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this post was submitted on 10 Jun 2026
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politics
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We don’t generally forgive convicts and let them have a new life, that’s why recidivism is so bad. Society is also quietly prejudiced against people with mental health issues, which is why it’s so hard to get treated or get time off for it. “Finding Jesus” is loaded in so many different ways I can’t cover that here.
That said, I’m totally for understanding people can change and am very much against ghost banning people with a history that they have grown out of. People do change, everyone has things they’ve fucked up in the past.
Case in point: Smedley Butler.
He was a retired Marine Corps Major General, started out as a true believer but paid attention to all the shit he was involved in and eventually realized that he was just violently enforcing the wishes of the wealthy true rulers of the American state.
So when some of them approached him to join the Business Plot, where they'd coup the US government in a similar fashion to Mussolini's Italian coup (basically march a bunch of soldiers and supporters in to the captial while the government is unprepared to defend against a mob and demand the government be handed over, though in Italy's case it helped that they had a system where a monarch held power over the rest of the government and ended up getting their way by promising to leave the king alone). Butler instead sat in meetings to gather information and then turned on them, at which point the government had some harsh words for the plotters (that included GW Bush's grandfather) before sending them on their way to think about what they did wrong (and how to do it more effectively the next time).
This guy wasn't just a marine but a leader of marines and though he didn't question his orders (that we know of anyways) in the moment, he did reflect on everything he had seen and done and didn't like it. IMO former believers who turn are even more important as allies than those who were always on the right side because the ones who have been on both sides have more experience and knowledge about the specifics of how the other side operates.
Yeah I'm really hoping Platner is another Smedley, but I'm afraid he might not be. Giving power to someone like this is scary. Hell the only reason Smedley was able to stop the business plot is that the conspirators assumed he hadn't changed.
In the primaries I was tentatively pro Platner. In the general I'm just pro Platner. And if he wins and his actions match his words then in 6 years I'll be extremely pro Platner.
Hell, for all I hate Fetterman I'm still glad he didn't lose the general, Senator Mehmet Oz would've been worse.
Ah yes, the old American tradition of letting rich white men get away with literally anything, up to and including High Treason.
Maybe I'm crazy, but "guys I grew out of the murderous Nazi beliefs" just doesn't cut it for me. Especially for someone running for office.
They might even be telling the truth. Don't care, you were a fucking Nazi so I will never trust you with the levers of power.
If this guy was actually a Nazi he'd be fast-tracked in the Republican party instead of trying to play on hard mode rehabbing his image as a working class Democrat. You don't even have to cover your tattoos up as a Republican, they just let you be secdef
Let's assume for the sake of this comment that it is all bullshit and he's actually right wing or whatever... The Republican party would now be in a win/win situation in Maine. No matter what the outcome is, they've won. They don't even need to spend money on that race.
And if my grandma had wheels she’d be a bicycle.
Good cop bad cop. I don’t believe they are as stupid as you think.
It's there any Nazi ideology you can quote? Or are we still talking about a covered up tattoo?
Yeah it seems like that's all they've got. There are 3-ish of these folks astroturfing up and down the entire thread.
Perhaps they're on someone's payroll, good to see no one's buying it except themselves. They're exceedingly good at wasting everyone's time and energy (including their own) with this weak af reasoning.
I'm not astroturfing shit, I'm just fucking pissed at all the "I refuse to vote for someone who supports genocide" people bending over backwards to avoid criticizing a man who has a Nazi tattoo and has openly talked about murdering Iraqis.
Apparently all you need to do is just say some socialist shit, and you're golden.
Have some fucking standards.
I hope all of this concern ends up being unwarranted, I really do. And I would hold my nose and vote for him in the general if I were in Maine.
But this "how dare you be at all skeptical of a man with a dark, murderous, past and a Nazi tattoo on his chest" shit is just too much.
Like that's really all it takes? Just pay some lip service to socialism, and you're willing to ignore the biggest red flag for a Democratic Senate candidate I can remember ever seeing?
What Nazi beliefs has he espoused so far on the campaign trail?
Enjoying killing innocent Iraqis. Next question?
From his 2015 reddit comments.
Sounds like he very much enjoyed it, lol.
I think that requires a wilful misinterpretation of what he said to conclude he "very much" enjoyed killing given he expressly says he did not. It's certainly questionable, but it's not as blatantly clear as many people are claiming.
Right, he hated doing it so much that he just had to go back 4 times. And then he continued to hate it while he joined Blackwater as a mercenary.
I can't find a single record of him saying he hated it. Many examples of him being disgusted with his past behavior and complacency with imperialism, but in none of them does he say he hated it at the time. Do you have a source where he claims that?
I was being sarcastic, lol. He clearly enjoyed it.
And yet, I wasn't being sarcastic. Do you have anything to back up your claim? Because he has consistently represented himself on this issue, and it fundamentally disagrees with your assertions. I can't find any reason to doubt him or his characterization of himself - which I want to add, is still not exactly great. It's just not cut and dry like you're claiming.
I can't help you with your naivety. If someone continues to put themself in a situation where they're killing innocent civilians, says they can't even explain how much they enjoy "combat", and then tells you they don't like it, and you believe them, that's a you problem.
No, I didn't think you could back your claims up. Thank you for confirming that for me.
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Politicians never lie, good point. And it's not like we have at least two examples of this exact thing happening before.
Alright well I guess we will see. Also fuck Susan Collins. I’m glad she’s outta there.
She's not out of there yet, Platner has only won the Democratic nomination. He still needs to run against her.
That's the level of political knowledge these people possess 🤦