I think Democrats and others are being terribly naïve about Graham Platner. I would like them to be less naïve, even if they are in the camp of "Okay, let's take this poison pill." Okay, take the poison pill. But be very careful. First, there is the documented pattern of lying across a variety of topics. -He lied to the New Yorker about receiving a VA loan for his house -He lied about having to go to Prep School because his local school wasn't accredited -He lies repeatedly in speeches about how he earns his income. "I earn my living at the sea." He draws no wages from his business. Just these facts alone indicate: treat this guy with kid gloves. He could be lying about a whole lot more. And, yes, he also lied about knowing whether he had a Totenkopf. Multiple people have said he knew. And there is objective, visual evidence in the form of a text message from his ex-girlfriend saying, "He has a Nazi tattoo" from August, 2025. As well as his own history of commenting on Nazi insignia. There are other possible domains where he looks like he *could* be lying. He told the NYT that the mortgage loan he got from his dad was at a higher rate than he would have gotten from a bank. That sounds fishy. Then there's the fact that he's ostensibly re-paying his father for that loan with VA benefits. Instead of having taken out a loan from the VA itself, which, again, he claimed to have done. GOP is also asking other questions about his income. Why he draws no wages. The re-investment/tax structure of his business. The nature of his disability claim the amount he receives per month. Now let's take the allegations of violence against women. Try to be dispassionate. The allegations could be true or could be false. A lot of focus has rightfully been on the most serious allegation: domestic violence, against Lyndsey Fifield, occurring between 2013 and 2016. There is another allegation of problematic behavior: that Platner showed up drunk at Jenny Racicot's home in 2021, after she specifically told him not to come. So, if the allegations are true, this is a time range of at least 9 years. In 2024, Jenny Racicot also posted to a facebook group "Are we dating the same guy?" Multiple women replied to that post indicating problematic behavior towards women, after Platner was married. At the very least: cheating. Then there's the KIK profile, which runs up to the current moment. The extra-marital texting with ~12 different women. So, that's proof he lied to his wife. Graham Platner is untrustworthy; demonstrably so. He has lied to reporters, lied to his wife, lied to other women, and also lied directly to voters. All of that is concrete and demonstrable, whatever you think of the abuse claim. He also arguably lacks impulse control. He tells lies that are easily disproven; sexts outside of marriage with multiple women, etc. Just the lying about why he went to Prep school, the VA loan, how he makes a living, & a variety of other issues looks pathological in nature. If he lies about all this, what else does he lie about? Why would he say the VA gave him a loan when they didn't? Why would he lie and say he HAD to go to Prep school because the public school was not accredited? Why tell those specific lies? Add to that: "Susan Collins sent me to war," when we know that he wanted to go to war. From 2011 to 2020, he said, multiple times, that he wanted to go to war and had no regrets. These lies all go in a very specific persona-building direction. Don't trust a guy like that. In terms of the allegations. Again, maybe they're true and maybe they're false. But there is enough "there there" to be cautious, at the very least, particularly in combination with the observed pathological lying. Allegations from 2013-2015; then allegations from 2021. Did anything else happen in between? After? And, if there is a pathology to this, will anything else happen if he's elected Senator? Pathological people don't just "stop." You add what looks like compulsive cheating on top of that. . .well. . . A final note. Platner has repeatedly said: "Nothing else will come out" and then something comes out. So, that's a real reason for caution. Also: Platner's campaign manager threatened his previous campaign manager with a smear campaign. "If you tell the truth, I will destroy you," essentially. That is a sign of tremendously bad character. It's also a sign that warrants even more caution: Has anyone else been threatened into silence? I understand the consequentialist arguments re: Platner vs. Collins in a binary race re: the judiciary. But don't be naïve. Even if you hand-wave away the alleged violence against women (which, gross), there's still all the other lying. Don't ever assume a demonstrated liar is *now* telling the truth because he tells you so. He still had the KIK profile 10 days ago. That behavior is less problematic than the abuse allegation, but it's still an objective demonstration of dishonesty and an arguable demonstration of compulsive behavior (sexting multiple women while married). If you naïvely tie yourself to a person like that, they will bring you down with them. And, please, don't change your definitions of what constitutes violence or harm against women based on a man with this profile. That's harmful in and of itself. But, worse, what if more comes out? What if he does something while he is a Senator? How's that going to look for you? How will it look for the Democratic party?

I don't understand why you have to lie about this. Holding a woman captive during a fight to the point she falls asleep is not something to glaze over. Maybe he has PTSD, maybe he has learned from his mistakes. I don't know. But he's an imperfect candidate, and we'd do better to acknowledge that rather than claiming it's all manufactured.

And here it is where in The Light in the Darkness: Director's Cut you can go watch the entire "Le Roman de Renard" at the cinema.

Silent gen: we ate dirt sandwiches during the great depression Boomers: my dad died in ww2 and I got drafted to fight in Vietnam Gen X: leaded fuel made us psychotic and we started smoking at 9 years old Millenials: my parents are divorced and im bartender with a PhD Gen Z:

Genuinely disgusted to hear about a case where an Australian woman stole donations that were supposed to be for a Palestinian cancer victim in Gaza. Shameful.

Will Europe Save Hamas in Gaza? I recently met with a high-ranking European official from a country deeply involved in the Israel and Palestine file to discuss Gaza’s future and immediate options for relieving civilians trapped under Hamas’s grip. I presented a simple proposal: create safe zones across the "Yellow Line" into the Israel‑controlled green zone and support new, organized, secure, Hamas‑free communities where Gazans could finally begin rebuilding their lives. Whether the issue is humane living conditions, deradicalization, education, healthcare, or shielding civilians from both Hamas or Israeli strikes, the green zone is the only place where meaningful action is possible. Instead of engaging, the official launched into a long monologue about their country’s contributions to the Palestinian Authority, UNRWA, and other institutions, all while insisting on their own “humility” as a faraway European nation. Then came the truly alarming part: a casual normalization of Hamas. The official proudly described how easy it had been to work with Hamas before October 7, praising the group for providing “excellent security” and being “easier to work with than others.” What they called pragmatism was, in reality, a twenty‑year pattern of enabling a violent terrorist organization responsible for immense civilian suffering. When I explained that any Hamas‑free zones would require vetting at the Yellow Line to prevent weapons or operatives from entering, the official reacted with shock. “This vetting would violate international law,” they repeated, insisting that their country could not fund projects with any checks on who enters. I noted the absurdity: I had undergone extensive vetting just to enter their country, and even this building, yet they believed Hamas fighters should be able to walk into new civilian safe zones unimpeded. Their only response was vague appeals to “international law,” which, in their interpretation, seems to require allowing terrorists to hide among civilians. The meeting ended on an even more surreal note. When the official asked what would happen to Hamas fighters left in the red zone, I said I didn’t care; they could fight the Israeli military on their own all they wanted once they no longer held two million civilians hostage. The official lamented that “this isn’t the old American West” and expressed concern for what would happen to Hamas without human shields. Disgust doesn’t begin to describe my feelings and reactions. I left convinced of something long suspected: Hamas’s twenty‑year rule was sustained not only by its own brutality but by an ecosystem of NGOs, donor nations, Western European governments, journalists, academics, activists, lawyers, and even self‑styled human‑rights defenders who normalized Hamas, treated it as a legitimate authority, or tolerated its abuses because their hostility toward Israel outweighed their concern for Gazans.

I love her for this

Platner defenders will say like 10 false things about domestic violence & if you respond with, "As someone who has experienced domestic violence. . ." they're like: "This isn't about YOU, you psycho. Why are you so OBSESSED with him?" Same thing with the Nazi tattoo.

These are all real replies I've gotten on this site in the past week from guys who really really 𝙍𝑬𝘼𝑳𝙇𝒀 want to define abuse in a way that 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮'𝙫𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚. Everyone needs to be better educated about emotional, psychological and physical abuse in relationships. 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗲. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗢𝗣 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗽.

Black Candidate have to be perfect. While white candidates just have to white.

“I don’t want a state made up of skeletons or graves,” says Ahmed Fouad When ideology is allowed to supersede the sanctity of human life, the result is a “martyrdom culture” that perversely celebrates death and destruction . The Palestinian should not keep burying people for a lost cause. It should be about building a society where Palestinians can live, prosper, and be free.

Quite a night in Brooklyn …

This is one of my favorite songs. youtube.com/watch?v=TZOdKdxP…

Mary Peltola is everything to me.