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PaperclipPerfector  6d ago (text post)   22264 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 20, 2025

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Following up on the last 2 week's worth of cryptofascist accusations, a Maine Senate candidate apparently had a Nazi-linked tattoo. Fun fact compared to the people involved in past weeks: he's running as a Dem. He also had some questionable reddit posts:

“Why don’t black people tip?” He worked as a bartender at Tune Inn on Capitol Hill, where he was a guest bartender last month.

“I work as a bartender and it always amazes me how solid this stereotype is,” he wrote. “Every now and again a black patron will leave a 15-20% tip, but usually it [is] between 0-5%. There’s got to be a reason behind it, what is it?”

That same year, he also responded to a post about underwear designed to prevent sexual assault saying people should “take some responsibility for themselves and not get so f—-ked up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to?”

Platner also made references to political violence in several posts. In 2018, he said in response to a thread in which someone invoked leaving the U.S. due to Trump-era immigration policies: “Fight until you get tired of fighting with words and then fight with signs, and fists, and guns if need be.”

In other 2018 posts first reported by Politico, Platner said those who “expect to fight fascism without a good semi-automatic rifle … ought to do some reading of history.” He also said “an armed working class is a requirement for economic justice.”

CNN focused on a series of posts from 2021 in which Platner also called himself a communist, said rural Americans are “racist” and “stupid,” called all cops “bastards” and used the word “retard” several times.

I note it's near the bottom of the article where it's mentioned that Platner called himself a communist, as opposed to any article about leaked republican chats which immediately lead with any claims about Nazi/fascist allegations. For example, this next article.

On the Republican side, Trump's nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel has withdrawn because 'a text chat that showed him saying the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell.” Ingrassia also described himself in the chat as having “a Nazi streak” at times.'

According to texts viewed by Politico, Ingrassia told those in the chat that “MLK Jr. was the 1960s George Floyd and his ‘holiday’ should be ended and tossed into the seventh circle of hell where it belongs.”

Apparently, from three weeks in a row of this kind of thing, there is a rule for text chats: if you're a Republican, anything you say will eventually be leaked (and nothing will happen to the duplicitous snitches who leak private conversations), and spicy comments will sink your career. If you're a Dem, you can talk about wanting to see the deaths of your opponent's children and you'll remain the party candidate for a major statewide office.

The story he gives behind the Nazi tattoo (described as a skull-and-crossbones; I would suspect specifically a Nazi Totenkopf) is he was in the Marines, on leave in Croatia, and got drunk and got it. If so, this guy is the most Red Tribe Democrat I've heard of outside of Alaska or West Virginia.

The reporting on the other stuff makes me want to defend him:

The headline: "Graham Platner asked why Black people ‘don’t tip’ and referenced rape in old Reddit posts"

Oh, he REFERENCED rape, did he? Obviously a terrible misogynist. The explanation in the article body isn't much better: he "suggested people concerned about being raped shouldn’t be inebriated around people they don’t feel comfortable with". Uh, yeah, I know the progressives consider this victim blaming but Captain Obvious couldn't put it better.

Then there's

In other 2018 posts first reported by Politico, Platner said those who “expect to fight fascism without a good semi-automatic rifle … ought to do some reading of history.” He also said “an armed working class is a requirement for economic justice.”

Well, this could be a call to violence. Or it could be lefty pro-gun stuff.

Some of the other stuff is more clearly stuff I wouldn't like, but I think I still dislike the media more than this guy.

Maine produces some genuine red tribe leftism occasionally. This guy seems to be an actual revolutionary communist, not the namby-pamby Berniecrat thing.

Now, of course, an actual revolution by the proles… would not lead to a far left government. But he doesn’t know that.

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