Graham Platner has traversed a long and unlikely road to become the Democratic nominee for the US Senate in Maine. Can he beat longtime GOP incumbent Susan Collins and live up to the promise of his firebrand populist campaign?
A lot of folks here are too young to remember this, but back in my day there was a democrat senator from Pennsylvania called John Fetterman. When he ran for this position, he was hailed as a new kind of progressive. Gave off serious working class vibes, wouldn’t wear a suit, and ran a really progressive ticket. He had a bit of an iffy past, involving threatening a black jogger with a shotgun, and fighting to gentrify the town of Braddock when he was mayor there. And of course, he had parents who were business owners who bought his political career for him. But we were told to ignore this, because he was saying a lot of progressive stuff now, and because the person he was running against was ostensibly worse (a tv doctor I think).
Anyway, he got elected, and the unimaginable happened: the guy who acted conservatively in the past, was acting conservatively in the present too! Even though he’d said he’d changed his tune and was a progressive now, he was supporting conservative legislation, and even enthousiastically supporting the genocide Israel is committing in Gaza (although it’s hard to find a democrat who doesn’t).
The Plattner situation reminds me of this. Rich parents, iffy past (3 tours of joining the illegal invasion of Iraq, and one in afghanistan, mercenary after, an actual, honest to god, I’m not making this up, nazi tattoo on his chest), and iffy present (he’s calling people who participated in the war crimes committed in Fallujah[1] “war heroes” in campaign interviews). It’d be kind of cool if we could learn from history instead of repeat it.
Inb4 the greybeards bring up Obama and his progressive campaign.
[1] they besieged the entire city and cut off its water and electricity supply. This is a war crime. Imagine being an elderly or disabled person who cannot leave the city – these are the kinds of people targeted by this attack. This is the kind of stuff Israel does in Gaza that makes legal scholars say that they’re committing a genocide. Anyway, the folks that did this are war heroes, apparently.
Yeah, I hear ya, I really do, but here’s the thing - he’s still on the books as a Democrat, so if everything else lines up, he makes it so the Dems control the Senate, even if he isn’t playing along. If the count is close enough, with two DINOs (Fetterman), it might mean they can’t win some votes, but as the Majority Party, they still control the legislative schedule, and most importantly they control committees, including investigative and oversight committees with subpoena and arrest powers.
Any Dem legislation isn’t going to go anywhere anyway, because Trump will never sign it, so the real job over the next 2 years will be investigating people, getting things on the record, impeaching where possible, etc., and cranking up the outrage for 2028. In a situation like that, DINOs still have a big impact, just by keeping the majority control out of MAGA hands.
I don’t care. We can’t keep relying on people here. The furry internet mods of the internet who hide at the first hint of confrontation. You know at some point we have to be critical of ourselves as a reason Trump won. If i was on a baseball team and half the team doesn’t show up and the other half that does show up decide to not even play the game then at some point we need to admit the reason we lost isn’t just because the other team did something, that partially the reason we’ve lost everything in decades is due to the actions of our own team or lack thereof. But one thing I know for sure, we need more of Graham to inject some fuck you energy back into the left of MAGA side.
And the list goes on. People who have proved themselves by being - and most importantly acting progressively - through their entire career. All I’m saying is that Plattner has not really given us any reason to believe that he is actually on that list. In fact, we’ve seen guys like him before, such as Fetterman, and we all know how that turned out. And there were people defending Fetterman just as rabidly as they’re defending Plattner today.
When the guy that acted like a chud in the past turns out to act like a chud in the future as well, don’t come crying to me, because all I’ll have for you is an atodaso. A fucking atodaso.
We’re not in a position to be picky without good reason. Fetterman is not enough. The 3 you listed are not it. They’re great. Exciting. But they are one small part of something bigger. Tlaib not really sure what her actions actually are.
The do-nothings are always eternally perfect because they never commit to anything.
The real world isn’t a Disney movie or an anime. You don’t know someone’s true motivations most of the time and, even if you did, they can change after a while. But doing nothing IS a decision, and the wrong one most of the time.
The thing the Republicans do that give them a big advantage is take in anyone all flaws included. That’s real life. Ugly lumps and all. The do nothings don’t get the real world experience to know the ideal in their head doesn’t exist. They reject based on each individul grievance and this shrinks power over time.
Tin foil hat, given what we know of heritage foundation and others, I wouldn’t doubt if these were modern bot accounts really driving this holier than thou attitude among the left.
And why is Fatterman still in office? Pennsylvania has almost no way to recall him. People can talk all they want. This whole thread is about talking. Until there’s action and these politicians are uncomfortable enough to either step down or do their jobs is all talk.
I went back and listened to Fetterman during his election, and I’ve listened to Platner in recent interviews, there is a major difference in the general thought of how politics works and how it should work.
I suppose it’s possible that this is another wolf in sheeps clothes, but it sure doesnt look like it to me. Not to mention taken at face value, he’s leaps and bounds ahead of anyone else in the race.
So I feel like “taking things at face value” is exactly what went wrong with the previous bait and switch candidates. And I’ve yet to see something concrete and actual which distinguishes Plattner from them. As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words, and I haven’t seen any progressive actions.
Seeing the amount of mental acrobatics performed in this thread to justify his background, I’m pretty sure some cosmic entity is polishing off the “fell for it again” awards somewhere. People are calling his mother owning multiple businesses, his dad being a prominent lawyer, donating 50k to politicians a regular background. Like holy moly.
A lot of folks here are too young to remember this, but back in my day there was a democrat senator from Pennsylvania called John Fetterman. When he ran for this position, he was hailed as a new kind of progressive. Gave off serious working class vibes, wouldn’t wear a suit, and ran a really progressive ticket. He had a bit of an iffy past, involving threatening a black jogger with a shotgun, and fighting to gentrify the town of Braddock when he was mayor there. And of course, he had parents who were business owners who bought his political career for him. But we were told to ignore this, because he was saying a lot of progressive stuff now, and because the person he was running against was ostensibly worse (a tv doctor I think).
Anyway, he got elected, and the unimaginable happened: the guy who acted conservatively in the past, was acting conservatively in the present too! Even though he’d said he’d changed his tune and was a progressive now, he was supporting conservative legislation, and even enthousiastically supporting the genocide Israel is committing in Gaza (although it’s hard to find a democrat who doesn’t).
The Plattner situation reminds me of this. Rich parents, iffy past (3 tours of joining the illegal invasion of Iraq, and one in afghanistan, mercenary after, an actual, honest to god, I’m not making this up, nazi tattoo on his chest), and iffy present (he’s calling people who participated in the war crimes committed in Fallujah[1] “war heroes” in campaign interviews). It’d be kind of cool if we could learn from history instead of repeat it.
Inb4 the greybeards bring up Obama and his progressive campaign.
[1] they besieged the entire city and cut off its water and electricity supply. This is a war crime. Imagine being an elderly or disabled person who cannot leave the city – these are the kinds of people targeted by this attack. This is the kind of stuff Israel does in Gaza that makes legal scholars say that they’re committing a genocide. Anyway, the folks that did this are war heroes, apparently.
Yeah, I hear ya, I really do, but here’s the thing - he’s still on the books as a Democrat, so if everything else lines up, he makes it so the Dems control the Senate, even if he isn’t playing along. If the count is close enough, with two DINOs (Fetterman), it might mean they can’t win some votes, but as the Majority Party, they still control the legislative schedule, and most importantly they control committees, including investigative and oversight committees with subpoena and arrest powers.
Any Dem legislation isn’t going to go anywhere anyway, because Trump will never sign it, so the real job over the next 2 years will be investigating people, getting things on the record, impeaching where possible, etc., and cranking up the outrage for 2028. In a situation like that, DINOs still have a big impact, just by keeping the majority control out of MAGA hands.
I don’t care. We can’t keep relying on people here. The furry internet mods of the internet who hide at the first hint of confrontation. You know at some point we have to be critical of ourselves as a reason Trump won. If i was on a baseball team and half the team doesn’t show up and the other half that does show up decide to not even play the game then at some point we need to admit the reason we lost isn’t just because the other team did something, that partially the reason we’ve lost everything in decades is due to the actions of our own team or lack thereof. But one thing I know for sure, we need more of Graham to inject some fuck you energy back into the left of MAGA side.
Hey I’m not saying there’s no good candidates:
And the list goes on. People who have proved themselves by being - and most importantly acting progressively - through their entire career. All I’m saying is that Plattner has not really given us any reason to believe that he is actually on that list. In fact, we’ve seen guys like him before, such as Fetterman, and we all know how that turned out. And there were people defending Fetterman just as rabidly as they’re defending Plattner today.
When the guy that acted like a chud in the past turns out to act like a chud in the future as well, don’t come crying to me, because all I’ll have for you is an atodaso. A fucking atodaso.
We’re not in a position to be picky without good reason. Fetterman is not enough. The 3 you listed are not it. They’re great. Exciting. But they are one small part of something bigger. Tlaib not really sure what her actions actually are.
The do-nothings are always eternally perfect because they never commit to anything.
The real world isn’t a Disney movie or an anime. You don’t know someone’s true motivations most of the time and, even if you did, they can change after a while. But doing nothing IS a decision, and the wrong one most of the time.
This, exactly this.
The thing the Republicans do that give them a big advantage is take in anyone all flaws included. That’s real life. Ugly lumps and all. The do nothings don’t get the real world experience to know the ideal in their head doesn’t exist. They reject based on each individul grievance and this shrinks power over time.
Tin foil hat, given what we know of heritage foundation and others, I wouldn’t doubt if these were modern bot accounts really driving this holier than thou attitude among the left.
And why is Fatterman still in office? Pennsylvania has almost no way to recall him. People can talk all they want. This whole thread is about talking. Until there’s action and these politicians are uncomfortable enough to either step down or do their jobs is all talk.
I went back and listened to Fetterman during his election, and I’ve listened to Platner in recent interviews, there is a major difference in the general thought of how politics works and how it should work.
I suppose it’s possible that this is another wolf in sheeps clothes, but it sure doesnt look like it to me. Not to mention taken at face value, he’s leaps and bounds ahead of anyone else in the race.
So I feel like “taking things at face value” is exactly what went wrong with the previous bait and switch candidates. And I’ve yet to see something concrete and actual which distinguishes Plattner from them. As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words, and I haven’t seen any progressive actions.
Seeing the amount of mental acrobatics performed in this thread to justify his background, I’m pretty sure some cosmic entity is polishing off the “fell for it again” awards somewhere. People are calling his mother owning multiple businesses, his dad being a prominent lawyer, donating 50k to politicians a regular background. Like holy moly.