Well, that seems like the important part.
(I agree that it was unambiguously a sloppy, blurred totenkopf.)
Ok yes, it looks to me like a very smudged version of photo number 2 from MagicEyes’ Wiki link. I personally think he got the tattoo with his buddies while drunk, figured out what it was sometime later seeing as he is a history buff, blew it all off since that’s not what it represented to him and his acquaintances thought he was the opposite of a Nazi (voted most likely to start a revolution in high school), faked shock last fall, had it removed.
The above doesn’t cover the guy in glory. And really it’s just based on a few facts and my own pattern recognition. Much less than beyond a reasonable doubt, less than clear and convincing evidence, just clears the preponderance of the evidence threshold for me. Not sure I could convince a jury of this. I’m highly dubious about the secret Nazi hypothesis, given his progressive commentary about LGBTQ, etc.
I’m sympathetic to the perspective of the Anti-Defamation League. Show a little grace towards those who have a spasm of poor judgment but later denounce what the symbols represent. Avoid witch hunts, reinforce anti-Nazi norms.
More low confidence suspicions: Platner will represent Maine, so he will want to do something with Republican reps to reinforce his bipartisan bona fides. Tariffs, maybe??? Swing states are tough to win and Collins will be formidable this fall.
This is what i think is the most likely story. And while it doesn’t cover the guy in glory, it doesn’t make him a Nazi. It doesn’t make him antisemitic. What actually matters most about a symbol is what it means to the person using it. And he apologized and got rid of it, rather than doubling down, when he learned it was going to bother people. (Because let’s be real, “obscure Nazi symbol that almost no one recognizes” probably wasn’t actually bothering people when he was just “some dude on the beach”.)
Was that also self serving? Of course. And while it does make him a liar, all politicians are liars by my standards, and probably by most normal standards. I’ve learned to accept that, so long as they don’t lie a lot for politicians.
I think Collins will beat him. But having now spent an awful lot of time researching a guy who’s not in my state, if i were voting in Maine, I’d vote for him in the general.
As I stated in the OP, I will vote for the D this November. I believe having a D majority is more important than any one person. That said, maybe not suck so bad supporting Platner.
The primary mission of the ADL is to root out Nazis. I trust them when they say Platner is not one.
Question for Babale, et al: Why do you not trust the ADL?
I wouldn’t quite say that the ADL has exactly signed off on the tattoo. More details here:
On the ADL, from the other thread:
An article from last week provides a decent indicator of Platner’s future behavior. He will tack to the center while wrapping up his policies in left-style rhetoric. Sort of like Newt Gingrich called his policies revolutionary.
Platner proposes to eliminate the federal tax on gasoline and diesel fuel, freeze electric rates, and fund clean energy:
Policy-wise, we should have higher taxes on emissions, which implies higher taxes on fuel, albeit indirect. I oppose cutting gas taxes, but these are the sorts of sacrifices I have to make for a Democratic majority. I’m used to it. And in 2026, the stakes are a lot higher.
Rhetoric:
“The solutions are straightforward,” reads Platner’s energy plan. “They simply require the political will: to end big oil’s stranglehold on our energy policy, to slash prices for consumers, and to build the energy of the future.”
A cornerstone of the plan is to cut the 18 cent per-gallon tax on gasoline and 24 cent per-gallon tax on diesel charged by the federal government. Those taxes go to fund U.S. roads and bridges, but Platner said basic transportation infrastructure should be funded by increased taxes on billionaires, rather than regressive sales taxes that hit Maine’s working class.
The plan also calls for a 50% per-barrel windfall tax on big oil profits and a national freeze on electric rate increases. Platner said any state that pauses or lowers electric rates for four years could get access to low-cost energy infrastructure financing funded by the windfall tax, repurposed fossil fuel subsidies, and federal energy leases.
Bad in a number of ways, but we can hope some (not all) of the rough edges can be smoothed in committee. Generally speaking, Platner is doing what I would want swing district reps to do: run on popular stuff, compromise on unpopular stuff. Ugly, but necessary if you want a durable majority. Far superior to the GOP, where snake oil reigns and actual wonks have little or no influence.
I walk the walk: democracy and climate are my two big issues and where they conflict moves to support our democratic experiment win.
Platner claims to have such bad PTSD that he’s incapable of holding down a job at McDonald’s every time he renews his VA benefits, but I guess not all mental illnesses are created equal, especially when no one on Earth actually believes that Platner’s “total disability” is real.
Except for the VA, ya know, the folks that actually get to decide if a veteran is disabled.
And from the various social media stories, getting disability is not easy (although I may be conflating VA with Social Security Admin).
Maybe the voters will decide to trust the VA on this.
It’s extremely easy to the point that it’s driving a budgetary crisis, and everyone who has any connection at all to people who were in the military knows that scamming the VA with fake disability payments is simply a planned financial move for millions of people. Pretending that Platner isn’t doing that means you are either in a bubble where you never interact with any veterans or just willfully doing propaganda for Maine Kampf.
I’ll do the “propaganda” just to balance out your crap attitude…
Three tours as a marine on the front lines might cause some problems ya know?
I’m pretty sure you’re lying about this, because your lips are moving, but just in case: cite?
Exactly. For one thing, while the VA might dictate a re-examination of a veteran by a physician after some period of time to see if their condition has improved or not, there’s no such thing as “renewing your VA benefits.”
At this point, I think you are just making things up, @ZosterSandstorm.
What??? I would have never suspected this.