David Darmofal

Always good to see an unbiased headline (sarcasm). Graham Platner’s like crypto: no matter how great you say he is, first you have to explain why everyone who praises him is so awful.

"Aside from the internment camps used to incarcerate Japanese Americans in the 1940s, such facilities have no precedent in American history..."

US Conference of Catholic Bishops statement on Trump's new mass prison camps.

Full statement at the link:

www.usccb.org/news/2026/th...

I'm referring of course, to the obnoxious white-centric toxic sexist podbro, not the director.

You can always count on Jon Favreau to give his two awful cents when absolutely no intelligent person cares what Jon Favreau thinks about literally anything.

"Our interest, I think, very much is in NOT going to war with Iran.  It would be a huge distraction of resources. It would be massively expensive to our country."

- 10/27/24

On a semi-related note, for those who didn't see this: Some of his MAJOR SUPPORTERS are comparing him to Fetterman & Manchin...as a POSITIVE.

bsky.app/profile/char...

I think it's time to start talking about what a Platner primary win would mean in terms of stepping on Democratic Party messaging NATIONALLY this November, which will presumably include a heavy focus on attacking:

--Secret Police
--Concentration Camps
--Gestapo-like tactics & fascism in general

What gives me special insight is that I’m a Military Sexual Assault survivor, and that I was in that documentary about it that he made fun of

YouTube video by malgent CBS News - Iran hostage crisis - 1979-11-04

For folks who weren't around then, here's the CBS Evening News from the day that the hostages were taken in Iran. You can tell from the short news story and the relatively low-key coverage by Ed Bradley & Diane Sawyer that folks didn't realize the gravity of what had just happened.

JD Vance in 2024: "Our interest very much is in not going to war with Iran. It would be a huge distraction of resources. It would be massively expensive to our country"

Is this actually him?!

Fwiw, I'm so old I remember Reza Pahlavi from 1979-80.

It’s only war if it comes from the war region of France. Otherwise it’s just sparkling conflict

Pope Francis prophetically said that “we are already fighting a piecemeal third world war.” Tonight, the Middle East is on fire. Francis also warned that “war is madness.” There is a foreboding sense this time around, with no clear plan for peace in sight. Now is time for intense prayer.

West Side Story (1961)

WEST SIDE STORY (1961) — 8:00 pm ET — 2h 35m
(31 Days of Oscar: Oscar Goes Dancing)

Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn; directed by Robert Earl Wise, Jerome Robbins

A young couple from dueling street gangs falls in love.

#TCM #TCMParty

What Your DNA Reveals About the Sex Life of Neanderthals

An interesting article on interbreeding between ancient humans and Neanderthals. The bottom line is that scientists found that human women and Neanderthal men were particularly likely to mate and the scientists don't think it was due to violence by the Neanderthal men.

We could have had this woman as our President! I'm hopeful we still can. @kamalaharris.com really is this good in person too.

“As James Madison put it: ‘In no part of the constitution is more wisdom to be found than in the clause which confides the question of war or peace to the legislature, and not to the executive department. ... [T]he trust and the temptation would be too great for any one man.’”

@sanders.senate.gov needs to withdraw his endorsement of Platner. He will not, sadly.

Platner sat for lengthy interview with antisemitic conspiracy theorist, said he was ‘longtime fan’ of his show Weeks before Graham Platner promoted an antisemitic conspiracy theorist in a now-deleted social media post on Thursday, the controversial Maine Senate candidate appeared on a popular YouTube show whos...

How many nazi oopsies is too many nazi oopsies? We thought the number was 1.

That's a ginormous portrait of John Paul II and an equally ginormous mosaic of John XXIII at the parish where Pope Leo held Mass today. Not as much love being displayed for Paul VI, John Paul I, Benedict, or Francis :)

Lindsey Graham has been the biggest advocate for Trump's war of choice on Iran. So I'm asking again, has Graham volunteered yet to serve on the front lines in this war? If not, why not?

I'd be more inclined to believe that Graham Platner is merely a dumbass if he was making different kinds of "mistakes" instead of one very specific type of "mistake" over and over

Emerson consistently understates @kamalaharris.com's support in comparison to other pollsters, I expect because of problems sampling Black voters. If that's a consistent issue with Emerson, this is a very good poll for Jasmine Crockett.

Pope Leo at Roman parish this afternoon: “I'm deeply concerned, and we don't know how many days it will last, about the situation in the Middle East. War again! We must pray much for peace, live in unity, and reject the temptation to harm others; violence is never the right choice.”

YouTube video by Vatican News 2026 March 01, Holy Mass - Pope Leo XIV

It doesn't look like there's an English translation of the Pope's Mass today (unless one scrolls back in the Vatican English's day-long feed). But the Pope celebrated a very Vatican II Mass today. Guitars, people in jeans and tennis shoes, etc. Love it.

My great department colleague Chelsea Estancona is one of the two co-organizers of the Carolinas Conflict Consortium, an annual workshop on peace and conflict. This year's meeting is at the Carter Center in Atlanta on May 14-15th. The deadline is March 9th.

I'm guessing that Reagan in 1984 (maybe Bush in 1988) is the last Republican elected for whom white evangelicals were not the cause of their victory. 2/2

White evangelicals are the biggest Trump supporters. It's correctly noted that no Democrat has won white voters since LBJ. But...in 2024, @kamalaharris.com handily won among the 68% of white voters who aren't born again. Trump's margin with white voters was because of white evangelicals. 1/