Mikhail Gorbaechev

for the party, it's a combination of out-of-touch leadership, gerontocracy, an elitist attitude they take towards their own voters, sclerotic response to fascism, all leading to a base that's fucking livid with them and eager for someone, anyone, who will be different.

the only thing I find remotely interesting about platner, who I otherwise find odious, is nothing to do with the man himself, but rather the conditions that have allowed him to remain competitive and even a favorite to win the dem nomination despite being odious.

Shanna Bellows would be walking away with this imp

I'm gonna be real and say I don't think Mills's weakness is the entirety of why Platner, who sucks, is leading that primary, but it is also impressive how bad Mills is as a candidate

Speaking of which, I think people are underrating Hinojosa's chances if it's a big wave year. She's smart, attractive, not too far left or right, with roots in both Metro Austin and the RGV. Really a great candidate.

I think had Hinojosa or like Veronica Escobar run for Senate they could have cleared Talarico out.

I have a feeling in the general, Talarico will do numbers with Black church congregations. His manner is somewhat less impassioned, but listening to him talk and Senator Warnock's old sermons and there's a clear theological and values through-line.

Allred would have had an actually pretty solid electability case over Talarico despite running a mediocre campaign in 2024. But he chose not to make it for some reason.

That and a dollar will buy you some sour straws

Also like....Talarico hasn't done anything racist.

It would have to come from Crockett, and she has to know that her future as an MSNBC talking head is going to be dependent on not doing that.

I think this is extraordinarily unlikely.

Also if we get Mills, we get another shot in a maximum of six years. Platner could be there for decades.

The response to this from his supporters is, what, “who cares, they’re just going to accuse us of being that no matter what” and it is so important to not give your opponents the ability to accuse you in good faith of the things they would have done in bad faith. That’s a loss for your side.

Platner has incredibly bad judgment, but my primary reason for vocally opposing him is that a guy who used to have an SS tattoo and goes on alt-right podcasts is the absolute worst messenger for opposition to Israel possible. We deserve better than the guy our opponents say we are in bad faith.

And I think to the extent there's a lot of hysteria from the Jewish institutional world towards him, it's rooted in Islamophobia but also a suspicion that their fears wouldn't stand up to reality, and they'd have to walk a whole lot of stuff back.

Including people who aren't totally aligned with him on Israel! Like he's not going to agree with them but there's a way to do so where everyone leaves feeling like they were seen as a human being.

Call this diaper Poopfitters Local 2 because this unit is wall-to-wall.

Anansi2x4 @jonesy2x4.bsky.social Zionist calling people antisemitic is worthless. Nobody buys it. Nobody cares. Cope harder. Meredith Shiner @meredithshiner.com • 2h people who continue to apologize for the guy with the Nazi tattoo continue to have to figure out new ways to contort themselves to evade the universal reality of "people show you who they are and you should believe them!" 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...

a response that tells on itself.

what do you think this person means, calling me a “Zionist” here

The primary reason Diaspora Jews cling to the state of Israel is that they fear the instability of Diaspora. If you elect a fucking Nazi to the Senate on the pro-Palestine side, you are massively reinforcing every piece of the Zionist narrative.

The pod bros defended ronny jackson for a long time bc he was their white house dealer too

Jayme Lawson from Sinners hit the nail on the head and said how I felt with the whole BAFTAs situation.

a thing that doesn't really get enough discussion about platner is that, even if you assume the latter here is true (and i do), it's going to make him strongly susceptible to malign influences if he gets elected to the senate; the framework to think about him isn't fetterman, it's gabbard

impressionistic YouTube conspiracism is an ideology that often tries to disguise itself as leftism and it’s very important to find markers that will help you tell the difference, such as talking about food stamps causing civil unrest or getting an SS tattoo

the attack on our safety comes from electing a Nazi to the U.S. Senate you stupid motherfucker

The horror of Israel’s atrocities in Gaza has enabled me to convince many of my Boomer Jewish relatives to be more critical of Israel, and not to reflexively assume pro-Palestine activism is antisemitic.

If Platner becomes the leading anti-Israel voice in the Senate, that work disappears overnight.

(((overeducated people from NY)))

That your community apparently loves this shit is an argument for cutting off the water and power and letting you starve, not that you are right.

yeah man the Somali population didn't play a major role, like a hundred people were indicted of about a hundred thousand Somali-Americans in the Cities and the scheme was led by a white woman.

Screenshot of news article printed in Yahoo from Jewish Insider: “Platner faced blowback this week for boosting a social media comment about a looming war with Iran by Stew Peters, a neo-Nazi influencer who has frequently espoused antisemitic tropes and engaged in Holocaust denial. Platner's team said the post was made in error and "immediately" removed it after learning it elevated a "despicable account." In late January, however, Platner sat for a lengthy online interview with Nate Cornacchia, a retired Green Beret who has also promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories. Near the end of their hour-long conversation, Platner, a fellow military veteran, called himself "a longtime fan" of Cornacchia's YouTube channel, "Valhalla VFT," and said it was "an absolute pleasure being" on the show.”

Screenshots of the Valhalla VFT YouTube channel thumbnails include vile racist images of the “Somali fraud scandal” and “robberies and looting” due to SNAP benefits being cut, depicting black people robbing stores

Graham Platner, the guy who had to cover his Nazi tattoo to save his senate campaign in Maine, went on the YouTube channel “Valhalla VFT” in January where he said he’s a “longtime fan of the show.” Check out these vile racist thumbnails from the channel & reporting on the antisemitic host.