politics

The tattoo artist I've been going to for the past few years works out of a very liberal town that is maybe an hour from a military base. And the vast majority of her day to day business is fixing tattoos that dumbasses got without understanding them. To the point that she half jokes that she and her partner should hang out at a bar near the base and pretend to be interested in the meatheads until they spot a swastika or other nazi imagery and then freak out.

Basically, they get their "unit tattoo" or whatever because they are in a state of arrested development and just want to fit in with the psychopaths in their unit (at the very least, it is a good way to not wake up to being raped by them "as a joke"). And then, months or years down the line they realize what they actually have on their arms or chests or backs and freak out. But they don't want to risk running into their buddies and having to explain why they hate the men in the foxhole next to them, so they go one town over to where people are mostly getting hot soup tattoos instead.

And while she will very much mock their stupidity and the hilarity of a "300 pound african american white supremacist", she also makes it a point to encourage them to transform it into something that matters to them rather than just get some flash on top of it.

Ya but it says what we want to hear

I mean I like this guy's message and he has been in front of this controversy from the start so that's a good sign.

I warn you that sometimes these candidates can 180 on you.

Tulsi Gabard was a left adjacent alternative to Sanders and Warren until she didn't find a path to victory and went to the "I left the left" play book. That one stung quite a bit for me.

John Fetterman was a blue collar pro union candidate until he had a giant stroke and still beat Dr. Oz and after that race has been a conservative in every but his party affiliation.

Kirsten Gillibrand was a strong progressive senator from New York that took over Hilary Clinton's position and eventually became a democratic mouth piece that Schumer and the rest of the party rot has been known for.

The point is that these people have vested interests that don't align with working American's and this guy seems to be genuine which is why CNN and main stream media has had a hate boner for this guy.

That doesn't make him instantly the hero but usually if these outlets are hating someone they are a threat to the establishment.

Use critical thinking and listen to arguments that make sense with research and history.

I’m getting Fetterman from him

Odds are probably not.

Because his entire reddit history for the past decade has been dug up and none of it points to nazi posting. Even posts that were deleted.

You'd think if he was a secret nazi, then maybe it would show in his private online shitposting. When he wasn't running for office, when he didnt have to maintain face... but no, its not there.

Literally, ALL, the evidence this smear campaign has is the tattoo (which he immediately covered). None of his private history for a decade supports this. Instead most of the private reddit posts contradict it.

You think a white supremacist is calling white rural voters a bunch of racists? You think a nazi is posting ACAB?

Priorities (not ranked) 1. Policy position on unions and living wages, civil rights, all the basics 2. Pac and aipac money. 3. Anti Trump's policies. 3. Integrity based on history of behaviors and current behavior. Especially including sexual misconduct.

Things not a priority.

1. Appearance. 2. Gender. 3. . Ethnicity 4.. Insensitive costumes from 20 years ago which were socially acceptable then. 5. Tattoos up for interpretation of some affiliation (no evidence he was affiliated with any Nazi group). .

Keep your priorities straight.

Lutra

The issue is not the tattoo. It's that for many, his explanation of the tattoo is weak.

Okay, what are his behaviors?

I know, let's judge him on getting a god damned SS skull tattooed on his chest 20 years ago? No? Okay.

Let's judge him based on having confirmed he knows the heritage of said tattoo 5 years ago and STILL not getting it removed? No?

Can we judge him based on actively lying to the people he is trying to convince to vote for him about said tattoo? With the dumbest fucking excuse ever of him being a terminally online military history buff who was completely unaware of the fucking totenkopf? No? Damn, you got some real high standards.

I know! We can judge him based on his long history of homophobic slurs and really shitty views on sexual assault? No? Well, this IS America, women and gays don't matter. Moving on.

OOH OOOH! Can we judge him on having fucking joined Blackwater as a PMC? Still no? Damn.

Okay, fine. Let's judge him based on his long history of community service and political activism. ERROR: FILE NOT FOUND.

Okay, fine. We'll judge him based on a few things he said over the past couple months and a long history of internet shitposting. Platner For President!!!!

What more do you want from him?

Honestly? To acknowledge he lied to his potential constituents and the American people. And to probably step down on this cycle because his very existence undermines every single "trump et al are fucking nazis" campaign.

I would also genuinely love for him to talk about how he was peer pressured into it in the military and that he was too ashamed to stand up. And then I want him to spend the next seven-ish years actually showing he has changed. Get those community service hours. Engage in political activism. Show us he is worth something.

Wait, why did I say seven years? Isn't a senate term six?

You want to vote for the person the billionaires and trump and Israel are pushing for instead. ?

No. I want people to fucking realize it is over a year until the actual election and there is still PLENTY of time to continue this primary. And... maybe they can consider that Smith-Rodriguez was ALSO a veteran who ALSO had a demsoc platform

Does it matter?

Here are the facts:

1. He has an SS skull tattooed on his chest
2. He got it 20-ish years ago
3. He finally covered it up 1-ish week ago
4. He insisted he did not know the meaning of it as recently as this week
5. He apparently was getting into internet arguments over how he knew the meaning of it and it was not 5 years ago
6. Thus, he has known he had a nazi tattoo for at least 5 years

I don't care if it is Emperor Palpatine behind this and Sheev starts giving crotch chops over how he got all of us. I just care about not electing a fucking nazi to the senate under the Democrat flag. Republicans already got that shit on lock.

That’s almost certainly true. And i believe him when he says those tattoos are commonplace, that marines don’t consider the original meaning, and that he knows black & Latino people with them.

But i think, at the very least, not getting it covered up before choosing to run for office demonstrates a staggering lack of political acumen and is a very large indication of a lack of good judgement.

I mean, we don’t give ordinary people a pass if they fly a Confederate flag and say it’s just because they’re from the US South and it’s meaning for them is entirely divorced from slavery. Same thing here, except politicians are supposed to be held to higher standards.

I’d also say that the times the US is finding itself in, with rapidly encroaching fascism, open racism, and the slightly-more-gradual embracing of Nazi symbolism from the current administration, makes it even more important for the left to reject someone with a literal Nazi tattoo - regardless of how they got it and what it may mean to them.