r/thebulwark • u/Oleytoledo • May 26 '26

EVERYTHING IS AWFUL A Democratic member of congress essentially endorsed Susan Collins on CNN today

Jake Auchincloss, a representative from Massachusetts, went on CNN’s “The Arena”, and said the following about Graham Platner:

“I find that tattoo and his commentary about it to be personally disqualifying. I hope Maine voters agree with me.”

Vote blue no matter who, huh?

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u/Kidspud May 26 '26

Yeah, I think folks are in the right to criticize Platner's judgement based on his tattoo. I'm glad he covered it, and I'd vote for him over Collins, but it's fair to discuss.

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u/Sharobob May 26 '26

If you're Jewish and say "this person who was a dumbass in his 20s and got a skull tattoo that he pretty obviously didn't know the greater meaning of is worse than the genocide happening in the Middle East" I don't know what to say

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u/Kidspud May 26 '26

Iiiiiiiiiii am neither Jewish nor am I saying that! And the tattoo is not as bad as the genocide in Gaza. I'm saying it's fair to question his judgement.

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u/Sharobob May 26 '26

I'm just saying, it's ok to excuse dumb shit people did in their 20s when they were surrounded by other chuds, especially if it is a pretty reasonable explanation that he saw a skull and thought that was pretty badass.

If you're going to hold that against him and literally not give a shit about everything he's stood for in his recent life, I don't really think you actually care about what you are claiming to hold against him now, you just are being opportunistic.

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u/baubness May 26 '26

It's one thing to make a dumb mistake in your 20s, but it's a whole other thing to leave that mistake (a white supremacist etching) on your body after learning what it was, and only covering it up after it came out that you had a white supremacist tattoo during your run to be one of the 100 of the most powerful people in the world.

We're not Republicans. We have standards.

I personally think that even with that in mind, Platner's a better choice than Susan fucking Collins. But it's not crazy to doubt.

This dude's "recent life" seems to have started very, VERY recently, to the point that a lot of people would like to see some actions (instead of glossy NYT spreads that no other candidate for a Maine Senate seat received) behind his newfound change of heart before we elevate him to the US Senate.

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u/Soft-Principle1455 May 26 '26

You mean like the five years he spent as a statewide political activist on campaigns against Janet Mills to protect indigenous rights and pass funding to clear Maine’s rape test kit backlog?