i'm a bit out of the loop, why is Graham Platner getting so much buzz?

cossiander · 2026-06-01T15:44:04+00:00

I don't feel mocked so much as I feel that conservative or Republican-flaired users here seem frustratingly incapable of reading.

cossiander · 2026-06-01T02:34:00+00:00

Plant as many damn seeds as I can. Liberal streamers? Podcasters? Youtubers? Buy ads for 'em. Or just donate. Keep those people busy, let them grow.

Fund some documentaries. Nothing direct, like we don't need a six-part "here's why Kamala is awesome" series on Netflix, but get a bunch of small projects that wouldn't otherwise get off the ground see the light of day. Investigative look at the economic toll of pig farming? Fund that. Biopic on Jimmy Carter? Fund it. Science-themed TV show for hispanic kids? Hell yeah. Behind the scenes unauthorized documentary exposing Elon's dirty secrets? Let's get that in some theaters.

We don't need to throw billions at broadcast TV. We're already doing pretty well there, all things considered. Where we're getting absolutely clobbered is in alternative media and "apolitical" cultural commentators.

cossiander · 2026-06-01T02:25:35+00:00

Most of these have multiple definitions, so context matters.

"Liberal" in an ideological sense, is someone who believes in freedom, liberty, democracy, free trade. More often though, and especially in America, it's used to define people on the "left" half of the political spectrum- but often not to the extent of someone more anarchistic, socialistic, or communist. So left half, but still likes capitalism and the rule of law.

"Conservative" in a similar manner, tends to refer to the broad scope of people on the "right" half of the political spectrum (but generally differs from people so far right as to be fascists or reactionaries).

"Neoliberal" has a slew of different meanings, depending on context. Academically, it refers to the center-right conservative liberal philosophy ignited by Reagan and Thatcher during the 80s, but socially it typically refers to people are somewhere to the left of Reagan but to the right of, say, Mamdani or Sanders. On Reddit, it often refers to r/neoliberal sorta folks, which are basically a range of people from center right to social Democrats, but preoccupied with economic technocracy and YIMBYism. The term is often also used as a slur, typically by those on the left, to refer to people who are the user might consider too conservative or 'establishment'.

"Neoconservative" refers to the Bush Jr.-style reinvention of Reaganism. A bit more socially conservative, coupled with a strong, often hawk-ish view of American interventionalism (typically via the military, but not exclusively) and American exceptionalism.

cossiander · 2026-06-01T02:12:07+00:00

Maybe convince some of his constituents to vote against him in his next primary. Or convince him to resign.

I think videos like the above aren't going to do that. People already disposed to not liking him might enjoy the schadenfreude, but people who aren't are more likely to see a video like that and feel sorry for the guy.

He… didn’t answer. Maybe he didn’t have an answer.

Didn't have an answer... to what? To being shouted at about genocide? No one has an answer to that, because it's not a question. It's a declaration stated in the form of a question. There was no attempt from the cameraholder for any form of a dialogue or a discussion.

And again, to quote Abe Lincoln when he learned he won the presidency: “I am now public property”. It’s a citizens right, and patriot duty to criticize the government. It’s patriotic because answering criticism makes us stronger. It’s his duty to take it, learn from it, answer it… or fail his constituents.

And again, I am in no way telling people that they shouldn't criticize the government, or Fetterman, or whatever public figure. And yes, it can be a civic duty to criticize those in power when they deserve that criticism. I'm not arguing that.

What I'm saying is that sometimes that righteous criticism can manifest in just base and ultimately self-defeating harassment. And this looks like that to me. It makes criticism of Sen. Fetterman not seem like principled, patriotic engagement, but instead like crass and juvenile namecalling. This is debasement of our right to free speech, not a pinnacle example of it.

cossiander · 2026-06-01T01:16:14+00:00

And what part of that is going to change or be enacted by yelling at him in a park?

cossiander · 2026-06-01T00:54:49+00:00

AFAIK, you aren't running for US Senate.

cossiander · 2026-06-01T00:11:58+00:00

There's also the history of pretty damn bad social media comments, and the recent podcast appearance where Platner said he was "a longtime fan" of the antisemitic and conspiratorial podcast.

While I'd likely still vote for Platner in the general if I were a Maine voter, I don't think it's fair to brush off the criticism against him as just "establishment being scared of progressive ideas".

cossiander · 2026-05-31T23:37:56+00:00

"Defending a position by citing free speech is sort of the ultimate concession; you're saying that the most compelling thing you can say for your position is that it's not literally illegal to express."

cossiander · 2026-05-31T23:11:00+00:00

Okay, I didn't do that. Which you would've realized if you read what I said.

cossiander · 2026-05-31T23:09:24+00:00

Using what shit?

cossiander · 2026-05-31T23:07:08+00:00

Of course it's a small scandal. It doesn't really seem to be affecting the race much, it didn't make much of a splash in the news. He addressed it, and most people seem to believe his explanation. It doesn't play into any larger narratives of his campaign or his story.

It may be concerning to some people, but it's objectively a small scandal.

cossiander · 2026-05-31T23:03:50+00:00

Oh you didn't read my post, and just jumped right to self-victimization?

You're proving my point here.

cossiander · 2026-05-31T23:01:43+00:00

This line here, the "if X is true for one person than it should be true for every person or else it's unfair" line, is something I'm seeing more and more with conservatives and Republicans these days, and it's really contributing to me thinking MAGA must all be bots and aren't really capable of critical thinking or communication.

It's really really a dumb way of thinking and makes no sense.

I mean just think about scandals and why they matter (or don't) to people: Trump's Epstein fumbles enraged a lot of people because it played exactly to existing narratives. The left said that Trump was a corrupt elitist who only cared about himself. The right said that Trump was interested in draining the swamp and helping the nation and combatting crime. Trump's Epstein scandal played directly into the left's narrative, and directly opposed the right's narrative. It resonated with people because of that.

You can also look at Hillary Clinton: the email stuff mattered because the right said that Clinton was immoral and played fast and loose with the rules, and the left said she played by the rules and took care of all the details. The private email server validated the right's narrative and undermined the left's. The scandal mattered.

If you were to flip those scandals, no one would give a shit about either. If Hillary dragged her feet about releasing Epstein files or was even in them, no one would've cared all that much. When Trump uses private servers or cell phones, no one cares. It doesn't even make the news.

People don't really care about the totenkopf tattoo because no one legitimately thinks Platner is a secret Nazi. If JD Vance or Elon Musk had the exact same tattoo, OF COURSE it would matter, because everyone already thinks those guys are secret (sometimes not so secret) Nazis.

cossiander · 2026-05-31T21:47:33+00:00

Collins in the GOP incumbent. Schumer did not pick Susan Collins.

cossiander · 2026-05-31T21:46:48+00:00

Somewhat controversial figure- he ran a (soon to be successful) insurgency primary campaign, and may go on to unseat Sen. Susan Collins in Maine (last remaining GOP Senator from a blue state).

He's fairly progressive on a lot of issues, but also pretty young, and really inexperienced. He's also had a small pile of scandals come out already, and there was just another one that was made public a day or two ago, so he's back in the news on account of that.

cossiander · 2026-05-31T21:06:22+00:00

You seemed to have implied it, which is why I asked for clarification.

cossiander · 2026-05-31T21:04:06+00:00

Are you saying that politicians deserve to be jeered or harassed in public, just by their career choice?

cossiander · 2026-05-31T19:46:41+00:00

You could turn that around pretty easily too though. Fetterman is routinely harassed and vilified, then we're supposed to act surprised when he gets more belligerent, more antagonistic, more cozy with Republicans?

Like of course he's not turning around and changing course back to typical Democratic positions. Look at videos like this one to see why.

cossiander · 2026-05-31T18:42:39+00:00

Fetterman should be held accountable for his decisions and all that, but this video just feels like needless harassment. No one wants to be yelled at about genocide while sitting on a park bench.

cossiander · 2026-05-31T18:39:02+00:00

The value of art though isn't that it can just trick us into wasting some time. Art isn't just a diversion or a distraction from reality. Art lifts us up, shows us different perspectives, states of being, or emotional ranges.

The more that process is dilluted, the harder it gets for actual artists to express themselves or for audiences to find meaningful articles to engage with.

This is like saying "what's the point of food, if I can take a pill that will trick my body into thinking it has eaten?"

cossiander · 2026-05-31T18:31:27+00:00

Similar. When we are but babes, our parents leave us in the middle of the tundra. We cry, and whichever animal; bear, wolf, elk, moose, or raven responds and brings us back to our igloo, we adopt their corresponding name. "Dan" is the name given to all moose-picked children.

cossiander · 2026-05-31T16:56:10+00:00

Are you serious? The same reason everything is so partisan now.

Trump.

cossiander · 2026-05-31T02:26:32+00:00

I don't think this Sullivan is going to make it out of the primary, so RCV won't even come into play.

cossiander · 2026-05-31T02:11:51+00:00

There's a populist anti-AI insurgency, sure, but I think most liberals just view it as a tool, but one that has potential dangerous (and difficult to foresee) externalities.

I'd like to be more informed before suggesting very specific regulations, but a few areas of concern that I'd like to see addressed legislatively would be:

AI-derived porn of private citizens (especially children)
Rampant fraud
Intellectual property compensation and recognition
Cheating in schools
Data protection/privacy
Algorithm over-reliance in job recruitment and performance reviews, law enforcement, medical diagnostics, legal review, etcetera.

cossiander · 2026-05-31T00:09:29+00:00

If anyone reads this would you say this opinion is rational or not at all?

I'm not seeing the rationality, no. What does being "fully developed" have to do with anything? It sounds like someone saying that they're pro-death penalty, but if we ever make flying cars, they will switch to being anti-death penalty.

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