.,
I am shocked to hear that so-called ‘centrists’ would lie about a progressive candidate in order to score political points.
Did they give him a #BernieBro-adjacent hashtag yet?
Not yet but I’m sure that’s coming
Related:
To me, just dealing with the Lemmy reaction to Platner, by far the most telling indication that the obedient Lemmy freakout about him was fake news was how focus-group-driven it seemed. There actually are reasons to criticize him that I could see a Lemmy-minded person seizing on. He was in the US military, for fuck’s sake, he almost certainly shot a whole bunch of people in service of the American empire. Why the fuck weren’t they screaming about that? And I’m sure there are things you could cherry-pick out of his Reddit history that would be sure problematic (the Jacobin article lists some of them, as well as some Reddit posts that partially exonerate him for having been in the US military at least in my opinion).
But anyway, it is none of that. Nothing along the lines of what the average Lemmy user seems to me like they would have as a reaction if you just surprised them on the street, described Graham Platner in 100 words, and then asked what his pros and cons were. It’s all this focus group driven “Did you hear he had a SECRET NAZI TATTOO? Yeah I’m sure he just never noticed in all the years, just another lying politician pretending to be progressive like all the rest, he’s as bad as Bernie, etc etc blah blah.” It’s the “tan suit” “invented the internet” “Bernie didn’t call it a genocide” type of picking one objectively accurate fact that looks pretty bad if you light it from one very specific angle, and then banging it like a fucking snare drum relentlessly from that exact angle to try to attach it to whoever it is indelibly.
To me it is incredibly notable that it’s all that second thing and none of that first thing.
Which instances are you on? I’ve seen plenty of talk about his Blackwater days, and the tattoo he got while a marine stationed in Croatia.
I am talking about comments threads like this one: https://lemmy.zip/post/51555751
Search for “Blackwater”. There’s ONE guy (with an argument which, while I don’t agree with it, at least seems like a coherent thing that an average Lemmy person would come up with logically to me, exactly what I was talking about in my scenario one). Then, look around at the comments and the absolutely screaming tide of people running up and down wanting to talk about the tattoo and also casually using a wide variety of logical fallacies while they are doing so. It’s weird.
I mean one thing I’ve seen missing is, at least by the knee jerker/ cancel him crowd, is the source of the oppo. Its clear that this oppo was meant to work on that particular group, and the timing with Schumer/ Mills also make the source of the oppo more clear.
THAT BEING SAID… current polling shows that Mainers don’t give a shit. That could change, but we’re a few weeks into this and the polling moved more in Platners already significant favor. Which is a story in and of its self. Platner is holding 30 points over the governed who won by 12. From the perspective of “I only have access to polling data” perspective, Platner is clearly the front runner in a way we almost never see from upstarts/ outsiders. My read is that this coincides with Democrats/ Democratic leadership polling at historic lows: People really, really, really fucking hate the ABWD/ Blue MAGA/ Corporate Dem contingent. If they see the oppo as coming from that direction, it has the opposite impact as intended.
So we’ll see. The polling is very much half baked right now. Its only a few days/ week out from the release. Its usually about 2 weeks for this kind of stuff to saturate, but as a news story, its already blowing over/ has been relegated to 3rd tier YT’ers.
Not clear to me that the oppo is going to penetrate but we shall see.
You think Schumer is clever enough to spread this kind of narrative? I think he thinks that giving Mills a ringing endorsement and a few million dollars is pretty much all he needs to do, job done, on to the next wild success in Washington!
See my comment elsewhere about “the bad people.” I don’t think singling out the Democrats as the source of this is particularly accurate. I think the people who corrupt American politics and are actually skillful at this kind of thing don’t much care whether it is establishment Democrats or Republicans who get elected, because they do fine either way, but they hate progressives and will try hard to defeat them when they come along. In general, I see no particular reason to think it is Democrats who are spreading this narrative. I don’t think the people who are actually capable at this kind of fake news are foolish enough to get tangled up in partisanship in that way.
You think Schumer is clever enough to spread this kind of narrative? I think he thinks that giving Mills a ringing endorsement and a few million dollars is pretty much all he needs to do, job done, on to the next wild success in Washington!
Yeah. He picked Mills, she announced, and a day later this dropped. Reliance on tearing down opponents is perfectly on brand for Schumer. Its exactly how they’ve put weight on races for decades. Its pretty obvious.
I don’t think singling out the Democrats as the source of this is particularly accurate
It is and it is.
In general, I see no particular reason to think it is Democrats who are spreading this narrative.
Its AIPAC funded corporate Dems. This is AIPAC’s sticking their oar in.
I don’t think the people who are actually capable at this kind of fake news are foolish enough to get tangled up in partisanship in that way.
Well, that’s not really relevant because this kind of stuff happens literally ALL the time. Its Politics 101.
I mean look, Mamdani survived this, a photo he took with an 9-11 unindicted co-conspirator:
As a brown, Muslim man, in a the city which suffered the attack. Oppo is real. It usually comes from the establishment to try and pick winner and losers. And sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. We need more polling in Maine to know what impact this is really happening.
Losing the terminally online contingent doesn’t really hurt Platner. What matters if Mainers care.
You need to talk to the people who are yelling about how this is clearly confirmation that Platner is a Nazi, and tell them they’re spreading Schumer talking points.
(To be clear: I’m not saying Schumer and co wouldn’t do something like this if they were clever and well-connected-in-media enough. I’m just saying that I see very little indication that they are either of those things, which is why they keep fucking up elections.)
Was covered where I read about it https://lemmy.zip/post/51671139
Establishment Dems will go after anyone seemingly progressive.
At the same time, this guy has all the makings of a Fetterman about him.
I still think he’s the better choice but I guess we’ll wait and see.
I would agree with you if the election was next month. The primary election literally isn’t until June 2026 and general November 2026. There is no reason to hold onto an absolutely unremarkable guy like him. If the progressive left wants a candidate they should burn his bridges and build up an actual principled candidate.
Even IF you gave him full benefit of the doubt on the Nazi tattoo. Like, you assume he was just an edgy “23 year old child”. Well, he literally had a Nazi tattoo for two decades and was too dumb to realize that? Yeah, red flag of stupidity. I wouldn’t want that person driving the bus I’m riding.
I’m absolutely for people “being able to change”. But that’s for people that aren’t my policians. Please, have a higher standard for politicians than you’re favorite YouTuber or Twitch streamer.
He had it covered up. It’s a red flag, but I would take him over the former governor that isn’t a leftist at all.
The tattoo is nowhere near as bad to me as his military history (literally as recent as 2018 for blackwater) and his “rebuild our military” shit. Like, I feel like he’ll literally only be useful in pushing some pro imperialist legislation for liberals and be completely useless in his other very generalized policy positions.
Compare Mamdani’s very specific free bus and rent freeze policies to Planters “oligarchy is the problem” messaging. It feels like a means of capturing the momentum of that sentiment than anything else.
And, again, being “better” than a Republican is not enough. We have nearly a year to find a better candidate EVERYWHERE. Dropping some rich unexceptional white guy for some massive red flags is more helpful than spending a year defending a dude like him and at best getting some pro military legislation he “reaches across the aisle” for to make a name for himself. I’m sorry. I’m tired of unexceptional white dudes that use military service as a means to collect voters.
He’d have my respect if he actually called the military out for what it is. A terrorist organization.
There are 1.3 million people in maine. Of those, half are over the age of 45. And roughly 45% of the voters voted for trump.
There are roughly 213 thousand Mainers under the age of 45 that are politically engaged and not Trumpers.
Doubtless, some of them would be better candidates than Plattner. If they run I will consider donating to them. But currently, they are not running. Plattner has released videos, put together a team. It may be a grift. I’ll take that risk. I want candidates to say the things he says when they run. The boring centrists have a machine behind them. The DNC. There is no progressive National Committee. There is only people like you and me chattering online and donating money.
If he was still denying the tattoo was a Nazi symbol I would shake my head and forget about him. I will not dismiss him because he is not polished. The campaign is will polish him as a candidate or it won’t. Either way, my 20$ will do a tiny bit to encourage more candidates like Plattner to take the plunge and run for office.
There are some differences, but yeah, there’s plenty in his background to suggest possible scumbag. We won’t know til he’s in, but I do take a little heart in the fact that the positions he’s advocating for actually work against him getting elected, which suggests authenticity.
I think Susan Collins’ campaign is probably doing some of the heavy lifting on this one.
Impressive how many people immediately took up the baton of shitting all over this guy the second they got the order from whatever media bubble they are in.
I’ve been reading and watching what he has to say, and the more people screech he’s a Nazi it sounds more like a very obvious attempt to make people discount him. “What do leftists hate? Nazis! Hey leftists, this guy is a Nazi!”
Is the tattoo a problem? Sure. He should have had it covered ages ago, but his posts and positions aren’t that of a Nazi so that accusation just falls flat as soon as you do even a minute of research.
For other audiences, they are claiming that his Reddit comments expose him as a secret communist.
It’s exactly the same as Kamala Harris. To some audiences, she was a corporate tool who was going to sell us out to big business and make immigration worse because she loved ICE. To other audiences, she was a horrible communist who was going to kill business in America with her communism and believed in open borders. And they both bought it.
Fortunately, if Lemmy is any indication I think this kind of stuff is becoming less effective. One of the problems about Platner is that unlike Kamala Harris, he actually seems like he has genuine very good sincere things to say about what he wants to do, which makes a lot of this stuff kind of fall at the first hurdle. Hopefully.
I mean they’ve still got time to refine the strategy for a while, I’m sure they’ll keep workshopping it.
Wait I thought I was supposed to hate this guy cause he’s a Nazi? Is that the lie? Or is the lie that he’s not a Nazi? I can’t wait to be dead.
You don’t have to die! The article is right there to read. The lie is that he is a Nazi, the article has a bunch more explanation, but basically, there’s no reason to think he is a Nazi and several compelling ones to think he is not (which the people who are doing the freakout about the tattoo are willfully ignoring).
People aren’t actually saying he’s a Nazi. Well, most of them aren’t, some are. Most of them are just saying he has a Nazi-adjacent tattoo (which he does) and it’s a HUGE problem (which, given his politics, it isn’t.) They are carefully staying away from the question of whether the death’s-head tattoo actually means he’s a Nazi, because it has an answer which isn’t the answer they want to portray.
The totenkopf isn’t Nazi “adjacent” though, it’s literally the symbol from the “are we the bad guys?” sketch.
Yes, and the swastikas covering Hindu temples are literally the symbol from the Nazi flag. That doesn’t mean they’re covered in “Nazi symbols,” though. The context and intent matters.
You need to talk to all the people who are suddenly yelling about how this is obviously a Democratic Schumer-inspired hit job against this noble progressive, and justify to them why you are spreading establishment-Democrat talking points.
Uhuh. So what is the non-Nazi context for the Totenkopf; a symbol that, unlike the swastika, doesn’t have a pre-existing history.
Usage of it dates back to the 1700s
The word and different variations of deaths head yes. The very specific one used by the SS and nazis does not
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-russia-pravy-sektor-extremism-b2011598.html
Oh wait that is awkward that battalion would show up under Nazi symbols on Wikipedia
Yes, the prevalence of Nazi imagery by Ukrainian paramilitary organisations is pretty awkward
Extra fun when in item linked to prove the nazi symbol has other meanings.
Is also extremely sad how people are now trying to argue it’s the word people have issues with not you know, the very very specific symbols used by the SS that just happened to be on candidates body that also usa military was fine ignoring
obviously just to be used as a hatchet job on the Blackwater merc
I love how your reasoning for the specific SS symbol is just linking to the German word wiki page for just skull
This article is about the military symbol. For other uses…
Edit: Wait, I linked to English Wikipedia. Is this Chewbacca defense? I think this is Chewbacca defense.
That doesn’t really answer my question
In what fucking sense does it not answer your question lmao
No where in the article does it disprove the red flags he has, just tries to say why different reddit comments aren’t as bad as his military history, years of having a deaths head totally without knowing, and wanting to not divert military funds to improve the country and citizens but to increase our navy fleet
I had to look up the Reddit comments and I can say they don’t make me hate him. It reminds me of the musings of a edgy teenager.
I watched the video, but it is hard for me see the tattoo. I can’t tell if it is a Totenkopf. The fact that he won’t show a before and after picture is pretty sus.
Which is why it’s wild this you’ve been lied to only goes for a few reddit comments and why it’s okay to have the SS logo on chest.
And sus ignored the ones where he talked about the symbol
Fuck Jacobin trying to whitewash a genocidal Nazi.
Graham Platner does not regret killing brown people, he brags about it. And he knew he had a Nazi tattoo.
Yeah, how dare they post quotes of what he actually posted on Reddit. Why can’t they just get out of the way and let people make shit up about him.
Jacobin is straight lying about his Reddit history. Platner said he very much enjoyed his massacres of brown people of which many examples are in the video. Cherry picking a few generic lies where Platner does the IDF thing and say the Marines are the most moral army in the world and never commit war crimes.
Platner was very proud of his war crimes.
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