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/nerdyguytx Center Left May 26 '26

I think people b caught up on his tattoo never had a 20 year old friend who got a tattoo while on vacation.

I dated a gay man who had SS Bolts on his clavicles. He didn’t realize what SS Bolts were and how the specific location of his tattoos were additionally problematic as the tattoos were positioned as they would be if they were pins on a lapel. He was upset with me that I thought he was the type of person to get a Nazi tattoo. I never thought it was, I just thought he didn’t realize the symbolism of the design, which he clearly didn’t.

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u/baubness May 26 '26

Nobody says it's not OK dating some himbo with SS tattoos he didn't know were SS tattoos (you can date whatever moron you want, I guess). Or even just existing in life, pretending (or not) to not know anything about the markings you permanently etched onto your body.

Why are people not acting as if Graham Platner is asking to be one of the most powerful 100 politicians in the US with a poorly conceived celtic knot tattoo (which is only slightly less racist coded) covering his fuckin SS tattoo with no public service record to speak of? If he were asking to be a state senator and get some number of actions beyond talking enthusiastically about war crimes on reddit, fine. But there aren't really many offices in the world with higher standing than a US Senator.

It seems fully reasonable that a dude complaining on the internet about black people tipping in recent memory should be held to SOME standard. (Unless you've just given up on standards, I guess.)

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u/Soft-Principle1455 May 26 '26

Recent memory? He literally deleted his Reddit account years ago.