotgun point. Assuming that they were a criminal. The fact that he was bullying Mehmet Oz at the time was what everyone literally liked about him. They just thought it would never be turned on them. I'm not sure honestly what would qualify as anti-fetterman. But Graham is somewhere on the opposite end of the spectrum from fetterman. He's willing to put himself out, be vulnerable, and explain himself. Apologizing when necessary. Something that fetterman has repeatedly refused to do.
I'll give him a chance, don't get me wrong. I'm just watching him for a bit. The tattoo, the sexting, all that stuff, is just some drama that is usually reserved for republicans. If he stands by his word and does c+ job, I'm cool.
Actually the main/only woman the New York Times used in their hit piece has called The New York Times out for being misleading and dishonest. It's an epic shit show on the New York Times part. Illustrating that if they ever were trustworthy it certainly isn't now. It's hard to even know where to start with this whole clusterfuck. But the main woman referenced in their hit job is a conservative activist who helped start the women for Kavanaugh group to get his nomination to the Supreme Court through. And cover for his misogyny etc.
So let's just start with that not being the sort of person you want to build a case or a story around in the first place. And then on top of that she's accusing them of misrepresenting her. Now while I think she absolutely would do anything to make the New York Times look bad. The New York Times absolutely stepped in it themselves. And all the other women that the New York Times contacted but didn't really use for their story have also chimed in that the New York Times description and representation of him was inaccurate.
Platner has called out Israel and AIPAC. They desperately want something, anything to attack him with. Which is why the New York Times ran with such a bad story.
Well that's good to know. The propaganda worked on me then. I'll give him a better chance now.
It's something we all have to be extra careful about these days. If you're going to watch mainstream information sources. It's not a bad idea to Pepper in some coverage from more left-leaning podcasters and radio shows.
There's always the classic majority report. Which has been a long-lasting mainstay over the years consistently proven right.
Mike at The humanist report seems solid too.
Kyle at secular talk speaks with a tone that might be jarring to boomers and many Xers like myself. But he is on point and spits fire to millenials and younger demographics.
Hell even the hometown duo here while very young are making waves. Dubbed silly and billy by Cenk Uygur. Though they seem a bit more meta.
Yeah, I do the news every work day and try to stay with the mainstream, but weed out the obvious shitshows. It does lead to tunnel vision on the smaller metro areas, which is what happened here. I didn't have a source for Maine, which is probably part of the problem. I have one for other major cities, but not sure if there is a Maine comparable.
I don't have one for specific cities. It's certainly not a bad idea. But a heck of a lot of work. But of that bunch I can't tell you how many times they have brought up coverage from those places when relevant. Enough that I generally feel comfortable trusting them more than the major news outlets.
Thanks for all of the links. I did try Majority Report once and wasn't feeling it. I need a print article to skim too.
100% valid criticism. Lots of times it's hard to sit and watch/listen. Especially at work. I wish I was a bit more aware of similar print sources.
And then he just keeps it? While knowing?
Absolutely. Lots of people have things they are ashamed of or not proud about. So? Tattoos aren't easy or cheap to get removed or covered up generally. Definitely not as cheap as just keeping your shirt on. If he was this Nazi that you are pretending him to be. This stupid stalling crossbones tattoo wouldn't be your only evidence. And yet you're still completely stuck on it
Then why would he deny knowing it, when it's demonstrated he did know, and why did he keep it?
How difficult is it to understand as has been corroborated and demonstrated. That he didn't know at the time the connotations it carried. He was a drunk 23-year-old on deployment overseas during the Iraq War nearly 20 years ago. Drunk 23-year-olds often get edgy tattoos. Like skull and crossbones. Which is what he got. Unfortunately he literally picked out one from the wall that he would come to regret more than any of the other variety.
If you're going to so definitely assert that the man is a nazi. Name one single action on his part in the last 15 years that demonstrates this. One single action. You can't. The next best thing you even got is his Reddit post history. Which using the things he said in the past without listening to the things he sang now is hypocritical. But when it's all you have it's all you have.
A Democrat that acts like a Republican? No that was Kamala.
Lol not this DNC mouthpiece again.