Idk what is most surprising here:

  • he hasn’t gotten it covered (apparently had since 2006)
  • this made it through the pod save edit to be shown on their video
  • pod save had him on

Wonder what the excuses will be this time on why it’s okay he’s still in the race as if he wins probably will be another fetterman.

Or maybe I’m so conspiracy brained I wonder if this is a way to make the ancient governor running look like the best candidate

  • Leegh [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    Western/ Global North “leftists” try not to fall for another social fascist challenge (Impossible).

    Even before this came out, the fact that this guy is an Iraq/ Afghan War vet who went there FOUR times, once as a BLACKWATER MERCENARY who is also proud of this fact and refuses to acknowledge what he did was wrong should have been a massive red flag. I know a lot of people here don’t like BadEmpanada, but he was 100% in the right to condemn Hasan and everyone else who supported this guy.

    • mkultrawide [any]@hexbear.net
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      BadEmpanada’s stance is basically that no veterans should be part of the left regardless of their opinion now about the US military or any regrets they may have. Him being right is less about good analysis or good judgement of character and more about being a broken clock. He has the same opinion of Mike Prysner that he does of Graham Platner.

      • WildWeezing420 [he/him]@hexbear.netBanned
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        no veterans should be “leaders” of the western left. simple as. They can be rank-and-file if they are truly penitent. None of this “as a veteran” horseshit

        • mkultrawide [any]@hexbear.net
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          People should be judged based on where they are now, their actions in the present, and their self-criticism of their past actions. Graham Platner is unfit to be a leader in any leftist movement because, among many other reasons, he basically thinks the US wasn’t engaged in anything wrong overseas. Someone like a Mike Prysner is the opposite of that and has done a lot of action to prove that he is not the same as he was. AES wouldn’t exist in a lot of AES countries if people like Zhu De had been continuously rejected over their imperial/mercenary military past instead of being brought into the party by leaders like Zhou Enlai.

          I have to question what your theory of revolution is, and how to hold onto it against capital, if you really think that it isn’t going to involve a good amount of military conflict against reactionary forces. That doesn’t mean you just left anyone who is a veteran into the movement, but that also doesn’t mean you reject everyone who was one, either. If they are a fucking heinous war criminal, that’s one thing, but some grunt who regrets what they did, understands and owns up to it, and wants to work towards a communist future is a different thingm

          • WildWeezing420 [he/him]@hexbear.netBanned
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            No. They should not be “judged where they are now” on a pragmatic political level. Our representatives should be unimpeachable with a long history of doing what’s right and being correct and principled. We have a large enough pool of people to draw from, nobody has a “right” to some type of atonement of their sins and re-appraisal. If some bloodsoaked warmonger wants forgiveness, he can ask it of his victims, and he can become a rank-and-file.

            There’s a difference between a soldier who has proved their merit and allegiance to the revolution, and grifters trying to gain personal political power on the backs of leftists.

            • CleverOleg [he/him]@hexbear.net
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              What’s key here though is I really don’t think ANYONE who we should take seriously or consider a comrade is saying Platner is a “leader” of the left. I believe most hexbears who are positive about Mamdani (or Platner before all this), myself included, see these people as weather vanes. They show there is definitely potential for the working class in the US to congeal into a class for itself. They show that people think the status quo is fucked and they want something better. But our class consciousness is so fucked and we have such a long row to hoe, it’s not unreasonable to point to political reps that might do things that the working class wants (even if they are only doing it for opportunistic reasons) and leverage that into more class consciousness.

              • WildWeezing420 [he/him]@hexbear.netBanned
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                What’s key here though is I really don’t think ANYONE who we should take seriously or consider a comrade is saying Platner is a “leader” of the left

                Elected representatives are leaders. Just one more social fascist with a nazi tattoo bro, just one more - electoralist addicts coping

                • CleverOleg [he/him]@hexbear.net
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                  They are leaders in a definitional sense, not in a leader that we are upholding as our leader.

                  You are seeking out the least charitable possible explanation in this entire thread, including calling me a Nazi / social fascist elsewhere.

            • mkultrawide [any]@hexbear.net
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              We have a large enough pool of people to draw from, nobody has a “right” to some type of atonement of their sins and re-appraisal.

              Let me guess, this doesn’t apply to criminals who have killed, assaulted, or stolen from working class people?

              You still haven’t answered my question, Mr. Allende: what’s your theory do revolution as it regards military struggle, and where to you intend to find people with the knowledge and experience to train a revolutionary military force if not from the militar?

              Actually, it’s hilarious that you are making this argument less than 24 hours after defending Napoleon as a progressive when others pointed out he was a colonial imperialist who reinstated slavery.

              • WildWeezing420 [he/him]@hexbear.netBanned
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                Let me guess, this doesn’t apply to criminals who have killed, assaulted, or stolen from working class people?

                Correct, these criminals should not be put into leadership positions of the revolution or the working class party.

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                  Oh, I see, so if they had previously engaged in protection rackets or organizied and conducted bank robberies where regular people were killed intentionally or in the crossfire, that would be proof they shouldn’t be leaders?

                  Napoleon gets a pass through for colonialism and reinstituting slavery in the third world, though, huh? He’s a progressive in your mind since he at least smashed the feudal system in Europe?

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      Dude enlisted in the marines, the branch you go to when you want to commit heinous warcrimes (euphemistically termed as “fucking shit up”). The people who sign up for financial reasons or don’t really want to be there join the army or navy. You can see it in racial statistics where the US navy has the most POC while the marines has the least. Even using propaganda as an excuse, there’s an (overly simplified and misleading) understanding that you’re going to shoot people if you’re a marine while you’re just stuck on a boat if you’re a sailor. Now factor in the fact that the marines has the highest minimum physical requirements compared with the other branches, and it paints him and every other marine recruit as people who really want to commit warcrimes.

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      This is what I find wacky about this story. I can buy a vet having a genuine change of heart, but a FUCKING BLACKWATER MERC???

      Seriously why would anyone left if Clinton touch this guy with a ten foot pole?

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        im pretty sure most people on this website did up til about a week ago, as evidenced by the fact that all i know about him is that about a week ago he was well regarded and now its come out his whole shit was a lie

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          Anyone could look at his national socialist platform and guess where this was going. He was talking about helping veterans and revitalizing the shipbuilding industry while being an unrepentant mercenary/imperialist

        • MarmiteLover123 [comrade/them, any]@hexbear.net
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          im pretty sure most people on this website did up til about a week ago,

          ?

          Didn’t it come out a week ago that this guy had done multiple tours in Iraq (including as a mercenary) and had minimal regrets, while calling himself a communist at one point? That’s all I knew about him and was enough to set off the alarm bells.

        • SevenSkalls [he/him]@hexbear.net
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          Ya I remember telling a friend I don’t know anything about this guy but from what I had seen so far, he was pretty based before. Now I’m pretty embarrassed, but oh well, you’ve got to adjust with new information. All I remember seeing on here was posts of his leaked reddit comments saying capitalism needs to be torn down, the shit the US is doing abroad is bad, the military radicalized him, things like that.

          I didn’t know he was a Blackwater mercenary who had reenlisted multiple times, doesn’t regret it and says everything he did was good, and he has a Nazi tattoo. Obviously, thats some different context lol.

        • WashedAnus [he/him]@hexbear.net
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          Never heard of the guy before today. There’s one Post on this site with the guy’s name in it before today. Guess I’ve succeeded in being less online?

  • Adkml [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    It’s legitimately entertaining to listen to pod save the same way it was to watch the Colbert report.

    You could not come up with a more ridiculous strawman than every episode of the pod.

    30 minutes of explaining why Trump can’t do any of the things he does daily with zero repercussions, followed by 30 minutes of the most i.pressive mental gymnastics you’ve ever seen to, every single time, arrive at the conclusion that the smart and brave move is to do absolutely nothing, because that would be playing into trumps hand.

    And then you get rhe occasional break for something like platforming a proud nazi with nazi tattoos, or to make sure to denounce maduro and say he’s just as bad as Trump and he stole the last electi0n and is an authoritarian. Like literally the last episode they were talking about Trump drone striking fishing boats and that most reprehensible dipshit Tommy Vitor took time to step back and condemn Maduro.

    It’s honestly almost valuable as a constant reminder that there is less than zero chance that liberals will save us and an almost 100% chance that they’ll throw us under the bus before meaningfully opposing a single fascist.

    • AssortedBiscuits [they/them]@hexbear.net
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      It’s honestly almost valuable as a constant reminder that there is less than zero chance that liberals will save us and an almost 100% chance that they’ll throw us under the bus before meaningfully opposing a single fascist.

      Fascists will flip the gas switch with a shit-eating grin while liberals will flip the gas switch with tears in their eyes.

  • PKMKII [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    Okay, I can buy the “I got drunk and thought it was just a badass skull tattoo” explanation. But then to not get it removed or get something else tattooed over it? Even if this isn’t a “hiding his power levels” thing, doesn’t speak to good decision-making.

    • YEP [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      Yea it’s very believable that a random Jarhead is a fucking idiot. But to not do something about it after his “socialist awakening” is incredibly telling.

    • BabyTurtles [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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      American leftists are so desperately thirsty for a blue collar, working class, sleeves rolled up, hands dirty, man of the land type populist communist, that all it takes is a reactionary oyster farmer to ironically claim to be a communist online just because it’s edgy, and they fool themselves into thinking that maybe is something there.

      Like sometimes you’re young, and dumb, and lonely, and you fall in love with someone, not with who they are, but who you wished they were. Like they did with Mamdani, and Fetterman.

      American leftists are desperately searching for their Xi Jinping, and naively fooling themselves to fall in love with the wrong people instead of properly vetting for a real leftist. If they aren’t explicitly anti-facsist, anti-imperialist, anti-zionist, anti-capitalist, they aren’t a leftist. It’s not “purity testing”, it’s vetting for a partner who isn’t toxic and bad for you.

      The question is… how many times do they have to play this game before they finally learn.

      • WildWeezing420 [he/him]@hexbear.netBanned
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        fall in love with the wrong people instead of properly vetting for a real leftist.

        the entire thing putting the cart before the horse. We don’t need a “real leftist” to emerge within the Democrats for the DSA and all the squishies to voooooote for and save us. This is just a fundamental misunderstanding of socialism and politics and power.

        We need to establish a disciplined workers party, and we will create our own candidates who are accountable to us. The “real leftists” won’t appear out of nowhere and get endorsed by DSA, they won’t exist until the party apparatus to create them exists

        • BabyTurtles [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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          Oh yeah, I fully agree. Take my analogy and run it’s full course - once you start vetting romantic partners, you stop expecting “the one” to just magically appear, you start building the kind of life that attracts the partner you want.

          Unfortunately Americans are also very lazy, so it’s a very slow process to move from waiting and hoping that someone else just steps up and does everything, to actually just doing it.

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        In everyone’s defense, including mine lol, he was pretty explicitly anti all those things, at least from the posts I had been seeing on reddit before. Maybe not anti-imperialist, but I thought he was? Did I just dream that part? Lol

        Anyway, some of the most radical people I have seen have been from the military. As well as some of the most chud-y. But you’ve got some Aaron Bushnells from there, too.

        • WildWeezing420 [he/him]@hexbear.netBanned
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          “Everyone’s defense”?

          What? Us hardliners were mocking this shit for months and telling you the correct answer this whole time. Don’t put me under your umbrella of “everyone” who fell for it

  • LangleyDominos [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    I can’t see him not knowing what a totenkopf is. I could (but I won’t) buy a misunderstanding about a black sun if he was some neo-Pagan dork (and even then I’m Doakes on those people). However the death’s head is like the second most recognizable Nazi symbol. It’s on their hats. It’s on their belts. You can go to any gun show in the US and find at least one booth selling this shit. The guy is older than me so there’s no excuse that he’s just an unformed zoomer who fell for a meme. It’s also not like the tattoo shop in Croatia only had that symbol either. When he was flipping through the little book he definitely saw swastikas and iron eagles and runes.

    Plus, if you really want a based socialist to run for that seat, you can find someone without a Nazi tattoo. What is the argument? We have to give him the shadow of a doubt because he’s the only choice? Come on.

    • VHS [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      Even if he didn’t realize what the symbol was when he was 19 in 2004 or whatever, I don’t think there is any way in hell you could live two more decades, especially in politics, and never find out.

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    Social democracy is objectively the moderate wing of the Waffen-SS.

    edit: Also why the fuck would you do the only shirtless political interview I’ve ever seen if you happen to have a giant Nazi skull tattooed on your chest? I always dismissed him as an op but who is the op even for?

    Also, thread archived in case reddit nukes it: https://archive.is/G17aB . I can imagine the same PR demons who pushed him to this point are going to be going into overdrive today if he doesn’t immediately drop out.

    Also also the youtube upload: https://archive.is/wip/AfDPa. I love how almost all of the comments are supportive of him and calling him the future of the democratic party. Completely agreed. Replace their donkey symbol with his tattoo and they’d at least be honest.

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    Bernie Sanders weighs in:

    'he went through some really difficult experiences seeing friends of his killed or whatever'

    “There’s a young man who served his country in Afghanistan and Iraq, and he went through some really difficult experiences seeing friends of his killed or whatever, and in spite of all of that he had the courage to run”

    “I personally think he is an excellent candidate. I’m going to support him, and I look forward to him becoming the next senator in the state of Maine”

    When pressed on Platner’s Nazi tattoo, Sanders lashed out at the “corrupt campaign finance system” adding “We don’t have enough candidates in this country that will take on the powers that be and fight for the working class.”

    (i don’t see non-twitter sources for this statement but those two accounts both seem like credible enough sources in this context)

  • Blakey [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    countdown to parasocial dipshits talking about how Hasan “cOuLDn’t hAVe KnOWn” that the mass murderer who went back to Iraq (?) multiple times, at least once as a literal mercenary, was secretly a racist war criminal

        • goferking (he/him)@lemmy.sdf.orgOP
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          Still thought they wouldn’t be able brush off the Blackwater stuff the way they did.

          look it’s a sign of how badly the military trains people for once they get out. That was the only place he could go to get work…

          🤮

    • Blakey [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      And yes people are already defending Hasan. Come on, people. A member of the democratic party who again was a literal, unrepentant mercenary, is in fact not going to be a secret anti imperialist antifa super soldier just because he said he wants medicare for all.

      • Bratsummer1917@lemmygrad.ml
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        He’ll just do the same thing he always does (like when he platformed zionist Matt Duss) when he gets critiqued from his left: infantilize his critics and disregard their input as “unserious” or “para-social”.

        • Blakey [he/him]@hexbear.net
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          Yeah, I have zero respect for Hasan. I mostly just find it frustrating how eager people are to let him off the hook because he’s dumb and pretty.