I knew Blackwater was horrible in like 2008 and I was in middle school and didn’t give a shit about politics back then.
Yeah, Blackwater’s real crime was stealing taxpayer dollars
this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2025
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Yeah I’m pretty sure when I was 9 and heard of Blackwater for the first time it was in the context of “The evil mercenary company”
metal gear solid 4 came out in 2008 it was pretty quickly known that PMCs were committing atrocities in Iraq
metal gear solid 4 came out in 2008
"I signed on to a PMC to kill people for loads of money, but they STOLE some of that money, so for that reason I'm out"
listen, we were just occupying that place, and i didn't even get a plot of land with a bunch of slaves with it, they were just doing it for profits of haliburton. So that radicalized me ~~to join caesar~~ to run for senate, so that i can finally pass ~~"land for service act"~~ join the board of directors of ~~blackwater~~ ~~academy~~ insertcompanyname owned by erik prince
This hoorah Call of Duty pseudo-leftie is a snake and a fraud, this isn't Zohran, this is a grift
The proof is in the emphasis, the problem is they "stole money" not "WE murdered brown people for the state", fuck this bullshit and fuck bernie
Well, he deffinitely knows what his audience wants to hear. A retread of all the "Bush did Afghanistan/Iraq.... incorrectly" liberal talking points.
Real "the worst part is the hypocrisy" energy.
Fun Fact: Blackwater nowdays is the UAE mercenary army they use in sudan, yemen and gaza
Shadow armies: UAE’s covert wars in Sudan, Yemen, and Gaza https://hexbear.net/post/6032417
My problem with Platner's rhetoric and others like him, they oppose imperialism only on the grounds that its a waste of money, and that money should be spent domestically. This can be commonly seen in the statement "why are we spending money to bomb children in Gaza, instead of on education/healthcare/infrastructure". While this sentiment can be one important part of agitprop against imperialism, it is troubling that Platner's disgust with Blackwater and the MIC is founded in the corruption aspect, and not the unimaginable harm it causes to the global south.
People are acting like he is part of the DSA wave, a so called "Maine Zohran". But he isn't in the DSA, he is just an independent. Being in the DSA would mean(at least in theory) abiding by their strict Anti-Zionist resolution and more generally holding a genuine Marxist anti imperialist position.
Because Bernie endorses him, I think that he is meant to just be the Bernie for a new generation. A way to sheepdog progressives back into the democratic party while not posing any serious threat to imperialism. Sure he is against the Gaza genocide now, but he is not necessarily even anti Zionist. Because he has no consistent anti imperialist position, he will probably support future imperialist actions, the same way that Bernie supported NATO actions in Kosovo
they oppose imperialism only on the grounds that its a waste of money
Which is also stupid because of how wrong it is. Not only does imperialism benefit the US (obviously, that's the whole point!), but tax money doesn't pay for stuff. The US has always increased its deficit, it doesn't matter, because the US prints its own money!!!
People act like its a good way of framing it to people, but it isn't. Not only does it reinforce this US-supremacist ""taxpayer""-centric worldview of selfishness, but it doesn't teach people how imperialism works and doesn't condition people to have empathy or solidarity with anyone else.
Part of just how bleak this world is comes from how everything is framed in terms of money. I still see most people describe things as being wasteful or expensive because of how much money they cost instead of the actual waste of labor and knowledge.
And it doesn't apply to conflicts that are a "good" use of those resources. I'm guessing that Platner mostly supports or supported arming Ukraine and arming Europe in general against the "Russian threat". Same probably goes for Asia, considering he has expressed support for a "free Tibet" in the past
Additional context for those out of the loop. It sounds like it’s more likely he was doing glorified security guard work than full on merc shit. I’m a bit ambivalent on this, on one hand I don’t think a “mortal sins” approach is productive. If someone becomes radicalized, we owe them the benefit of the doubt that they’re not permanently stained by their work history.
On the other hand, the campaign emphasizing his military service rubs me the wrong way. It stinks of treating the military with kiddie gloves.
i mean, he did do 4 tours before that. And radicalization is that: somebody is making too much money out of this, not, you know, we shouldn't be invading other countries so that someone could make money out of this. Where are mentions of iraqis/afghanis working people? or their role is to suffer quietly?
I hear what you're saying, but if I read a candidate had 'Former wehrmacht veteran' in his bio and he was pushing that angle, then literally the only context acceptable in that regard is that he means he's a veteran of hunting down wehrmacht members, otherwise he's guilty himself of staining himself by his work history; like, we're not the ones pushing the 'FORMER WEHRMACHT' label in people's faces, the former wehrmacht member is doing it himself.
EDIT: Actually you know what, this is probably more apropos than I first thought; he IS definitely a progressive but like....more nationalist progressive; A Nazpro if you will.
"How do you do, fellow socialists" said the national socialist
That’s what I was getting at with the “rub the wrong way” comment. It’s always a problem with American social democrats, they’ll be fine on domestic issues, centering the working class, but then that goes away the moment the issue crosses the border.
i tend to agree. people have a tendency to not see or consider things that would undermine their beliefs and self-understanding, like ideological blinders.
its easier to tell someone the institutions they fight for are corrupt and stupidly managed than it is to tell them the institutions are working as intended, developed to slaughter the world and ensure cheap, soothing treats could be distributed and placate any internal revolt against the charnal house they salute.
people can accept they were sold something defective, but they bristle and turn away from learning they were massively duped.
Especially with Americans, the ideological assumption of the US being removed from the “troubles” of the rest of the world that’s been around for centuries drives that hard. If a country somewhere else is having problems, that’s no fault or problem of the US, and thus doesn’t affect the US. I think that’s part of the reason the Russiagate brainworms have such a grip on libs, the idea of outsiders affecting US elections is so beyond the pale of the natural order for them.