Losing My Perspicacity, October 23, 2025

Good morning and Happy Thursday. Thanks for being here today.

As typically happens to me by Thursday, I am burned out. Between covering the Trump White House, reporting on various legal battles around the country over ICE and the National Guard, and participating in several activist groups with different focuses, I seem to hit a wall every week around this time. With that in mind, I want to talk about one issue that has been weighing on me today: Graham Platner.

Earlier this week, in a clear attempt to get ahead of the story, Maine senatorial candidate Graham Platner went on Pod Save America to discuss his very large, very noticeable tattoo with the former Obama bros. The problem? The tattoo appears to be that of a Totenkopf, a skull-and-crossbones favored by the SS. Yes, that SS.

According to Platner, he got the tattoo 15 years ago, during his time as a Marine:

Hey, don’t yell at me, Graham. I’m not the one with the Nazi tattoo front and center on my chest.

Platner wouldn’t be the first guy to get drunk, get a tattoo, and find out later that it didn’t mean what he thought it meant. I, personally, nearly got John Lennon’s self-portrait tattooed on my lower back during Spring Break ‘93. I only narrowly escaped because I wanted to get back to the MTV Beach House to see The Black Crows perform. True story! Shit happens.

Unfortunately, there is evidence that, whether he intended to get it or not, Platner certainly knew the tattoo had a Nazi affiliation before reporters started bringing it up to him.

First, Platner’s former political director, Genevieve McDonald, who quit last week, wrote on Facebook, “Maybe he didn’t know it when he got it, but he got it years ago and he should have had it covered up because he knows damn well what it means.”

Then there’s this:

Racist and sexist comments made by Platner on Reddit have also now come to light.

Then, literally, while I was writing this post, news about Platner’s homophobic posts broke.

I’ll admit that I was excited about Platner’s campaign. He seemed to be everything Democrats needed to finally boot Susan Collins out of office and put a true progressive in her place. And Platner may genuinely be that guy. People evolve and change. People learn. We, as Democrats, need to leave room for that. I don’t agree with purity testing candidates, and I know that I’m a much different person than I was before social media, largely because of the diversity of views and life experiences of the people I follow. In that regard, social media has made me a better, more inclusive person. Maybe that’s also true for Platner.

BUT.

On the other hand, it’s not like we’re talking about someone who cheated on a test, shoplifted a six-pack, or once identified as a Republican. This is a man who spent 15 years with an SS tattoo on his chest, and apparently didn’t think it was problematic enough to have it removed before he decided to run for Senate. That lack of judgment, in and of itself, is probably disqualifying. I don’t believe for a second that Platner didn’t know what he had tattooed on his chest until this year. How is that even possible?

(See it on the hats?)

And repeatedly insisting that he passed a military tattoo check doesn’t hold much weight. Presumably, so did Pete Hegseth.

Platner and his allies are now trying to turn this whole thing into a game of “us against them,” claiming that Platner’s opponents seized on this moment to hit him because they can’t challenge him on policies. Well, DUH. It’s a Nazi tattoo. You kinda teed that one up for them, buddy.

As I said, I was impressed with Platner. I even donated to his campaign last week. And heavy hitters like Bernie Sanders and the military veteran group Common Defense are standing by him.

I am entirely on board with Platner’s policies and priorities. However, I can’t bring myself to support his candidacy after his. Tell me this: If the left shrugs and moves on, how can we claim the moral high ground when it comes to “at least we don’t have Nazis in our party” ever again? Didn’t we spend the last two weeks pointing out how many in the GOP appear to be enamored with Nazis? Did we not just rightfully denigrate a bunch of Young Republicans for praising Hitler in a group chat? Didn’t Paul Ingrassia have to pull his nomination to head up the Office of Special Counsel in part because he admitted to having “a Nazi streak?” What are we even doing here? I’m all for a big tent, but how big of a tent do we actually want?

Platner was a great candidate, but he is no longer. He’s not the only blue-collar worker able to speak to people in a language they know and understand. There will be others. It’s a shame, because if Platner had just come out and said, “I didn’t realize what kind of tattoo it was when I got it. I don’t know why I didn’t have it removed. I should have,” I might have been more generous. But acting like we’re all assholes for drawing the line at a freakin’ Nazi tattoo is unconscionable. And I’m disgusted by what he said about sexual assault victims, too.

So instead of contemplating donating more to Graham Platner, tonight I’m sitting here asking myself questions like: How hard is it, really, to go through life without making people wonder if you’re a Nazi? And how, in the Year of Our Lord 2025, does someone decide to run for national office knowing full well they have a Nazi tattoo and a bunch of terrible old social media posts?

Platner has now had the tattoo covered up with some weirdo Celtic knot dog thing, proving just how quickly and easily he could have done this before he decided to run for Senate.

Why didn’t you do this years ago, Graham? Why? I can not wrap my head around it. Maybe he doesn’t even know.

Even in talking about the new tattoo, the whole thing had a very, “There, are you jerks happy now?” feel to it.

In the end, maybe Platner’s arrogance in thinking none of this would matter, and in trying to attack those who are offended by his (again) Nazi tattoo, is what actually makes him unqualified.

The High Note

Each Day, I do my best to leave you with a smile on your face, a song in your heart, and the will to fight another day.

Here’s John Oliver talking about the issues that really matter: Air Bud

Hey, survive and advance out there today, kids. Don’t let the bastards get you down.