So I shouldn’t make any conclusions about the beliefs of my neighbor who flies a Confederate flag? It’s just evidence of a symbol, not a belief.
Yes, like I say this is piling up confirmatory evidence but I honestly can’t believe that after a thousand posts on this board “Are there any reasons to reject a guy with a Nazi tattoo?” is a live issue.
I mean, as much as anything else, what it says is “There is a decent argument that the American public don’t find Nazi tattoos immediately disqualifying in their elected officials” which, fucking. Hell.
Worth a read…
And there really isn’t any evidence against it. If he’d held other elected positions, then we could point to policies he’d voted for or implemented, and maybe if he did a really good job in those positions, successfully implementing non-Nazi or anti-Nazis policies, then we could balance the scales. But he hasn’t, so all we have to base our decisions on is the things we do know. One of which is the Nazi tattoo, and many of which aren’t much better, and even the best things we know about him are all just sort of neutral.
We’re just “am too!” “are not!” ing at this point.
As for the false positives–I am persuaded, given the chain of events, that this is one of those times. Had you asked me the question a few months ago, my answer probably would have been, “Is this a trick question?” and the answer would have been “yes.” I might have said, “Absent persuasive evidence to the contrary…”, and I believe there’s persuasive evidence to the contrary.
Again: you’re really concerned with symbols. I’m more concerned with positions. If it comes out that he’s persuasively guilty of domestic violence or worse, that’ll change my answer; but the evidence of that is not, so far, persuasive.
What evidence? The fact that he’s said it? Politicians say all sorts of things, and it means nothing if they can’t back it up.
You say that like being really concerned about symbols of totalitarian fascist death squads is somehow superficial. In politics, like it or not, symbols matter. What is the symbolism of the Democrats nominating a guy with a Nazi tattoo? Is it good or.
When the Republicans nominate a guy with a swastika tattoo (which doesn’t feel like an implausible hypothetical) will the correct position of “what the fuck” be strengthened or weakened if Platner is there representing Maine?
How is it a trick question? What’s the trick? If it’s “to get LHOD to say that people with Nazi tattoos have no business in the US Senate” then that sort of feels like the sort of thing that shouldn’t require a trick.
Because my point isn’t in fact that Platner does nor does not hold Nazi beliefs. It’s that America has slipped so far that this Nazi-branded clown is the best you’ve got. How much must have gone wrong with your democratic systems that you, a smart and principled guy, are having to closely parse decade old reddit threads to work out if you can support a Democrat Senatorial candidate?
At this point I just stand by what I said. Getting more upset about my focus on things other than symbols won’t persuade me to focus on symbols more.
Ah. A politician. Seriously. Most politicians want to get elected and re-elected. They will play to what serves that goal. Pretty much all of them.
Hope all you want that Mills will somehow win the primary despite no longer running and having been way behind last polled, with huge unfavorable ratings, the choice is going to be Platner or Collins. Do you believe that Collins, with all that comes with her in terms of SCOTUS picks, Trump agenda, and more, is better?
Actions with major real world impacts, like voting for SCOTUS picks that enable current fascism, and fascist policies, the stuff Collins has consistently done, matter.
You might want to check out the tattoos on the sitting Secretary of Defense War.
OK, I’ll dry my eyes
Speaking purely of matters of principle and positions, do you feel that Platner’s likely success in the upcoming primary reflects a party and a polity with robust candidate selection systems, and if not how should this affect outsider’s view of America’s chances of fighting off the fascist cancer currently eating its way through its institutions?
Yes! America is in a fight for its very soul. This is really serious. Do you feel that selecting an obvious clown like Platner reflects the seriousness of the moment?
Those symbols seem extremely informative of his beliefs and actions as a government official to me.
How do you think the party “selects” candidates?
Like I said, the evidence that America isn’t a serious country (but still a dangerous one) keeps piling up.
Mills also isn’t a great candidate. A lot of folks said that there just wasn’t anyone in a position to run, but that’s just not true: There are around a hundred people who were in a position to run. What should have happened was that folks (including the leadership of the Democratic Party) should have found a few of them who looked like likely prospects, and encouraged them to run, and had a primary between them.
As things stand right now, though, it’s either Mills, or we lose Maine. The only practical difference between Platner and Collins is that with Collins, we lose one race, while with Platner, we lose more races.
It took you until this thread to figure that out?
Oooh, general knowledge quizzes about foreign political minutiae are such fun. Let me have a go.
I think the Democratic party selects - or “selects” if you like - candidates for the highest office in a haphazard, slapdash and cackhanded way that leaves them woefully unprepared to engage with the serious threat to American democracy, and that this reflects badly on them and America generally.
How’d I do?
Did the words “not in terms of changing my mind but more in the way of heaping up further confirmatory evidence” get whited out?!
I feel that not re-electing Collins, who will continue to be a good soldier on the side of fascism, as she has consistently proven herself to be, is a very serious issue. I believe that someone whose actions have resulted in a SCOTUS that has enabled massive evil must be replaced. I believe that reducing the chance of continued GOP Senate control is very serious, critical in the fight at a near existential level.
You think a tattoo is a more serious issue than that. That’s your decision to make.