There’s no one on the right today who actually opposes antisemitism. At least not with any power. There’s no way to support/enable Trump and Hegseth and Co while opposing antisemitism (or any sort of bigotry).
Antisemitism on the left is indeed a real problem that needs to be purged, and it will be very difficult.
I’ve not heard or read that he left the Marine Corps because of his tattoos.
I do see something that he had to explain any tattoos when he later joined the Army National Guard (likely because the Marine Corps does not have a National Guard component).
And questions about tattoos (and drug use, for that matter) are routinely asked during reenlistments.
If questioned back then, I am willing to bet he thought it was a bullshit question, just like someone questioning a skull & crossbones pirate tattoo. It obviously didn’t prevent his joining the Army National Guard, so it didn’t trigger any prohibition against hate-speech tattoos at that time.
I take him at his word that he only realized later its Nazi-associated connotations. And I think it’s a stretch to hang the Nazi label on him for this. Actual Nazis tend to be a lot more explicit in their choice of imagery. And they don’t apologize for them, or remove them, or cover them up with another tattoo. Which Platner has done.
Yeah, I just read the wiki page on him and at least there, nothing points to him flipping to R. Quite the opposite, really. I mean, he doesn’t seem to be the strongest candidate but I also don’t see the controversy. The tattoo is bad, it’s obviously a Nazi tattoo and the wiki page quotes someone saying that he knew it was a Nazi tattoo, but that’s literally his only connection to fascism.
It’s a shit tattoo, like it’s executed terribly. The cover-up is pretty bad too. It seems to fit a pattern of rash decision making, and under normal circumstances that’d be concerning. But we’re not in normal circumstances, Congresspeople don’t vote as individuals anymore.
If one of his controversial reddit posts was “I’m a communist,” it seems unlikely that’s he’s a secret republican.
He’s definitely not a secret Nazi. Secret Nazis don’t wear tattoos advertising it.
Well, that, and his regular associations with other Nazis, and his frequent homophobic and anti-Semitic comments. But seriously, “his only connection to fascism was him telling the world that he was one”? That’s way into “But other than that, Mrs. Lincoln” territory.
It sucks, but unfortunately it’s the right thing to do. Collins is like Lucy and the football, how many times do we (as Charlie Brown) believe her? I’m willing to give someone else a chance.
Can you give me a quick rundown of that stuff? And maybe add it to the wiki page…
eta: This NY Post article declaring him a “jew hater” cites 1) a podcast with an anti-semite that he probably shouldn’t have done, 2) a retweet of an anti-semite’s tweet that he probably shouldn’t have re-tweeted, 3) the tattoo that has been discussed at length, and 4) comments critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza, which I’m geting tired of people trying to paint as “Jew hating.”
Well, Platner has Bernie’s endorsement:
We got an email from Bernie looking for donations to help him get over the goal line.
You could easily apply this milquetoast analysis to Platner and point out that he’s not actually a Nazi, he just got a skull tattoo. He didn’t get a swastika, doesn’t endorse Nazism, he’s just not especially puritan about his aesthetics.
And then you could say Susan Collins has more often than not saved Trump from certain defeat, and continues to entrench the legislative and judicial superiority of a party that not-so-secretly winks at Nazis because it benefits them.
You could argue that letting Collins take office is in effect a vote for 51 Nazis in the Senate, while a vote for Platner is just a vote for a guy who’s not much of a purist about tough-guy tattoos. Maybe he flips, sure, but he’s just one guy. And it’s not like Collins is going to be embarking on any anti-fascist crusades anytime soon. She’ll keep right on helping Nazis.
I understand why people say they can’t possibly vote for Platner, and I won’t begrudge them that, but nobody should pretend like it’s a clear-cut choice at all.
The clear cut choice is obviously neither.
Also, Elizabeth Warren endorsed and campaigned with him.
AOC appears to be a fan as well (Video link w/audio)
The other contender for the Democratic nomination has dropped out. The winner is going to be one of the two major-party candidates. That’s your choice.
Going with a third-party candidate is as useless as ever. That likely helps the incumbent and results in yet another term for Susan Collins and her furrowed brow of concern—along with continued Republican control of the Senate.
Well I’m not from Maine so you’re safe there, but i would not vote for this guy and when the general campaign starts a lot more people are going to learn things about him that will absolutely destroy any chance he has of winning. Him winning the primary already hands Trump the senate, its that simple.
With such a confident prediction from a random internet person, how could anyone ever disagree?
The story to me is that this guy had a Nazi tattoo and yet his messaging on issues people cares about was enough for people to overlook it.
The article I linked actually suggested that these past issues, rather than making him undesirable, are actually making him seem more approachable, with people projecting their own past failings onto him.
At the end of the day, narratives are what get people elected. The same thing can be dismissed in one candidate that would doom another as long as the thing is successfully placed into a narrative. If they like the other things, there will be motivated reasoning to ignore the rest.
There is this discrepancy between his policies and these other things. The two narratives that seem to be proposed to explain this is “he’s actually fascist but just faking with his policies to trick people” and “he’s someone who has done some bad stuff but is trying to get better, while still making mistakes.”
And the latter seems to be resonating more. At the very least, people seem to think he’ll stick to his policies and that what they like about him.
I don’t know if this will persist outside of Maine. I do think it seems like he has enthusiasm which all of his opponents lack.
And so far as I’ve seen, enthusiasm seems to win elections these days.
As a native mainer, I despise Susan Collins for the wimp that she is. I look forward to the comprehensive, informed erudite posts that you will make with documented facts about Platner. I’ll be watching 
They are all already posted here, did you miss them? probably in the other platner thread actually.
This is clear-cut support for for 51 Nazis in the Senate. Not voting is definitely support for protecting Nazi rule. Sit it out, let Nazis command the majority. If that’s what you want, then yes, it’s totally clear-cut.
Whoever wins its still going to be 51 nazis in the senate.
There have been excellent senators who in their young days supported evil causes. The late Robert Byrd from West Virginia comes to mind. He started out as leader in the Klan and ended up with the full support of the NAACP by the time of his death. People can change, and we should be willing to forgive them if they ask for forgiveness. I’m not from Maine, but if I was, I’d vote for him.
Your certainty is hilarious, as is certainty from anyone about politics these days. It’s hard to believe anyone can still feel certain about a political prediction in today’s world.