The purity test mentality so many of the commenters here have is the exact kind of nonsense that will keep the US divided politically. People are capable of making honest mistakes. People can change. There needs to be room for some gray areas. I generally think such a mindset reeks of being chronically online and being immersed into an echo chamber.
I don’t know much about the candidate other than a few recent headlines but I admire the ability of a person to change their mind. This is especially true for someone in politics. Idk if he is a dickhead or if he really changed, but its good to own up to our mistakes.
A few years ago I remember seeing folks online who were ranting about Elizabeth Warren having been a republican so I looked it up. After watching her speak on the matter I sort of turned into a big Warren supporter, because she was able to admit she was wrong after seeming the data. That’s what I want in a representative. I don’t want someone who ignore data or twist it into something else.
I want someone who says “oh shit. Let’s fix this.”
You people keep saying “purity test” because you don’t want to say “I’m fine if my Senator has Nazi tattoos”. Own it, bud. Make your case why you want the Senator with the Nazi tattoo. Say it with your full chest.
Yeah, my friend, we all agree that people are capable of honest mistakes. Some of us just don’t vote for a Senator unless they at least waited a couple years after getting rid of all their Nazi tattoos. It’s not a high bar.
I actually will say it with my chest that I’d prefer a senator who is a social progressive, anti-billionare, who doesn’t take super PAC money, doesn’t take AIPAC money, loudly professes there is a genocide in Gaza, wants to improve US foreign policy, is actually working class, runs a grassroots campaign, and wants to improve the cost of living and affordability for Mainers and the rest of Americans. And yes, if he made a mistake and got a Nazi tattoo (Which he has fully owned up to and has since covered up) I would still prefer him.
If you think this is some sort of “gotcha” that somehow indicates something poor about my character, or that somehow I’m admitting that Platner is a Nazi, which he’s not, then there’s nothing more I have to say to you. You are wrongfully attempting to jump to an assumption of something that just isn’t true and lacks evidence. You’re providing further evidence to my point that your purity test mindset is keeping people divided.
That’s a really terrible take. Platner also doesn’t want Nazi tattoos, and doesn’t have one anymore, because he covered it up when it was pointed out to him that it was a Nazi symbol.
But what Platner’s supporters do want, is someone who will stand up against injustice, and everything I know about him is that he’s someone who does exactly that.
I am not a Mainer but I’ve donated to Platner’s campaign because I believe we need voices like his. Susan Collins and Janet Mills are two sides of the same coin, in the same way that all the old ‘establishment’ Democrats are similar to their ‘moderate’ Republican counterparts
Graham Platner is the right choice amongst the candidates in this race.
We need to elect candidates like Kat Abu and Abigail Spanberger and Zach Dembo and Darren McAuly and Maura Sullivan and Maggie Goodlander and Deb Halland and many other good, earnest, qualified candidates.
None of them are perfect candidates. None of them are perfect people.
But they are better, and we have to hope we can all get better, be better and do better together over time.
(disclaimer: unfortunately my real opinion is that we’re actually totally fucking cooked as a country, and there’s a solid chance that authoritarian fascism will be with us for a while — longer than my lifetime. I will continue to participate in the ways I’m capable and willing, but it’s probably futile)
I grew up in Maine. I have lots of family and friends there. I no longer live there and don’t vote there, however, I also donated to his campaign and have been openly promoting him as a candidate because I believe he is who the people of Maine, and the country, need.
Also, there’s a reason he remains popular in Maine. He is talking to EVERYONE in Maine, in person, on the ground. That’s the exact behavior that will attract people to him and bring in the Trump voters who can have their minds changed. Mainers don’t care if you made mistakes in your past, so long as you own up to it. They care about who you are now and what you say now. That’s why Platner is popular. He tells it like it is, and that’s the no-nonsense personality that attracts people in Maine, a state with a significant amount of people who are working class and don’t have time to beat around the bush. Campaigns aren’t run online, and nothing anyone says online is likely to sway people who simply don’t care because they’re not chronically online.
It’s important that we can accept a candidate’s flaws and past mistakes and move on from it. Our political system suffers so much from these purity tests and smear campaigns.
Love this response. I fully agree… (even with your last point, which has been looming in the back of my mind even as I rally for these promising candidates… if only this we had this two years ago… if only.)
Yet, you still say “he’s not perfect”. You’re an asshole.
He HAS A FUCKING TOTENKOPF on his chest. You want people to vote for SOMEONE WITH A NAZI TATTOO.
IT’S FUCKING COVERED UP. Stop reading one headline and thinking you know everything. Stories evolve. Keep the fuck up if you want an opinion on it
Ever hear of object permanence or are you 6? Something “covered up” still exists, so don’t try to “well acktually” me when you’re wrong.
He doesn’t have a skull on his chest anymore. Get over yourself.
I legit do not understand. Like even if someone believed it was an honest mistake, why can’t people even admit that it’s bad and SHOULD be disqualifying in a sane world? Like, you can say he’s still better than Mills; I agree. But Jesus Christ in any other race, bro, what the fuck.
I think both things can be true in this case. People can admit that accidental Nazi tattoos should be disquailifying in a sane world, but also recognize that we are not currently in a sane world and that a person that got accidental Nazi tattoos is making a lot of sense in the current circumstances.
Fascists lie. You really want to elect another Fetterman or Sinema?
When someone tells you who they are by keeping a Nazi Tattoo on their chest for 20 years, believe them.
That second point seems to be forgotten when we talk about aspiring progressives. Fellas, a Reddit incel who called himself “Kekius Maximus” pulled a coup d’état with DC police in lock-step, then got pushed out of his leadership because of a scuffle with openly Nazi Stephen Miller. You know how this happened? Because the formerly far less popular Right-wing declared “No Enemies to the Right” and grabbed people with outreach that blatantly contradicts other members. Evangelicals and Incels. Kirk and Fuentes. Homophobes and #WalkAway Gay Republicans. Caitlyn Jenner endorsing Transphobes. Doctors backing RFK, Phil, Oz… We had Nazi Furries called “Burned Furs” (iirc) while school board hijackers whined about “unisex furry litterboxes”.
I don’t care about anything but policy at this point. I don’t care if the man had a tattoo of Hitler sucking a penis. He got it covered up, and has years of posts about Socialism and calling out others for being racist. A Congressman could be fucking a waifu dakimakura bodypillow during their debate and I’d still rally if he’d get the homeless and poor fed and housed. We’re too worried about seeming weird or “politically incorrect” in a world where the policy and decorum is merely an illusion.
There’s still a year before the primary. This is ridiculous. You don’t believe there is a single progressive person in Maine without any tattoos of Hitler sucking a penis?
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a tattoo of Hitler sucking dick would go hard,
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THANK YOU. The thing no one will say: Platner just happens to be the only person running on a stated leftist platform (whether he means it or not) 8 months before the primary.
For the record I don’t think Platner is a Fetterman or a Sinema. I literally think he’s just a dumbass White Guytm.
My fanfic: Dude was in the marines, got a dumbass tattoo (I do believe him on that account), got out and went through some normal vet deep depression and joblessness which led to (as we see in right wingers all the time) a deep sense of nihilism about whether anything matters in life. He sees blackwater is hiring, nothing matters anyway, so he joins up, does his security detail or whatever (I also believe him on that), then fucks off back to Maine and dumps his blackwater money into a boat. Meets some people, made some friends, got through his depression, learned what his fucking tattoo was but thought (like a White Guytm) “Hey, I received no pushback, maybe it can just mean something else to me, like a redemptive monument to my stupidity.” Dude sees Maine sucks, George Floyd radicalized him some, then Biden did his Biden things, then Trump won. Dude with all the unearned confidence of a white man says “this is fucked up; I’m gonna run for Senate.” And here we are.
At every level, I think Platner has an idea of leftism he does hold dear. Those ideas are usually off-base nonsense when put together (look at his platform on the military), but are held together by sheer lack of self reflection mixed with the most average White Guytm self confidence. I don’t think he’s going to shave his goatee into a toothbrush mustache as soon as he wins. I just think he’s kinda fuckin stupid and in a sane world would sit down and just be stupid in the life he built. I think that we have 8 months for anyone in Maine to step up with a remotely leftist platform, and if they do and it displays even an iota of coherent thought, then they should get all the support Platner is getting now. I think if they don’t, then people should go Platner. I don’t get why everyone is rushing to circle wagons and defend him like a god damn hero immediately, though, and it’s honestly disheartening to see. Like I thought we were all lefties because we kept it real, yk?
I think that you’re onto something with the dumbass White Guy™ thing here, and while it’s pretty reductive and I do believe that people can (and often do) grow and change (for better or worse) over the course of their lived experiences.
So, perhaps today he is still a dumbass. I know that I am in some ways. We’re all dumbasses in our way and it’s the people who believe that they (or anyone) are infallible that are the true idiots.
Maine could do a LOT worse than the dumbass lefty-leaning former Marine that you describe. Maine is composed of roughly 92.82% dumbass White Guy™ (and gals)
So yeah, maybe someone better will rise up. Or maybe, this guy, who just recently pointed out on his own, in an extemporous exchange at a town hall, that he has a lot of privilege based on his cis-white-maleness and personal experiences, is a good fit for Maine.
We will see.
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Are they in this race? Are they loudly standing up for justice?
Go find that better candidate first before you hand this seat to a Republican.
There are 8 people in the Primary. Part of “loudly standing up for Justice” is not getting a fucking Totenkopf.
I’m not in Maine. Go fuck yourself.
Let’s be honest here. How many people would have recognized that image as a Nazi symbol before thos became news? I wouldn’t have, skull tatoos are common. News articles had to tell is it was and show pictures of and explain what it had been some 80 years ago. Maybe he knew it was a Nazi symbol, but I kinda doubt it given his political statements and the fact that any smart person running for office in Maine wouldn’t have got it removed long before.
Even if it wasn’t a nazi tatoo; According to his words “He got a tattoo of a skull to memorialize his slaughtering of people in Ramadii and Falujah”. Then hiis comments which dated as late as 2021 where he said about his war that “we would kill them all because our ways of life is superior.”
BadEmpanda summerized it so well. What is your response to his arguments in this video?
https://youtube.com/watch?v=JZc5Mbix3VE
Enough sucking the dick of a moraless supramacist psychopathic war criminal just because he learned to lie to get votes and promised you better healthcare.
Fuck off with that reformed nonesense. Just admit you’re a supramacist just like Nick Furete who says he would invade Venzula because it will benefit the US ecomony from their oil. Just like Israeli Zionist Jewish supermacists justifying maiming, blinding, and slaughtering of Palestinians because the Jews in their country gives them free lands and prevliages no one gets in any other where in the world.
Listen to the arguments in that video and see the evidence, then tell me how you are any different different.
Or admit it and say it loud you’re a moraless supramacist like Nick Furete, and at least I’d have more respect for you.
How many people would have recognized that image as a Nazi symbol before thos became news? I wouldn’t have, skull tatoos are common.
That just makes a stronger case against him. It is what it is–a nazi symbol used by the nazis. Not being familiar with it just means you’re an average person who hasn’t learned about all their symbols beyond the infamous swastika. The main people who are most likely to recognize it are either people who are into WWII history or people who are into nazi shit. Among those two groups of people, someone who would actually tattoo it over their heart are in the latter, not the former group, certainly not the average person. He has (finally) admitted he knew what it was.
I know quite a bit about WW2 history, and even I wouldn’t immediately recognise it as the SS skull. It’s not a Swastika, it’s not the SS symbol, it’s not even an iron cross.
The fact that he didn’t remove it when he prepared to run, but only removed in, and did so immediately, after it was pointed out, shows that he didn’t know. And he immediately distanced himself once he did know. I don’t know what more you can expect.
Ultimately, though, the only thing that matters are his actions. The fact that he stands up to fascists, calls out bigotry and stands up for marginalized groups, tells you much more about him than any tattoo ever will.
Bullshit. A group of drunk Marines in a tattoo shop on shore leave is EXACTLY the sort of idiots that would point a a fat-looking pirate skull-crossbones on a sketchy tattoo shop wall and all get tattooed together.
This and eating the red crayons are a core activity for ignorant young devil-dogs.
But that means he’s not a smart person. That, along with the fact he is obviously prone to making poorly-informed decisions would give me serious pause about voting for him. Those are not the qualities of a good leader.
Smart people don’t know everything. Smart people change their mind when confronted with things they are wrong about or don’t know enough about.
Then don’t vote for him when the primary rolls around if you live in the state. Elections are a mechanism for finding out if his faults are acceptable to local constituency he would represent. People are acting like he’s a set in stone candidate and this is some moral crisis for the party.
The primary is in June of 2026. The “democratic establishment” and every opinion column ragebait columnist should just cool it. Let the voters decide in 8 months if they buy his apology and whatever else he does between now and then.
Can I just say how insane it is that the primary campaign starts this far in advance? There are countries that run an entire election with all its phases, campaigns and preparations in this time.
This is probably why USA politics is so swayed by large donations. Only big money can afford buying TV ads over a year.
Eh, having read some of the reddit posts from the old account etc, if I were in that area voting, I’d likely give him the benefit of the doubt. Especially compared to alternatives. There were quite a few posts that seemed like he genuinely thought the symbols extended beyond ‘just’ Nazism, often arguing in his posts that it was common to see that sort of imagery on ppl in the military.
This. He said the good thing… I don’t like the click bait.
Trump’s made a million “good thing” promises.
This dude is obviously prone to making either bad, and/or - at the very least - poorly-informed choices. Not the qualities of a good leader.
You think all your decisions over the last decade and a half were perfect?
I don’t know a single person who accidentally got a nazi tattoo or made a whoopsie by going to Iraq for three tours then enjoying killing so much he signed up to do it for profit. I agree people change but that doesn’t mean they should be trusted as a senator. There is still time for a better choice.
enjoying killing so much he signed up to do it for profit
Your point would be stronger without lying about a job as personal security.
What do you mean? He worked for Constellis, formerly Blackwater, a private mercenary company, in Afghanistan. This company changed it’s branding partly because of bad publicity from civilian massacres committed by it’s soldiers.
Eh, not really. This is not an admission of support. Here’s why.
I’ve seen firsthand what it looks like when these creeps invade tolerant spaces. We’re talking clubs packed full of goths, punks, metal-heads, very gay people, and the occasional furry. First, it’s just one or two. Then their friends show up. You may not even realize it until it’s too late. And there they are, happily mixing it up with everyone else. Their bigotry is usually only evident when put to the test, and there aren’t a lot of situations where that’s called for. But provoke their sense of ‘correct’ social hierarchy and things get bad, fast. Then the bouncers get called in to handle the really stupid/violent ones.
And that’s where the problem lies with this statement. Nazis have zero issues standing side-by-side with the people they hate. Just as long as they know they can seize control or maintain the upper-hand whenever they want, is enough. In this situation, we have someone running for public office, versus someone who’s just a voter. They’d be holding all the power in this situation, and didn’t admit to lending that power to a trans person in any way; something that would divorce him from Nazis support. So, the assertion of “stand by your side” isn’t even worth the electricity it took to get it to our screens.
He answered it in a way that did not commit to “standing up for”
He said “yes” to a yes or no question, then expanded on the answer. Not sure why you’d think that.
They think that because people are still performatively, emotionally convinced that the guy is a nazi because their favorite reactive streamer said so, and will use any normal political situations or conversations as validation of this emotional defensiveness.
their favorite reactive streamer
Is there a specific one or do you just mean this generally?
No they rightfully see Nazi symbology and go “Nazi?”.
You’re the performative outrage section it seems.
Sorry, I didn’t hear you over the sound of actual nazis wearing unambiguous symbology they’re proud of who are now running the country. Next time I will learn to be more performatively hateful to someone who is acknowledging and fixing problems and still working for a better outcome.
Because what really matters here is that we all preserve the purity club and never, ever practice what we preach by giving people empathy and good-faith.
Yeah because public Nazis exist certainly closeted Nazis don’t exist anymore, right? I said you’re being performative because questioning someone with a Nazi tattoo is definitely reasonable and logical. Their belief or disbelief of his story is their issue and wholely detached from the reasonably of questioning the tattoo in general.
You’ll notice I didn’t offer my actual opinion on him, you’re the one trying to purity test people based on a reasonable question of a public figure running for office.
You can’t argue with stupid.
It’s a fucking totenkopf the size of a grapefruit right over his heart.
He waited until the last minute to reveal it and cover it up.
He got the Totenkopf in Croatia; a known far right-wing supporting country.
He was a fucking Blackwater merc.
Stop electing people who serve billionaire masters.
Even if he is who he says he is, maybe he should sit this one out because his judgment is obviously not sound.
I’m all for him leading the way in the Civil War though.
Good luck, Maine.
The tattoo dates to roughly 2009, IIRC. The Daily Wire and a few other far-right shitrags have published hysterical pieces about him–via his Reddit account–talking about training the Maine chapter of the Socialist Rifle Club in firearms use and safety in 2020. Or, as they said, “antifa”. And the SRA IS notably anti-fascist in their ideology (I’m sure that some percentage of them are tankies, but the org as a whole doesn’t seem to be authoritarian), and very pro-LGBTQ+. The turned up photos of one of the events that these publications are saying he’s in. (I can’t tell, TBH; the photos aren’t that good. He could be, but I can’t say for certain.)
So the problem you run headlong into here is, if he secretly has/had Nazi beliefs at one time, sufficient to get a tattoo signifying such, why would be be training SRA members?
In addition to that, everything he was posting on Reddit appears to say he’s not a Nazi. Some of the stuff is questionable (slurs, for instance, although those are probably still commonly used in the military), but most people that are fascists don’t hide that shit when they’re posting “anonymously”. And the account was deleted in 2021, four years before he declared for a Senate run. If he was planning a con, that’s a looooooooong time to be building an anti-fascist online persona before it gets any kind of payoff.
Also, if you’re planning such a long con to pretend to be antifascist, surely covering up your Nazi tattoo would be first thing on the list. The fact that he didn’t, despite his history of opposing fascism, tells me that he honestly didn’t know.
TBH, I’m not sure I would have recognized that as a Nazi symbol prior to a group of people I knew arguing about Death In June. Some were arguing that the band was fine, some were arguing that the band was pro-fash. The second group was using the band’s iconography–including a totenkopf–as part of their evidence. The first group was claiming that it was satirical. (FWIW, Death In June had a long history of collaboration with Boyd Rice, who is an out-and-proud fascist, which is pretty strong evidence all on its own.) That was around 2010 or so.
If I hadn’t been part of that, I can’t say when it would have broken my threshold of consciousness.
I don’t care when the tattoo is from, even he admits it’s Nazi symbology he just says he didn’t know it at the time. The rest of that is irrelevant to being suspicious of a dude with a Nazi tattoo in the same way I would be suspicious of a dude with a tattoo involving the numbers 14 and 88. Could it be innocent? Sure dude, is it “performative outrage” to question the dude because of it? Absolutely not, it would be fucking irresponsible not to.
People do contradictory shit all the time especially if it helps their end goal whatever that may be in the long run. I don’t really know one way or the other but I know I’d prefer a candidate with similar professed beliefs without a next tattoo.
What you feel to see here is that I didn’t say anything about his stances or beliefs. What you’re left with is it reasonable to be wary of dudes with Nazi tattoos? Id say yeah, and I’d question anyone that didn’t say the same.
You know that he covered up the tattoo within a day of revealing it, right? And that he was the one that revealed it first? The ‘scoop’ from large news outlets came after he spoke about it–and released videos and photos–on Pod Save America.
So he’s not a dude with a Nazi tattoo. He’s a dude that had a tattoo that he may or may not have known was a Nazi tattoo at some time in the past.
Is he former Service? “Stand beside” means a lot more to him than to you.
He is former service. Can you expand on this? It seems relevant, particularly since the commenter who started this thread is very fixated on the specific words he used.
Lick the boot and elevate war criminal Nazis just because they say “I’m progressive now”
He still brags about how much he loved killing Iraqis, but Iraqis are not American so it’s perfectly okay, he got a Nazi skull tattoo to commemorate his good time killing brown people, but he’s saying all the right things at an event where he’s portraying a progressive, makes your knees weak.
Nazi war criminals being elevated by liberals is par for the course, unfortunately. He wants to have the most lethal military too, but he’s smart enough to not use those words, he just thinks we owe him a lifetime of gratitude (his words, on his website) for the war crimes he says he regrets being a part of, and he wants to fund the military and support veterans despite stating his disagreement with what the military is doing.
Can you expand on why you believe this?
“Yes, I will absolutely stand next to you, and if we ever have to go knock doors together, I’m happy to stand by your side,” he added.
When it comes to politics, if they do not say exactly the words, they mean something entirely different.
What he actually said:
Yes, I will stand next to you physically if we go knock on doors together. I would be happy to be physically next to you while knocking on doors.
Why are we knocking on doors? That is never specified. For animal rights? Has he ever knocked on a door in favor of trans rights? Does his (elected) job include knocking on doors for trans rights?
He did not say, “I will stand up for,” or “I would vote in favor of,” Trans rights.
I know this guy is campaigning that he’s not a politician… Just a regular guy… But every regular guy who has ever gone into politics does the same stuff.
Also, he has a Nazi tattoo on his chest… And sure let’s give him the benefit of the doubt that he didn’t know it was a Nazi tattoo when he got it, but that raises some flags as to his commitment to trans rights when he gives an answer that is dancing around.
A two day old account with 50+ comments doing nothing but stirring up shit about how no one meets your purity test and accusing everyone in this thread of being from ML for not thinking “yes, I will stand with you” (coming from a marine) is an inadequate answer to the question “will you stand with me?”.
Maybe you are here in good faith, but it sure as hell doesn’t seem like it.
Do better.
Ahh read between lines and assume what they mean to confirm the negative view you already have. Very healthy and not the standard MO of conspiracy theorists.
It’s fine for you to be concerned that it means what you say, but you are emphatically stating that your assumption is the truth. Even if you’re right, your methodology is flawed.
You sound like a republican or, like a person who wants right wing people to gain power within the United States. Perhaps that has to do with the fact that you are an ML, and your only desire is to see the United States crushed. Maybe that’s why you’re trying to push the idea that recognizing hypocrisy in government officials is “crazy”
Haha, not at all. You can review my comments if you want. I’m a person who is interested in having proof and facts instead of assumptions. I am of course worried about fake progressives and people like Fetterman, but deciding the conclusion and molding to facts to match it is exactly how we get people believing in nonsense.
I listen fairly often to a debunk/analyzing show of Alex Jones called Knowledge Fight. They also sometimes review others. I also listen to Know Rogan, which is a similar show critically analyzing Joe Rogan, as well as several other skeptical podcasts etc. Something they all and I as well agree on is we shouldn’t work off of preconceived notions like the subjects of their shows do, but instead make sure our assertions are backed up with evidence and truth. As I said, you have every right to be worried; that isn’t my criticism.
However, if you just do the same thing the worst right wing influencers do by making a decision and then making any minor difference to how you assume they should respond mean your preconceived notion is correct, how do you convince people that when the ring wing does it, it’s wrong, but when you do it, it’s right?
You sound exactly like an ML trying to crush the United States by dismissing anyone who questions the intention of the politicians that you want elected.
If you actually were worried about fake politicians like Fetterman, you would be taking this guy a little bit more seriously. There are a lot of red flags around him – and while I’m not saying we should write him off entirely… I’m saying his words matter and you are saying his words do not.
You’re also quickly accusing me of conspiracy theory which is a telltale sign of your actual intentions. What a joke.
I think you watch too many youtube streamers.
I can safely say I have not watched a YouTube streamer in my life.
Then switch to decaf and talk to some people who are in the service or have served and prepare to get laughed at for suggesting it.
This is a “hasan’s dog” thing all over again, it’s overblown bullshit meant to distract you from actual nazis running for office or in office now, people who aren’t even subtle or ashamed. We’re not in some cloak and dagger thing where they’re sneaking in by pretending to be progressives, it’s media-fueled hysteria.
I’m not entirely sure where you’re going with all of this, but I’m just commenting on his quote and how he did not Answer the question. The fact that you’re getting angry about this curious.
If you take part of the guys statement and ignore the rest of it, and fixate on him not using the precise words “stand up”, I guess I can understand what you are getting at. But in context, he seems to be expressing the exact opposite of what you are claiming.
If I focus on what he actually said, and not what you want me to think he means… l o l
What he actually said:
Yes, I will stand next to you physically if we go knock on doors together. I would be happy to be physically next to you while knocking on doors.*
LOL. You can’t claim to focus on what he actually said when you’re responding to an edited version of his answer designed to confirm your preconceived notions.
You’re grasping at straws now.
deleted by creator
I disagree with you but you have beautiful fingers and are under no obligation to doxx yourself for anyone, ever.
It’s amazing how when you come back online I get messages from several different users within a few minutes but then nothing in between
This article is garbage.
His tattoo is not a resemblance to a nazi tattoo, it is a fucking nazi tattoo.
He knows it’s a fucking Totenkopf and it is the size of a grapefruit right over his heart.
No self-respecting tattoo artist would put a Totenkopf on a human being without being a nazi themselves.
He got the Totenkopf in Croatia; a country with strong far-right ties.
He worked for Blackwater killing brown people in the Middle East.
He is not what he seems.
Good luck people of Maine.
Let’s look at the relevant candidates for this Senate race:
It’s Graham Platner – a former marine who had a forgotten reddit account with years of pro-socialist posts; Janet Mills, a 77-year old dinosaur who will be anything but progressive; and sitting Republican Susan Collins.
People can change, and Platner has demonstrated that he did. Given his alternatives, is an old tattoo which he covered really any reason to not vote this guy??? It’s not Graham Platner versus a picture-perfect socialist who runs a commune that saves orphans and puppies. It’s Platner v. Susan Collins v. Janet Mills. Do not let the Mainstream Media make this a controversy.
Purity testing has been the biggest contributor to the downfall of democracy.
If we weren’t so ready to cut each other down trump wouldn’t have gotten the foothold he did.
Until the progressive culture in America gets off its high horse the corporate donors are going to just keep us infighting while they sweep away our rights.
We need to accept that nobody is perfect and to allow anyone who wants to pull away from trump/conservativism to do so.
All this “once a X always a X” rhetoric only reinforces X identity because it denies any possible alternative.
The guy is a murderous Nazi. There is no evidence he is reformed other than supposed Reddit posts. I am sorry, but this is definitely not an example of a purity test. This is a simple test of logic and you failed.
*years of supposed Reddit posts showing a clear new ideology, which Graham didn’t even want shown. These were dug up by opposition. That just makes those posts feel more genuine in my mind. Maybe he broke free of the Military’s cult ideology and now this is him making amends. Can we accept an apology from a person is trying to save us?
No, I cannot accept someone who is/was a Nazi who killed people that is being used to create a populist sentiment and to continue this appeal to Patriarchy.
I have watched him in interviews, he is weasely and is constantly fed information by political operatives. He is contrived by the powers at be to create some unholy union of voters.
Another populist asshole to suck up to the Patriarchy thus reinforcing everything that is wrong in US politics. If we have to nazify the Democratic Party and push murderers like this to win, then I am not sure if it is worth winning.
“I don’t want the maybe-nazi, so let’s capitulate to the definitely-nazis.”
Thanks, that is the choice here. I don’t want Nazi period. Is that hard to understand?
Sorry, he’s a nazi who only removed his tattoo when it became known about, and lied that he didn’t know what it was. He’s running as a Dem just because that gives him better odds to win in Maine. (edit: And even if he didn’t have the tat his Blackwater history would disqualify him in my book.)
In this case I’d go for the ‘old dinosaur’ since
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she might die or have to leave early and then you could replace her in a special election
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She’s neither a repub nor a fucking nazi.
I can’t say definitively that he’s a Nazi, but I have to agree that at the very least he obviously makes very poorly informed decisions - that alone makes him a bad choice for a leader in my book.
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He only covered it up a few days ago, after the story broke. It would absolutely be different if he had old nazi tattoos that had been covered up a decade ago, even five years ago, but he waited until he got called out. His former political director said Platner knew what the tattoo was.
Plus it’s the subject of one of the most famous comedy sketches on the internet. The guy has been using reddit since 2009, there is no way he didn’t see the “are we the baddies” meme.
Even if we buy his story, it feels disqualifying for someone who wants to be in the senate to not recognize the second most common nazi symbol in the world.
Is this really the second most common? I would put the SS lightning bolts, imperial eagle, and iron cross above this. I didn’t recognize this as a nazi symbol when all this broke, and I have seen are we the baddies memes
The Totenkopf is very fucking common, it was the symbol of the SS.
We know the SS had a skull symbol, but not everybody would be able to recognize it out of context or pick it out of a line up with other skulls.
You must not have actually looked at a Totenkopf. They are very specific.
You are correct that not everyone would recognize it.
I love that skit, seen it so many times along with most of the wkuk stuff, the emblem wasn’t something I paid attention to. So I only found out about this emblem being a nazi thing when all this platner stuff broke. Not excusing him, just saying that it really isn’t unbelievable to have not seen that emblem before in the right context to know what it means.
Yes but you didn’t have it tattoo’d over your heart for 18 years… you tend to recognize things you’re familiar with.
But by all means, lets please have the first senator to call Gaza a genocide have a Nazi tattoo, that won’t cause any problems.
I’m not trying to say the other candidates are good, but we still have like 7 months to find someone who doesn’t have any recently covered nazi tattoos.
Let the downvotes flow I guess.
If someone better comes along I’d definitely be happy to see them. Would rather candidates not have concerning shit in their past like this.
Well, is he gonna do Nazi shit or not?
I think that’s a question we should be asking about any candidate, not just the ones with nazi tattoos. I also think it’s fair to say candidates with nazi tattoos probably have a higher preponderance of nazi beliefs. Unfortunately without being able to see the future we can’t know for sure how someone will act.
Platner, a Marine veteran and oyster farmer who launched his Democratic primary campaign in August in hopes of ultimately challenging Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) for her seat in 2026, answered that he firmly believes “that every single American has the right to live the life they want to live in their own body as they see fit,” and emphasized what he views as his “responsibility” as a straight, white, cisgender male, to defend the rights of LGBTQ+ people.
“I get to put myself out there in ways that other people don’t,” said Platner. “I’m doing this because I know that I can say things, I know that I can have conversations, I know that I can knock on doors in places that a lot of other people can’t have access to, that a lot of other people won’t feel safe in.”
“Yes, I will absolutely stand next to you, and if we ever have to go knock doors together, I’m happy to stand by your side,” he added.
Wow, people are really pulling the last bit out of context and assuming the worst implications. His “stand by you” and “knocking on doors” thing is him acknowledging his white male privilege to feel safe doing things like going door to door in most neighborhoods, and being happy to extend that safety to others by standing beside them while they do it.
I get the concern about having a Nazi tattoo for over a decade, and concern that everything he is doing is performative based on his past. But what he said was pretty unequivically that he will support LGBTQ+ people, including in action. Whether anyone believes him or not is up to them. But what he said was not mealy-mouthed, it was direct.
Seems he is going fairly hard in the mortally correct direction, there.
He keeps saying all the right things.
Hopefully he isn’t a lying Nazi
People change.
2016 me would have you think that 2025 me would be the goose stepping leader of the Trump fan club but instead I moved to a liberal city, came out of the closet and have been living a genuine and happy life.
I now despise trump and have come to embrace democratic socialism.
That radical change was directly related to my liberal friends being willing to talk with me and welcome me into their spaces despite our differences.
If we can’t accept that people are capable of change then we’re defaulted into a perpetual conflict where physical violence becomes inevitable.
If things can’t be worked out with words people will result to hands. Those are ultimately the only two tools people have to deal with each other.
Accepting that people can change allows people feel like they have a space to change to. If I didn’t have my friends to welcome me into their liberal space I never would have changed because the social pressure to stay conservative and for fear of being alone.
I agree, I used to be a shitty little incel boy, and now I’m a married woman working to try to help people.
People can change, I hope the Nazi tattoo was just a mistake like the ones I made in my past.
Yeah, hopefully.
There’s a really strong argument to be made that regardless of personal beliefs, seeking that kind of power is inherently untrustworthy. But until we have a national legislature draft we have to rely on the evidence we have that people are going to do good things in office.
Shit, that’s a breath of fresh air!
and a skull tattoo he got while in the Marines that some said resembled a Nazi symbol
🙄
it was one though, hard to say that someone has grown if they’re feigning ignorance about the entire thing.
If you’ve ever been in or known anyone in the service, you would know that it’s massively overblown and doesn’t “mean” anything. There are thousands of different varieties of skull and crossbone out there, you would have to be really deep in the nazi sauce to use that particular design as a signal.
This is pretty much a “hasan’s dog” thing, it’s being overblown because of the desperate need by media personalities, including youtube streamers, to harvest money from reaction content, driving up everyone’s black-and-white thinking.
We have actual nazis in office and running for office, people who don’t even hide it. We have to stay focused on what the actual dangers are.
Honestly his military service is even more disqualifying as far as I’m concerned, but I guess spending years gunning down brown foreigners appeals to the median democrat.
We have actual nazis in office and running for office, people who don’t even hide it. We have to stay focused on what the actual dangers are.
It’s a year out, if it’s that serious surely someone without all this baggage could run for office.
Being against military service is a far more honest criticism, but also utterly unrealistic. We just don’t live in that world.
Except he didn’t just do military service, he also worked for Blackwater.
From his Wikipedia page:
In 2018, Platner returned to Kabul, Afghanistan, for about six months as a State Department security contractor with Constellis, the private military company formerly known as Blackwater, where he provided diplomatic security to the US ambassador to Afghanistan.
He worked as security to the US ambassador for 6 months. And quit because he disliked the military industrial complex that he was witnessing from the inside.
As a former military person he could have lived the good life cashing giant checks from Blackwater until he reached retirement. Instead he quit to take on the not so cushy life of being an oyster farmer. And now he is diving head first into the wood chipper that is a political campaign in the United States against a well established GOP incumbent.
To be dismissive of such a person is reductive and unnecessarily demeaning. And leads me to wonder if you are being disingenuous in hopes of helping one of the, quite frankly utterly despicable, other candidates.
Sweet Lord, I saw other comments about a stint and Blackwater but this is the first that actual described it. A 6-month job as an ambassador’s security doesn’t give a lot of free time for atrocities even if it were in Blackwater’s contracts. His service record would likely be more damning than that.
sadly we’re in the world where the bipartisan consensus is for endless warmongering and turning a blind eye to nazis
You have an incredibly childish view of the world.
That’s a pretty 1-dimensional perspective. If you understand both the shitty reality we live in AND that nothing is black-and-white, you will be a lot more effective at actually pushing the needle towards progress, like so many actual great activists have done which has gotten us to a world where your chances of being murdered and raped and eaten by bandits has fallen dramatically low.
if it means supporting someone like this guy I’d rather be rotating on a spit tyvm
I understand that 100. People kept quiet about Fetterman and his worrying behavior before he was elected, then after his stroke when it was brought up repeatedly, people kept blaming the stroke.
Yes, people change and maybe Fetterman did and the stroke caused regression; and maybe he didn’t and it didn’t.
if it means supporting someone like this guy I’d rather be rotating on a spit tyvm
That’s just utterly insane hyperbole that most likely has the opposite effect as you might think. I hope you grow more.
He has already addressed this and got the tattoo covered up. Case closed.
his explanation left a lot to be desired, though it’s not surprising that Nazi tattoos fly under the radar as a state department mercenary.
If you’re posturing like a politically-aware leftist or calling yourself a communist, to claim ignorance of something like that just makes it sound like you’re lying because you got caught.
All this “once an X always an X” rhetoric does is prevent anyone who wants to pull away from trump from doing so.
It’s already difficult enough for people to change, basically telling anyone who wants to change “yeah you can alienate yourself from my enemies but you’ll always be on my shit list” is absolutely not going to win them over and just reinforces that X identity is all they have.
Unless you like losing elections you really need to consider how winning people over is crucially important to any movement.
I’m fine with people changing and learning from their past behavior. If he was just another person on the street I wouldn’t have any issue.
However I’m troubled by having someone who’s already demonstrated that lack of judgement and awareness pursuing a leadership position. I just can’t trust the guy on his words alone at this point. It’s a year out from the election, surely there’s other people who can run.
“I’m troubled by having someone who’s already demonstrated that lack of judgement and awareness”
It would be one thing if he did something criminal or malicious but having had shitty beliefs and then changing them just shows growth.
Judging someone who’s an ostensible ally and who is exactly the kind of change we want to see for having needed the change in the first place is circular logic and ultimately self-alienating.
You say you’re fine with people changing but your logic doesn’t allow for anyone who’s changed their views to be a representative.
At this point it’s not even about ideology anymore but just straight up identity politics.
You’re basically treating him like he’s an ideological felon where he’s allowed to continue existing but can’t participate in politics.
Sorry but I severely don’t buy this original sin level of being forever unworthy just for having had different political beliefs in the past.
We need to normalize growing up instead of relentlessly punishing people for having been misled naive at some point in their life.
You say there’s better people to run but I’d argue that a convert is absolutely the best person to run because it opens the door for more converts.
It would be one thing if he did something criminal or malicious
He was a part of the US war machine for decades, you understand how that’s doing harm to people in a concrete sense? I get that he finally quit, but I consider that history worse than being a criminal, especially under our current judicial system.
They can be reformed, but I’d rather not have them in a leadership position.
Many people enter the military because of poor economic prospects, being crushed by capitalism is literally their best recruiting tool.
Without knowing why he joined, holding his service history against him is effectively victim blaming.
Not to mention that even if he was ideologically motivated he’s now turned against something he literally fought for, showing massive positive growth.
So either way his service history isn’t a valid refute for the points I’ve previously brought up about change/growth.
Sorry but this all seems like justification for indulging in identity politics.
His explanation that he was drunk with buddies on deployment in Croatia is perhaps the most believable circumstance in which someone would make that mistake. Yes, he had the tattoo for several years. I don’t recall how long he said he was aware of it being the Nazi symbol, but yes, in my opinion he should have gotten it removed or covered sooner once he did know. I certainly never would have known that the skull was a Nazi symbol without being explicitly told.
That said, no, I don’t think it sounds like he’s lying. He isn’t posturing either, and there’s plenty of evidence to back that up.
If you’re not capable of accepting that he made a mistake and addressed it appropriately, then I don’t see how you could ever be satisfied. If we want real people to run for office and not just establishment approved candidates, you need to open to the idea that people make mistakes, they change, and they may not have the squeaky-clean past you idealize.
I think you have unrealistic expectations, not just of people running for office, but for people in general. Your purity test is not only foolish, but will cause you to be deeply unsatisfied and let down by so much in the world.
I can accept that for a lot of democrats this is something they’re entirely willing to overlook. It’s not a surprise because they have already been fine operating as co-conspirators in decades of US warmongering.
Your purity test is not only foolish, but will cause you to be deeply unsatisfied and let down by so much in the world.
I agree, I might be less let down by the world if I was more comfortable around people with nazi tattoos. I think I will continue to be disappointed though.
Eh, there definitely is a resemblance but the details aren’t quite the same: https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:cexoqsdnukfflq6jhculm23i/bafkreiamqpmivablffphia4osiivjsds6xoscqi4adfdgopyh4dbwm3o5u@jpeg
Details? You’re looking at a different picture than I am.
I just see a black blob.
Also, thanks for posting that. It’s the first time I’ve actually seen a picture of the tattoo and as someone who hasn’t engrossed themselves in white supremacist culture, wouldn’t immediately place that as being a Nazi symbol.
looks the same to me
