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Yeah. Something was rubbing me weird as I read more on this guy and how he basically came out of nowhere and, allegedly, had a platform very similar to a different military vet who may or may not have had the same PR team at the start but more or less got laughed out of the race. Except Smith-Rodriguez's version of the demsoc candidate platform had actual plans and action items rather than just appeals to emotion.
Like... yes, it is a state level election. But you don't come out of absolutely nowhere and become the one true hope for the Democrats. Okay... Obama actually DID but he had actually had a political career until then, we just weren't paying attention.
And then it hit me. A couple weeks/months back, the youtube (Business) Insider channel did one of their "authorized accounts" on a mercenary who worked for fucking Blackwater. It was one of the darkest things I have watched on that channel and they have had klansmen, murderous neo nazi bikers, and the mother fucker who led the WACO slaughter. So... yeah.
More than a bit tinfoil but that REALLY felt like an attempt to rehab mercs, specifically Blackwater, as "just another soldier" and that they are "misunderstood".
Considering Skorzeny Jr is crashing out and demanding his staff (ex or otherwise) retroactively sign NDAs... stuff is gonna be REAL juicy.
Platner has also had a political career prior to this. He didn't come out of nowhere. You think the unions that recruited him to run did so based on 20 year old reddit comments?
It really sucks how easy it is to co-opt the left. Heard a good term yesterday to describe it. The AOCificafion. And Mamdani is the next one on the chopping block.
Eh. It is really just the same populism we see with trump (actively NOT going to list the "leftist" version of him...).
People don't actually care about his policies. Otherwise we would have immediately said "Yo, is Smith-Rodriguez willing to get back up there?". Instead it is all about wanting to capture the excitement of a candidate that Spoke to them and immediately attacking anyone who isn't via "purity tests".
I mean... look at how many people clown on AOC because she didn't actively snub a conference on antisemitism (?). I'm sure that people will eventually find a reason to get mad at Mamdani because he just isn't .
And... look at Kamala. Yeah, she is a cop and has shitty views on the genocide committed by israel. But her shitty views were still NOTHING compared to trump's shitty views. But the discourse IMMEDIATELY became how she is horrible and the worst candidate ever and blah blah blah let's let trump win to make things even worse for everyone.
Which is why the platner shit is so infuriating. The Left(TM) will throw away any candidate that is not The Chosen One over ordering the wrong cup of coffee. But when we have a fucking blackwater merc with a nazi tattoo, fucked up views on sexual assault, and zero political background? Yo guys, we need to win elections so let's give nazism a chance.
Which... REALLY fucking highlights what women, people of color, and our LGBTQIA+ "friends" have been saying for over a decade now.