It was a skull and crossbones and he got it converted into a celtic knot with dogs on it, very quickly. Then eight billion bots tried to tell me he was a homophobe because he said “All officers are gay, and not in the fun dick-sucking way” on Reddit in like 2012. I really didn’t buy that, and it primed me to get pretty dismissive of the noise pretty quickly.
And that’s the other thing, dude has been being AGGRESSIVELY smeared since he announced his run. And it’s very obviously because he’s one of the only candidates in the US that are espousing actual leftist talking points. It’s also why I was immediately skeptical when I heard this.
Yeah well of course. But the thing is, we can expect it all we want but we will see if it works. Because if it does then I don’t know what progressives in north america do to actually combat that within the realm of voting and democracy within the system we are in.
The circumventing of democracy through all this dirty bullshit is maddening. Theres no way through the system. If you go outside the system you’re branded as a violent terrorist of some kind. Damned if you do, damned if you dont. Without a mass movement with a large (majority?) support base from the population, which I dont think will happen in north america in my lifetime, we are just fucked.
Too bad half the working class became right-wing populists instead of left-wing populists because 90% of their interactions with leftists were just them being blamed for all the world’s woes on account of their whiteness.
Like maybe if you told them “we’re all working class, and those billionaires and corporations are the problem,” then maybe you’d get results.
But no, and whenever one of them complains about global financial elites, people accuse them of anti-semitism. Like, what the fuck? What’s actually anti-semitic is assuming “global financial elites” refers specifically to jewish people, yet here we are…
Right, I guess leftists can do no wrong and are never responsible for their failures. When liberals don’t get elected, it’s “stop blaming the voters and examine your own platforms for once!” But when leftists don’t get elected. It’s “the voters are so ignorant and malicious and they all deserve to get exactly what they voted for!”
I swear, leftists can be just as bad as anyone else when it comes to self-awareness. And I say that as a leftist.
Face it, the virtue signaling and performativism is strong on our side of the spectrum, and it does more damage to the movement than the right-wing caricatures we only validate whenever we rabidly chase away anyone who doesn’t intuitively grasp our social scripts on-the-fly at a fluent conversational pace…
Dude was defending people getting the SS doppelrune tattoo’d as “military tradition” or whatever on reddit. He had the tattoo for 18 years, there is nothing “quick” about it.
You don’t have the original post, image or link, that discussion was placed under do you? Srsly, I can’t form an informed opinion with only selected facts.
The issue with this kind of stuff is history. As a 40 you’re old American, whose grandfather served in World War II, I had no idea what that tattoo meant before this whole scandal.
The only symbolism we ever went over in school was the flag and swastika. I believe they thought dumb kids would mimic the iconography to look edgy.
Yeah, I keep saying this but idiots keep telling me I must have been a dumbass not to recognize it. I told them to show me a single screenshot of this symbol appearing in any media that depicts nazis or WWII and they couldn’t provide one, they just kept deflecting and calling me a dumbass.
You asked for “a single screenshot” and claimed people couldn’t produce one, I showed you a whole sketch specifically about the symbol, and now the goalposts have moved to “high definition photos that I personally see on a daily basis.”
Okay, so what’s that sketch from? I’ve heard the quote before but I couldn’t tell you what it’s from. I’ve never seen the video, and I’m sure I’m not the only one
Also, what year did it come out, and was it before Platner got the tattoo? Cause if that’s the only media representation you’re gonna rely on, obscure as it is, it doesn’t help your argument that he knew what it was if it wasn’t even out yet
Oh great, you’ve proven that there’s a wikipedia article for it. This is proof that anyone who hasn’t already stumbled upon it by chance is clearly a willfully ignorant nazi! /s
The only reason you’re even linking it now is because we’re already discussing it. My whole point is that hardly anybody knew what this symbol was prior to the discussion around Platner.
Now find a movie, TV show, book, comic, or video game that depicts that symbol on a nazi. Because that’s what I meant from the start and you know it.
I fully admit I am not the smartest or best student of history. However I recall no lessons un symbolism in any history class other than ancient Egypt and Neolithic era or late Stone Age.
Make not mistake I am not supporting any hatred other than towards Nazis. However when I first saw the image I honestly thought it was from Warhammer or something.
Yeah, I thought it looked tacky and stupid. I wouldn’t have gotten it myself. But I also didn’t know it was a nazi symbol until I read about it in the context of platner. Never would have guessed.
The British symbol looks nothing like a totenkopf, the tattoo looks exactly like a totenkopf, 1-to-1 on every detail, no matter how much people try to pretend otherwise.
If you have an image that shows that much detail, please provide it. I really want to see it. I have not seen any. I see some black blobs/outlines that’s all.
And from what I can see, the eyes would be different than on the SS version, and details in the bones are also not visible.
Still, it could be like you said the exact version. I can not tell.
And of course does the UK skull not look like this. But: skull on bone is a common symbol. Look for the example at this pre-nazi Symbol.
If we don’t question the given facts, and form our own opinion, we are not better then the real Nazis.
Discrediting political opponents was part of their playbook.
(I am a German anitfaschist, breaking Nazi bones since 2000, and I am not here to defend anyone, just to animate independent thinking)
But: skull on bone is a common symbol. Look for the example at this pre-nazi Symbol.
First off, that symbol is less similar to the tattoo than then totenkomf (that it 100% is). Second, you could also pull up images of swastikas that predate the Nazis. Should I also suspend judgement if I see someone with a swastika tattooed on their chest?
If we don’t question the given facts, and form our own opinion, we are not better then the real Nazis.
This is an absolutely ridiculous thing to say in this context. I’m seeing a picture that is, very clearly and obviously, a totenkomf, a Nazi symbol. And all I’m doing is calling it a Nazi symbol. And somehow, describing the thing that’s right in front of my eyes makes me “no better than a Nazi.”
I don’t think it’s a totenkopf because I was told it was by some influence campaign to discredit a politician, I know it’s a totenkopf because I have eyes.
I mean, come on! “The Nazis discredited their opponents too.” Ok then, should I not consider Trump discredited, for fear of being like a Nazi? Sure, my eyes have seen him palling around with Jeffery Epstein, but there’s any number of excuses people use, if they really want to. I think there was one narrative that he was just infiltrating the secret pedophile ring to take it down from the inside.
The reality is that there’s this enormous pushback whenever anyone tries to hold any politician to any standard whatsoever. It’s like some kind of internalized authoritarianism. It’s “boys will be boys” dialed up to 11.
I can say with 100% certainty based on the pictures presented that that was a totenkomf. Hell, if it wasn’t, why didn’t he provide pictures to prove otherwise? But no matter what evidence is presented, it’s always possible to just demand high and higher standards of proof to protect politicians from any scrutiny.
First, i never said YOU did not think! How do you assume i have this opinion of you?
This is the part that I responded negatively to:
If we don’t question the given facts, and form our own opinion, we are not better then the real Nazis.
Discrediting political opponents was part of their playbook.
To me I came across like, “If you discredit a politician you’re no better than a Nazi,” even though in some situations, like this one, there are legitimate reasons to consider a politician discredited.
Here we go, 5 minute gimp job. But asking for proof is considered hostile now?
The proof was already there. I guess you needed to see it on the specific location the see the similarities? Generally, asking for proof when there’s already proof is going to get a negative reaction.
It was a skull and crossbones and he got it converted into a celtic knot with dogs on it, very quickly. Then eight billion bots tried to tell me he was a homophobe because he said “All officers are gay, and not in the fun dick-sucking way” on Reddit in like 2012. I really didn’t buy that, and it primed me to get pretty dismissive of the noise pretty quickly.
And that’s the other thing, dude has been being AGGRESSIVELY smeared since he announced his run. And it’s very obviously because he’s one of the only candidates in the US that are espousing actual leftist talking points. It’s also why I was immediately skeptical when I heard this.
Yeah, republicans and centrist dems alike are terrified of this guy, and yet tankies are still going “nah, he’s a fascist!”
And then they’ll complain that america never elects leftists and the overton window keeps ratcheting to the right. Like gee, I wonder why…
Are the tankies that are anti platner in the room with us now?
Yes, actually. Yes they are.
Yes, actually. Yes they are.
We all need to start expecting oppo drops against progressive candidates with centrist primary runners-up the week or so before ballots finalize.
If they have progressive runners-up, expect the oppo drop in October the week before early voting opens.
Yeah well of course. But the thing is, we can expect it all we want but we will see if it works. Because if it does then I don’t know what progressives in north america do to actually combat that within the realm of voting and democracy within the system we are in.
I expect an october surprise against Talarico. And it’s not gonna come from republicans.
If democrats can’t find any dirt on Talarico, they’ll fuck with his campaign funding instead.
The circumventing of democracy through all this dirty bullshit is maddening. Theres no way through the system. If you go outside the system you’re branded as a violent terrorist of some kind. Damned if you do, damned if you dont. Without a mass movement with a large (majority?) support base from the population, which I dont think will happen in north america in my lifetime, we are just fucked.
Too bad half the working class became right-wing populists instead of left-wing populists because 90% of their interactions with leftists were just them being blamed for all the world’s woes on account of their whiteness.
Like maybe if you told them “we’re all working class, and those billionaires and corporations are the problem,” then maybe you’d get results.
But no, and whenever one of them complains about global financial elites, people accuse them of anti-semitism. Like, what the fuck? What’s actually anti-semitic is assuming “global financial elites” refers specifically to jewish people, yet here we are…
Its not leftists that did that. Its liberals and online psy ops.
Right, I guess leftists can do no wrong and are never responsible for their failures. When liberals don’t get elected, it’s “stop blaming the voters and examine your own platforms for once!” But when leftists don’t get elected. It’s “the voters are so ignorant and malicious and they all deserve to get exactly what they voted for!”
I swear, leftists can be just as bad as anyone else when it comes to self-awareness. And I say that as a leftist.
Face it, the virtue signaling and performativism is strong on our side of the spectrum, and it does more damage to the movement than the right-wing caricatures we only validate whenever we rabidly chase away anyone who doesn’t intuitively grasp our social scripts on-the-fly at a fluent conversational pace…
Dude was defending people getting the SS doppelrune tattoo’d as “military tradition” or whatever on reddit. He had the tattoo for 18 years, there is nothing “quick” about it.
The only part I believe about this is that it’s tradition in the US Military to get matching Nazi tattoos.
Source?
see also https://themainemonitor.org/platner-reddit-comments/ and just search for “bolts”.
You don’t have the original post, image or link, that discussion was placed under do you? Srsly, I can’t form an informed opinion with only selected facts.
here is one such comment chain: https://www.reddit.com/r/liberalgunowners/comments/gysbbx/comment/ftdomxz/
you can also use pullpush to resurrect his comments:
https://search.pullpush.io/?author=p-hustle&type=comment&sort_type=created_utc&sort=desc&link_id=gysbbx
sorry but you’re gonna have to do the rest of the work yourself.
German here. Is there any real image of the tattoo anywhere? I could only find some images with a big black blob.
Also it’s not like he denied having it, he for sure had a Totenkopf-tattoo that he put a “celtic knot” over.
https://jewishinsider.com/2025/10/graham-platner-ss-tattoo-maine-senate/
The issue with this kind of stuff is history. As a 40 you’re old American, whose grandfather served in World War II, I had no idea what that tattoo meant before this whole scandal.
The only symbolism we ever went over in school was the flag and swastika. I believe they thought dumb kids would mimic the iconography to look edgy.
Yeah, I keep saying this but idiots keep telling me I must have been a dumbass not to recognize it. I told them to show me a single screenshot of this symbol appearing in any media that depicts nazis or WWII and they couldn’t provide one, they just kept deflecting and calling me a dumbass.
It’s on every SS uniform
It’s prolific enough that’s it’s specifically mentioned in that “are we the baddies” video. They’re wearing it too.
Yes, we all see so many of those on a day-to-day basis, and photos from the time are such high-def it’s astounding that anyone could miss it!
(/s, just in case)
You asked for “a single screenshot” and claimed people couldn’t produce one, I showed you a whole sketch specifically about the symbol, and now the goalposts have moved to “high definition photos that I personally see on a daily basis.”
Okay, so what’s that sketch from? I’ve heard the quote before but I couldn’t tell you what it’s from. I’ve never seen the video, and I’m sure I’m not the only one
Also, what year did it come out, and was it before Platner got the tattoo? Cause if that’s the only media representation you’re gonna rely on, obscure as it is, it doesn’t help your argument that he knew what it was if it wasn’t even out yet
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totenkopf_(Symbol)#/media/Datei:German_SS_uniform._Peaked_visor_cap_with_skull_emblem_(Totenkopf)._Norwegian_Armed_Forces_Museum_(Forsvarsmuseet)_Oslo,_Norway_2019-03-31_DSC01646_(cropped).jpg
Oh great, you’ve proven that there’s a wikipedia article for it. This is proof that anyone who hasn’t already stumbled upon it by chance is clearly a willfully ignorant nazi! /s
The only reason you’re even linking it now is because we’re already discussing it. My whole point is that hardly anybody knew what this symbol was prior to the discussion around Platner.
Now find a movie, TV show, book, comic, or video game that depicts that symbol on a nazi. Because that’s what I meant from the start and you know it.
Read my other comments. I link this because this is the only real source, and for reference. A German! Wikipedia article.
No, nobody was an idiot for not seeing this, most Germans would not know that this was a Nazi symbol. And wearing those symbols is illegal here.
I see. Thanks for clarifying
I fully admit I am not the smartest or best student of history. However I recall no lessons un symbolism in any history class other than ancient Egypt and Neolithic era or late Stone Age.
Make not mistake I am not supporting any hatred other than towards Nazis. However when I first saw the image I honestly thought it was from Warhammer or something.
Yeah, I thought it looked tacky and stupid. I wouldn’t have gotten it myself. But I also didn’t know it was a nazi symbol until I read about it in the context of platner. Never would have guessed.
Ok, after some closer look, it could resemble the SS “Mützenabzeichen”, but it could also just be a generic skull.
BTW, the British atme are no nazis are they? https://www.army.mod.uk/learn-and-explore/about-the-army/corps-regiments-and-units/royal-armoured-corps/royal-lancers/
I can not say what exactly that tattoo was there is no clear image I found, so I can not jump to conclusions in any direction.
The British symbol looks nothing like a totenkopf, the tattoo looks exactly like a totenkopf, 1-to-1 on every detail, no matter how much people try to pretend otherwise.
If you have an image that shows that much detail, please provide it. I really want to see it. I have not seen any. I see some black blobs/outlines that’s all.
And from what I can see, the eyes would be different than on the SS version, and details in the bones are also not visible.
Still, it could be like you said the exact version. I can not tell.
And of course does the UK skull not look like this. But: skull on bone is a common symbol. Look for the example at this pre-nazi Symbol.
If we don’t question the given facts, and form our own opinion, we are not better then the real Nazis.
Discrediting political opponents was part of their playbook.
(I am a German anitfaschist, breaking Nazi bones since 2000, and I am not here to defend anyone, just to animate independent thinking)
First off, that symbol is less similar to the tattoo than then totenkomf (that it 100% is). Second, you could also pull up images of swastikas that predate the Nazis. Should I also suspend judgement if I see someone with a swastika tattooed on their chest?
This is an absolutely ridiculous thing to say in this context. I’m seeing a picture that is, very clearly and obviously, a totenkomf, a Nazi symbol. And all I’m doing is calling it a Nazi symbol. And somehow, describing the thing that’s right in front of my eyes makes me “no better than a Nazi.”
I don’t think it’s a totenkopf because I was told it was by some influence campaign to discredit a politician, I know it’s a totenkopf because I have eyes.
I mean, come on! “The Nazis discredited their opponents too.” Ok then, should I not consider Trump discredited, for fear of being like a Nazi? Sure, my eyes have seen him palling around with Jeffery Epstein, but there’s any number of excuses people use, if they really want to. I think there was one narrative that he was just infiltrating the secret pedophile ring to take it down from the inside.
The reality is that there’s this enormous pushback whenever anyone tries to hold any politician to any standard whatsoever. It’s like some kind of internalized authoritarianism. It’s “boys will be boys” dialed up to 11.
I can say with 100% certainty based on the pictures presented that that was a totenkomf. Hell, if it wasn’t, why didn’t he provide pictures to prove otherwise? But no matter what evidence is presented, it’s always possible to just demand high and higher standards of proof to protect politicians from any scrutiny.
First, i never said YOU did not think! How do you assume i have this opinion of you? I said as much as you may be right!
Second, i did the work to CONFORM your statement, something i asked for repeatedly from people that state “trust me bro, this is true”.
Here we go, 5 minute gimp job. But asking for proof is considered hostile now? WTF???
This is the part that I responded negatively to:
To me I came across like, “If you discredit a politician you’re no better than a Nazi,” even though in some situations, like this one, there are legitimate reasons to consider a politician discredited.
The proof was already there. I guess you needed to see it on the specific location the see the similarities? Generally, asking for proof when there’s already proof is going to get a negative reaction.
Thanks a lot!
he only covered it when pressured by national outcry, he spent his adult life with a nazi tattoo and never regretted it.
I fucking hate nazi apologists.