Incredibly based of Slotkin, as always.
How about him actually saying he’s a Nazi, or expressing admiration for Nazis, or making negative statements about Jews or other minorities?
Being a guest on a podcast doesn’t mean you’re ideologically aligned with the host. Is Paul Begala a Christian nationalist because he used to co-host a show with Tucker Carlson?
Unless you have a way of travelling back in time to last year and convincing Chuck Schumer to endorse a better candidate, there are only two people in this race with a chance to win. Do you want Democrats to get a Senate majority or not?
That’s a reasonably clear photo. Here’s the wikipedia Totenkopf page and some random war site.
IMHO, you have to be in on the “secret handshake” to make the connection from the SS Totenkopf insignia, to Graham’s tat. Sure, maybe it’s only for those in the know, which is why he didn’t get a swastika? Dunno, I’m not in the secret Nazi club. Nor have I seen cites from his Reddit posts that scream Nazi. On top of all that, this is one of many janky tattoos on his body. Occam’s Razor and all that.
This. People who are passionate enough about Nazism to deliberately get a Nazi symbol tattooed on their body don’t then proceed to never say or do anything Nazi-adjacent. The evidence says poor judgment, not secret evil.
Which translates to “he told people”.
The other possibility is that there are certain macho guys who really care nothing for Nazi politics, but enjoy being the kind of tough, don’t give-a-fuck kind of dude who can sport a Nazi tattoo and say, maybe it’s SS, maybe it isn’t, I don’t really care what you say. It’s a power move.
Admittedly it’s a subtle point, and under normal circumstances that kind of guy would be the last person I’d choose to represent me in government. But it’s the difference between someone I’d consider holding my nose for in order to defeat a Republican (Susan Collins), and someone who is probably an actual Nazi and/or morally as unreliable as a Republican.
For me, Platner was in the former category until the allegations came out about his actual behavior toward women. Actual behavior toward counts 10x more than aesthetic choices for me, so that’s a disqualifier. And of course nobody should be surprised that a guy who enjoys flaunting Nazi aesthetics turned out to be creepy and borderline abusive to women.
Occam’s Razor says that when you tell people you have a Totenkopf tattoo, you know you have a Totenkopf tattoo. No “secret handshake” required.
We have the record of what he, himself, actually said. I’m not sure what hair you’re trying to split, there.
All this is a hypothetical exercise for me, not being a voter in Maine - but while I care at a point, that point is not unfaithfulness when dating years back, saying stupid shit years back, or even sexting while in his current marriage not very long back. Neil Gaiman level he is not at.
As a voter I care by a very wide margin most about what the candidate’s policy positions and takes on issues believably are, and most about how they stack up against the alternative, both on the issues and in consequence to balance of power.
The person doesn’t have to be someone I’d otherwise admire or want to hang with. They just have to be less bad in those aspects in particular than the other candidate.
Sure if two people are both fine enough on policy and balance of power I’d vote for the more admirable or likable one, or the one with fewer dumb regrettable shit in their past. Here though?
The contrast on issues, policy, and potentially consequences for balance of power and all the major impact consequences of that, is more important than his having been a real bad boyfriend, and not a great husband.
But not my vote to cast.
I fully might have missed it in the hundreds of posts–do we have more than hearsay that he called it a totenkopf prior to a year ago?
The latest allegations are of physical abuse and kidnapping (I think–the allegation is that he trapped his then-girlfriend in a room and wouldn’t let her out). It’s complicated by the fact that she’s a right-wing operative, but that’s hardly proof that she’s lying. Supposedly she has corroborating, contemporary evidence that the NYT chose not to include in their story.
If there’s persuasive evidence that she told people, when it happened, that he physically abused/kidnapped her, that’s disqualifying in a way that sexting isn’t. I’m not keen on having felony abusers in government, especially not ones that call their accusers liars and don’t take full responsibility for the abuse.
At least, not from what we’ve learned so far. But there are some shoes that are dangling awfully precipitously.
There was a Reddit thread about a decade ago about tottenkopfs that he participated in. If he didn’t know what it was before then, he certainly did then. And he knew that it was evidence that he knew, because he deleted his posts. Unfortunately for him, there are websites that archive things like Reddit so you can still see what the deleted posts were.
But it is reason to not take at face value either.
Per the NYT article there are several exes that characterized “Mr. Platner as a fun and caring partner, and saying they felt safe with him.” And three exes who said he could be “demeaning to women”, unfaithful, and in “at least one case, even physically threatening”:
This, from the conservative activist, from when they were in their twenties, and she describes as a time “emotionally rocky for her”, is apparently the “at least one case” that you are characterizing as “physical abuse and kidnapping”:
During one argument, she recalled, he twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom and held the door closed from the other side so she couldn’t get out, telling her to remain there until she was “calm.” Eventually, Ms. Fifield said, she fell asleep and left the next morning.
If that was exactly what happened, then no matter what sort of high drama fight they had been having, no matter if he felt threatened by her behavior at the moment, it would be behavior to be ashamed of, and believable for someone self described as having then been struggling with PTSD, excess drinking, and more, in a relationship with someone dealing with their own emotional issues at the time. A very bad moment during acknowledged very bad times. But “physical abuse and kidnapping”?
Nah.
With the latest stories, Platner is now not just a maybe-Nazi, but a maybe abuser of women. I would vote for almost any other Democrat over Platner in the primary.
In the general, a maybe Nazi and maybe abuser is still vastly better than a proven Nazi and proven excuser/enabler of abuse like Collins.
I am fascinated by how many have glommed into this as having been an accusation made when the one alleged “abuse” is a conservative operative describing a bad fight they had during admittedly emotionally bad times for both of them. Yes per her (and for the sake of discussion I accept her version) during that relationship he drank too much, grabbed her roughly, pulled her hard by the wrist once, but she is quick to say he “never hit me, he never punched me.” …
There are different levels of abuse, and some are certainly worse than others… but IMO grabbing a woman roughly, twisting her arm, and pushing her, definitely qualifies (though at this point it’s an allegation, not a proven fact).
On primary ballots, I vote for whomever I like best, regardless of whether they have suspended their campaign. Only when uncertain do I let who is still actively campaigning be a tie-breaker.
So, yea, I’d say the solution is to vote for Mills. But I can’t blame Maine Democrats who let themselves be influenced by whether a candidate is actually trying to win.
As to what would happen if by some miracle Mills wins the primary, she is a proven statewide vote getter in a Democratic year. While Mills is too old, so is Collins, making age no factor. And I don’t think the job of senator requires being young at heart. I think Mills is the safer bet for electability.
I haven’t read many of the 795 prior posts in this thread, so apologies if this has been said ten times.
Accept that behavior, grabbing, pushing … as “abuse” alleged by a single woman by this individual as something that he did during a period in his twenties when he was admittedly in a very bad period. (As per her so was she.) It still has morphed by you to plural “women” and by LHOD into potential felony level abuser, kidnapping …
It grows beyond any actual allegations made. And who knows? Shoes might yet drop. Oy.
Uhhh, yeah, physical abuse and kidnapping is exactly what I would call it if someone quite literally twisted a woman’s arm and then locked her in a room until the next day. That’s not “bad behavior to be ashamed of”, it’s fucking disgusting and demonstrates a willingness to do anything he wants to to other people in order to get his way.
If that’s how he abused the power of being bigger and stronger than his romantic partner (someone he loved and cared about, supposedly) I don’t even want to think about the ways he will undoubtedly abuse his powers as an elected official.
Which would fit right in with his weird fantasy about raping an intruder “not in a gay way” as he put it but for power. The more we learn about him, the more he seems like a predator who is obsessed with power over others. I can see why the Nazi tattoo was so appealing to him.
Women don’t come forward with claims like this very often for a reason, and that reason is the absolutely terrible, insensitive, and ineffective way that police departments handle such claims; it doesn’t surprise me in the least that she hasn’t come forward at the time. But in a just world, where the police actually take accusations of abuse seriously? Twisting a woman’s arm and physically forcing her into a room which you then shut and prevent her from leaving 100% should be a mother fucking felony. I can’t believe that this would be at all controversial.
The actual allegation as per the NYT:
held the door closed from the other side
Becomes
Exactly the morphing I am referencing.
He closed the door and ensured that she was not physically able to reopen it, with the result that she was not able to escape until the next day. I’m not sure what distinction you’re drawing, there.