People wood rather hear the dumb version of the argument because that (1) lets them make dunks, which is what they want to be doing, and (2) lets them keep the cartoon villains in their heads consistent. Doing otherwise would ruin the game (as does noting it's a game), which is often the real sin.

It’s maddening how many people are unwilling or unable to engage with these arguments outside of vibe-based posturing - as if saying “grocery prices don’t appear to be directly driving political shifts” is a statement of values rather than a factual statement about how the world works

This is an EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FACT, because a substantial share of our political discourse focuses around the idea that refusing 2.9% grocery price inflation to 2% grocery price inflation is the difference between political success and failure, and it really seems like that’s incredibly wrong

This is insane. It’s not some kind of character test for you. The point is that most people, poor and otherwise, aren’t tracking their personal finances precisely - this is well-known, extremely established fact - and as a result are unable to reliably notice very small aggregate changes in price.

This is why I’m so fixated on the economy-and-inflation stuff. Rather than admit we misdiagnosed the problem, we keep vaguely acknowledging that something seems off, waiting a few months, and rediagnosing ourselves with it, because we really really want that to be the disease and not something new.

Allow me to suggest that lying to yourself about what actually happened - the working class did great 2021-24 - is a great way to keep walking into the same traps!!

“We should keep doing the thing that doesn’t work, because accurately describing the problem feels uncomfortable”

Idk ”whether it’s true or not” feels like an extremely vital question to answer if AOC has any interest in her presidency avoiding the exact same fate as Biden’s

I’m sorry I also wish the world was simple and all our policies automatically made us popular. It really, really does not seem like this is the case. We can self-delude and continue to nobly get our clocks cleaned by fascists, or we can try to understand what is happening so we can fight back

People mentally cannot accept or grapple with a world where progressive economic policies do not magically make everyone love you

Progressives: “Sure, we were completely wrong that improving the station of working-class people would result in electoral gains, but that’s just because, on a deeper level, we were correct that everyone is furious about wealth inequality” America: *elects a billionaire backed by Elon Musk*

Even if that's true, it still doesn't explain why anyone would support someone who is as @charlesgaba.com describes.

All of which raises the question, why is anyone supporting this guy?

P.S. As an aside, given that we literally have Secret Police rounding people up, throwing them into concentration camps & executing them right now, I’m not sure it’d send the best message for Democrats to nominate a guy who had a Nazi SS insignia on his chest for decades until last fall. #JustSaying

Anyway, I held off on actually adding @janetmillsforme.bsky.social to my U.S. Senate fundraising page for several months, but eventually decided to go ahead and do so. If Platner *does* win the primary I'll decide how to deal with it then. Donate to Mills today. secure.actblue.com/donate/senat...

His immediate response was to go on a podcast and make snarky jokes about "not being a secret Nazi." It was only the NEXT day, AFTER the backlash that he issued a (sort of) apology & arranged to have it altered.

Not to mention that HIS OWN CAMPAIGN FINANCE DIRECTOR RESIGNED BECAUSE SHE SAID HE WAS LYING ABOUT NOT KNOWING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TATTOO.

AT NO POINT DURING THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW does he ever actually apologize for getting or keeping it for 18 years. AT NO POINT does he say "I was horrified to discover that it was the SS death camp guard insignia, and immediately went to the nearest tattoo parlor to have it removed."

...when he supposedly DID finally find out, was his immediate response to apologize profusely and IMMEDIATELY make arrangements to have it altered/removed? No. Watch the entire segment about the tattoo (starts around 19 min in, lasts around 8 minutes). www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMnc...

But even if I accepted EVERYTHING in Platner's story at face value--that he didn't know at the time, that he didn't know for the next 18 years, that he didn't know right up until shortly before he talked about it on the podcast last fall... Even if I accepted ALL of that...

"Well I've seen a lot of these and I never noticed the insignia either!" If you saw a giant version of that SPECIFIC insignia ON YOUR OWN CHEST EVERY MORNING when you looked in the mirror, I'm pretty sure that at some point over 18 years it would start to dawn on you that it MIGHT be problematic.

And of course there's the most famous pop culture use of it: The Mitchell & Webb "Are we the baddies?" skit. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToKc...

Oh yeah...here's a Wolfenstein mod. It's literally called "Castle Totenkopf" and uses THE EXACT SAME FUCKING INSIGNIA. wl6.fandom.com/wiki/Castle_...

"Oberstgruppenführer Wilhelm “Deathshead” (Totenkopf) Strasse was a leading member of the German Armed Forces, a gifted researcher and doctor who heads the SS Special Projects Division." That’s right…HIS NICKNAME IS LITERALLY “Deathshead (Totenkopf)” wolfenstein.fandom.com/wiki/Wilhelm...

Maybe he's more of a gamer dudebro type? From the 2014 first-person shooter “Wolfenstein” and its follow-up, “Return to Castle Wolfenstein”

Perhaps Platner has some Nazi kink fetish thing going on? Good thing there was Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS.

The 1960’s Nazi Germany POW sitcom “Hogan’s Heroes”

The 2004 fantasy horror superhero film “Hellboy”

Quentin Tarintino’s2009 satirical war action drama film “Inglorious Basterds.”

The 2012 sci-fi comedy action Moon Nazi film “Iron Sky.”

The 2014 Norwegian satiric horror film “Dead Snow 2”

Not a fan of serious drama? OK, how about action/adventure, sci-fi, horror and parody films involving Nazis? 1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Are some of those too obscure for you? How about Steven Spielberg’s 1993 Holocaust drama masterpiece “Schinder’s List?"

The 2020 historical drama “Persian Lessons”

The 2008 Holocaust historical drama “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” (terribly inaccurate in other ways...but not in its depiction of Nazi insignia)

The 2021 World War II thriller “Hell Hath No Fury.”

Unless you've never seen a single movie or TV show about Nazis, World War II or the Holocaust, you've seen the Totenkopf numerous times. For instance... The 2023 Netflix series “Blood & Gold.”

It's the Totenkopf insignia used by the 3rd SS Panzer Division of the Waffen-SS, the Luftwaffe’s 54th Bomber Wing Kampfgeschwader 54, & the SS-Totenkopfverbände, or “Death’s Head Units” of the Schutzstaffel (SS). The onese responsible for administering Nazi concentration & extermination camps. 2/

Since Tattoo Boy is in the news again, a reminder that the Nazi tattoo wasn't just a "Jolly Roger" pirate flag or some obscure symbol as Platner breezily shrugged it off. It wasn't the icon used for toxic/poisonous chemicals. It wasn't the logo of Yale University's "Scull & Bones" society. 1/

and I doubt he has the experience to use the money correctly. I bet he's just burning that money like Abu is.

So far his supporters are pointing to him outraising Mills. a.) I'm willing to bet most of that money is from out of state, similar to Kat Abu. b.) Ask Harris whether cash advantage equals votes.

All this talk about Platner is useful only in that it exposes people who would be OK w a Nazi in the Senate if it screwed over Democrats, because I have a hard time believing he’s within 25 points of Mills.

I don’t know Charlize Theron’s politics, but she gives back to SA HIV/AIDS charities, whereas Elon cut PEPFAR.

when you know how to win elections

I think that we should unite behind a popular front to defeat fascism rather than treating a coalition as a hostage negotiation (also the reality is that most swing voters are incoherent weirdos who are persuaded by random, often heterodox policies and vibes)

Why the hell do they keep doing this? DR. Bohon has EARNED here title, dammit. Do they just HAVE to denigrate expertise— in a woman’s brain? Tell you what— if my own daughter ever earned a PhD, I’d be calling her Doctor every damn chance I got.

💙💙💙💙💙💙❤️ The Obamas

also the sad reality is while ICE's tactics are polling amazingly poorly that has not lead to an upswing in support for illegal immigrants, so "we take this seriously, and we'll do it the right way" remains what voters want to hear, and a system that doesn't ignore the law is better

Yeah this also isn't exactly what it sounds like. The vast majority of deportations done under Clinton and Obama were catching people at the border. It wasn't storming into churches and deporting grandma's who have been here for 30 years with no record.

Absolutely waiting for the oughtposting meltdown on this one.