Let's assume for the sake of this comment that it is all bullshit and he's actually right wing or whatever... The Republican party would now be in a win/win situation in Maine. No matter what the outcome is, they've won. They don't even need to spend money on that race.

Good cop bad cop. I don’t believe they are as stupid as you think.

Plus they have an encyclopedic knowledge of Nazi symbology and expect everyone should as well

This is braindead as fuck. Pirate tattoo? Are you a literal child? Platner enjoyed killing civilians so much he went back 4 more times lol. Jesus christ, you people.

Politicians never lie, good point. And it's not like we have at least two examples of this exact thing happening before.

Enjoying killing innocent Iraqis. Next question?

This critique would make sense of they were actually pushing some sort of product or ideology.

I doubt the Republicans will find that line of reasoning fruitful, given the actual white nationalist tattoos, and more importantly, the open white nationalist rhetoric by the Secretary of Defense, installed by the Pedo in chief.

And it's funny that the name people use ("totenkopf") is just "deaths head", i.e., any skull. The specific one he got did match a Panzer division logo, but it's not a well publicized symbol that would be commonly recognized.

I figured it was something like this. The Nazis appropriated so many symbols from so many different cultures that some are definitely not well known.

I'm European. We covered a lot of that stuff in like 6th grade the first time around, so I have no need to look it up as such since I know exactly what a Totekopf looks like.

Can you show me his tattoo before he had it covered up?

You're blind if you can't see thats a totenkopf

What a fucking turd of a source.

Take a look at the front page.

If you have to resort to Republican propaganda to "prove" your point just accept that you're wrong

This doesn't come across the most unbiased site ever, exactly.

Sounds like it’s time to establish a viable third party. Obviously, that is easier said than done, and many would consider it impossible. But left-wing sentiments continue to grow in popularity and we must not resign ourselves to a fate without challenging it!

It’s crazy to think about what a viable third party would look like, and how it would get off the ground. It’s tragic and says a lot about the world we live in that the only way I see it happening is through virality — memes and influencers — but then, how is this campaign funded in a way that competes with the corpo vaults, and how do you get the right people onboard?

Right? I never thought I'd be in a meme!

You are betraying the memory of all those killed in the Holocaust by watering down the term Nazi. People one here are calling Platner a Nazi even though there has never been any evidence that he has ever been a member of a neo Nazi group, ever espoused Nazi ideals or policies, ever attended Nazi events, etc.

You're like a 17th century witch hunter looking for weird looking moles on people, concluding their signs of the Devil's corruption. You can't actually demonstrate Platner doing any actual Nazi stuff, so you have to grasp at the straw of a tattoo a drunk kid got one day while in the Marines.

And really, go to the actual Wikipedia article on the Totenkopf Note that the exact same symbol was used as a pirate flag. For most people, that's what they associate with the deaths head.

If what you claim is true, why has every pirate movie not been picketed by the Jewish rights groups? I imagine they would be protested if they had pirates flying swastika flags. Yet, no one gave a shit about pirate symbols until a progressive candidate has one on his chest.

The totenkopf might have been common among Nazi ranks and in its symbology, but the American education system failed to communicate that fact.

I know about the swastika, SS symbol, and iron cross, yet Graham Platner's campaign was the first I've ever heard about the totenkopf.

But hey, Graham has never organized with Neonazi groups, and he covered up the tattoo once he learned the meaning. Case closed.

Why are we spending time on this and avoiding the part where Platner is Anti-Israel as compared to Susan Collins? Is the Gaza genocide not important to you??

If your best evidence of it being a widely known Nazi symbol was that it was on a sketch of the “Mitchell and Webb” show, you’ve got some pretty shit evidence

BWAHAHAA!

That sketch came out a year before he got the tattoo. You think a deployed early 20s marine was watching a lot of British comedy shows? You're a buffoon.

IF it's that terrible a symbol, why aren't pirate movies boycotted and picketed by Jewish rights groups?

Can you tell me which of these are Nazi symbols and which of them are pirate symbols?

It's only an "obvious Nazi symbol" because you've chosen to call it that to slander Platner.

Before this campaign, you wouldn't have been able to pick it out from a line up of pirate flags. You're full of it.

My first association of skull and crossbones isn't Nazis. It's pirates. When I think of Nazis, I think of the Swastika. That's at least distinctive enough that it can be relegated to a Nazi symbol. But I'm sorry, I'm not letting the Nazis own the skull and cross bones. I'll fly that flag high as a symbol of piracy and rebellion. I see nothing wrong with getting a skull and cross bones tattoo even today. I'm not letting the Nazis steal our culture from us.

Oh, and then there’s the part where he has reddit comments prior to being called out on his tattoo literally talking about the totenkopf. And comments saying how lots of US military personnel have Nazi-adjacent tattoos but it’s totally fine.

Who cares? He got it in his early 20ss. I'm sure at some point he later figured out the connection, or someone pointed it out to him. There was probably a several year delay before he went from "yeah, I suppose this does look a bit like that Nazi symbol, but I know I didn't get it for Nazi purposes, so I don't care" to "shit. I'm running for office. I'm seeking to be a role model. Best to cover that shit up before I put myself out in the limelight. It's a bad example to send to children." Self-discovery takes time.

I'm not looking to smear leftists though, so I don't see what the big deal is.

If you can't believe that a person can change, what hope can you have that societies can?

I know about how much alcohol was involved with combat marines in foreign ports and let me tell you, its a miracle that he remembers getting the tattoo in the first place, let alone getting it for some sort of deep seated ideological reason.

If it's that terrible of a symbol, why aren't pirate movies protested by Jewish rights groups? I guess Johnny Depp is a Nazi too?

I didn't when I saw the tattoo and I didn't recognize it as being the same as the one in from the That Mitchell and Webb Look skit, either. You must have an incredible eye for detail and amazing memory that you recognized the Nazi tattoo and were able to also recall it matched the symbol on a hat ypu saw in a sketch show.

Or maybe you're trying too hard.

Dude got what he thought was a cool looking tattoo, not knowing the Nazi reference. What's the other evidence you're using to judge him here?

That came out roughly 1 year before he got the tattoo.

How many British comedies do you think a deployed Marine was watching?

I still see it as a just a pirate symbol. I'm 90% certain you wouldn't have been able to recognize it as a Nazi symbol in a line up of other deaths head symbols before this campaign started. Here it is:

To me this is just a pirate flag. Do you also call everyone that owns a dog a Nazi, because Hitler owned a dog?

Dumb tattoos are not the same as a Nazi tattoo.

Seriously. This is downright tame as far as military tattoos go. A 23 year marine was drunk with his buddies and thought a pirate tattoo would look pretty badass. And honestly? If it weren't for the Nazi connotations, I would say it is pretty badass.

I swear, some people won't be happy with a male progressive candidate unless they have the sanitized and castrated vibe of a gender studies major.

He got it covered up last year.

He had it covered, essentially the same thing.

What actual Nazi things has he done? Not just get a pirate flag tattoo. Like, what neo Nazi groups has he been a member of? What Nazi policies has he advocated for? Make your actual case. Don't focus on bullshit gotcha crap.

Yeah, maybe that's something that should disqualify someone from office. Call me crazy I guess.

Because the PR campaign that made up the story about the Nazi tattoo started in her office.

True. But have you ever seen a white supremacist stop at one small ambiguous tattoo? Nazis usually are loudly obnoxious wildly unoriginal twats about their shittyness. They usually hang out with other nazis. They usually join nazis clubs. Where's that oppo research? It all feels too corpo setup to me.

Fetterman's value is in being one more seat closer to a Dem majority. He may not be a very cooperative member, he may even be a DINO, but he's still a Democrat, and he makes it much easier for Dems to take the House majority. Let's not forget that if Fetterman hadn't won, we'd be stuck with Oz.

I'm sick of Dems having DINOs like Manchin and Sinema, but at least they register as Dems (Sinema eventually went Indy, but she was a Dem at the start), so they offer that tiny, but significant advantage.

It's small consolation, but if we end up with a one vote lead in the Senate, we'll see the value of a Fetterman or Platner. There's a D next to their name, that's good enough right now.

And if I couldn't force myself to vote for Platner, I STILL wouldn't vote for Collins. There is no scenario where I'm casting a vote for any MAGA Traitor Pedophile.

Fetterman had a stroke, which has been shown to change peoples' personalities. Fetterman was also an establishment democrat even before running for senate. The fact that fettermans stroke was not enough to get the dems to replace him really makes their judgment of any candidate ring pretty fucking hollow, doesn't it?

I feel like this is a really big point nobody brings up when this incessant and obnoxious non-sequitur pops up.

Perfect is the worst enemy of good

We got a real one here.

Just the fact that the establishment on both sides is trying so hard to convince people that he's a literal Nazi and a wife beater...when all he talks about is progressive policies...should make you suspicious of their narrative.

But instead, you decide to believe them? Maybe this time, they're telling the truth? This time, it's not just bullshit...right?

You're taking everything they say about him at face value, without even listening to a single thing he's actually saying? Man, you are gullible as fuck.

He was at Abu Garib two years after the scandel broke. How about you get your sources from people that don't have an obvious political motivation against the subject.

Why are we not "suspicious"? Because we actually listen to what other people have to say. You keep trying to apply establishment attacks that may have worked on some faceless, airdropped empty suit the DNC " appointed " to be senator, but they don't work on someone that has never been close to power. Someone like us, who have watched corporate interests and the interests of the wealthy take precedence over literally EVERYTHING, even shit like clean water and breathable air.

We know a fraud when we see one, and Platner is no fraud. He has actual policy positions and an actual vision for the future and actual facta, not sound bytes and poster slogans and one liner zingers for the enemy.

And the democrats from Maine saw fit to make him their senate choice.

Like, how are you not suspicious of this dude?

The viable options in this race are a candidate I am somewhat suspicious of and Susan Collins, who has made her positions and principles (or lack thereof) abundantly clear over the years.

You must take one of two pills. If you refuse, one will be chosen for you. One pill gives you a 50% chance of diarrhea, the other gives you a 100% chance of diarrhea. Which pill are you choosing?

He'll only crash and burn if you keep spreading Republican propaganda. At this rate I'd wager the CIA is intentionally planting these talking points

And you're a keyboard warrior sticking up for Susan fucking Collins and her weapons-dealing husband.

I know which is worse and it's you!

Bystander here, adl is not a good source.

And none of that proves a 20-something kid had any idea what the fuck that was. Why would you? It's not a Nazi emblem. It doesn't look like anything out of a history book or a fucking Nazi documentary.

But by all means, continue to be a ridiculous pedant about shit that does not matter.

If you honestly are concerned about this, you're a fucking ridiculous person and we don't need to listen to you.

You didn't even know what that even was until a few months ago.

He's way more dangerous to them than Bernie or Warren, because if Platner wins in purple Maine their whole excuse for running bland centrists will be shown to be a lie.

why in the fuck is there not any better candidates in the whole state?

Running for office requires a combination of charisma, organizational skills, and self-delusion that most people don't possess. And it also requires enormous amounts of free time. Collins is a career politician. Mills is a career politician. Platner is on 100% disability from the US military, so he doesn't need to pull down a 40-hour work week in between campaign appearances.

In my small commune of about 60k people, there are more candidates for the counsel from every single political party than there are counsel seats.

Well, part of the problem is that you do just have a 60k person community with multiple seats at play. So the stacks are relatively low and the possibility of winning is relatively high. Maine is 1.4M people, presumably a much bigger stretch of territory to canvas, and it's just the one position you're trying to win. Platner pulled in $4.6M in a quarter to fund his campaign. Three months! And he raised more money than some people see in a lifetime. How many of your commune candidates are getting that kind of donation for a counsel seat?

Besides, after Fetterman’s heel-turn

Fetterman was always a shill for Israel. He was the DNC's dog in the Pennsylvania fight. He looked like a schlub, sure. But he'd already spent four years as lt. governor under millionaire industry flak Tom Wolf. Fetterman officially toed much of the party line on social and economic issues, which was good-enough for primary voters when his opponent was a shill as bad as Conor Lamb. But he hasn't really turned heel so much as he won't shut up about this one issue everyone hates him for.

Definitely possible Platner's going to spend the next six years screaming "Sandy Hook was an inside job!" once he takes office, and make his entire personality about hugging a gun. But I haven't seen this out of him just yet.

I do believe in second chances

He's not my ideal choice for Senate.

But I do find a certain dramatic irony in reviewing the three people who had the best chance of winning in November, sizing up the guy with the Totenkompf, and deciding he's the least fascist guy on the ballot.

One did it in my state and she was so far “left” then switched immediately when elected. People can’t blame us for being worried. If he is great then fine, but far too many times the let these absolute liars in. Far right actors pretending to be left. I’ve been called all these names before for being weary and I’m unfortunately near always right.

Sold! Let's hand out these contacts to all our friends and allies now.

Another highly regarded comment.

There are people who genuinely think like this, in this thread.

??

If you think these basic facts about this man's life are an argument, I think you need more help than I can provide.

I don't support murderers or people who get Nazi tattoos? Seemed pretty obvious why I was commenting?

Platner walks the walk of of a populist.

What does this even mean, he's never held public office.

If you really want to go by the man's actions, there is plenty of info out there about the awful shit that he got up to in Iraq.

Fetterman won because he wasn't doctor Oz.

Not true. People were absolutely excited about Fettermam winning the nomination.

Fetterman also has brain damage. People keep ignoring this when framing anyone who hasn't planned to be in Congress since they were 8 as a sleeper centrist.

Yeah that's not anything at all like what I said.

In a vacuum, sure, it would be a weird thing to be paranoid about.

But we're not in a vacuum, are we? There are several massive red flags about this guy, including gleeful murder of brown people and a fucking Nazi tattoo on his chest.

So forgive me if I'm a little skeptical when he says left-adjacent things.

Which is why I've been saying that I would hold my nose and vote for him if I were in Maine. Because I understand that "this guy might not be Nazi" is still better than literally any Republican.

This guy is literally linking to the National Republican Senate Committee. He's either steeped in right-wing spaces or too ignorant to recognize the most basic of partisan entities.

And to be clear, his attack comes from other news outlets, but if you don't recognize the actual Republicans as a bad source, I'm not sure you should be participating in political discussions.

You dumbass yes Israel and Russia are both doing genocide and so is Musk by killing USAID

https://www.nrsc.org/...

you can be against all evil, not just join a tribe

https://www.nrsc.org/...

https://www.nrsc.org/...

Even if the dude has no trace of evil, he has 100% trace of stupid dumbass and his lying about the tattoo is disqualifying