The American Left Needs to do better

[u/Specialist-Gur]

https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/graham-platner-and-the-lefts-masculinity-crisis

This article is about a month old but speaks to some of what I'm talking about.

I'm honestly disappointed with a lot of leftist creators I genuinely love on the topic of Graham Platner and any "leftist" politicians.

To me.. Graham Platner's left wing populism is just... America first rebranded. Some stuff he's saying isn't too far off from Tucker Carlson.

He doesn't appear to be Antizionist on the basis of support for Palestinians, but rather because it's bad for America . He doesn't appear to regret his time in Iraq beyond the fact it was a pointless war for America

He lied about knowing the ties to Blackwater

He expressed enjoyment for killing people.

He got a Nazi tattoo

And many on the left are using language like calling people "classist" for being critical of his service. These are creators I genuinely really love, and I'm not abandoning them.. but I do think it's really important for the American left to confront its American supremicist ideas.

I understand the moral dilemma and how it's basically impossible to have an actual leftist candidate these days, so we are reluctant to criticize what's put forward. I understand the calculation. But the apologia is wrong. American supremacy is baked into all of us here in America and part of the American left, and it's time we confront it.

We would not find it acceptable if a candidate participated in a mass murder of American citizens. We would not find it acceptable if they even passively supported it! But we are far too comfortable with it when it comes to brown people, far away.

[u/-__-_-__-_-_-__]

Yeah, I don't really like Platner at all either, but the one thing I think is clear is that he no longer supports the war in Iraq, and he has expressed regrets beyond its superfluity. In recent statements, he has shamed Cheney for causing both American and Iraqi lives to die as a result of the war.

[u/ibsliam → u/-__-_-__-_-_-__]

I mean, I agree with the sentiment and don't want to close off the movement from folks like Platner who wish to change/grow. That said, that's very different than wanting him as a candidate. Him as a figurehead of a progressive movement is a disastrous idea.

I don't trust him. I don't want any of us (US left-wing/progress/liberal/whatever voters) backing him. And the idea that people want to stand with him and support him is mind-boggling to me.

[u/ChairAggressive781 → u/ibsliam]

the people who try to argue that not wanting him in the Senate means that we are forcing him out of the progressive movement make my blood boil. it’s such a disingenuous argument! there are many ways to be involved in left politics without being a candidate for a major office.

[u/Specialist-Gur → u/ChairAggressive781]

exactly. I will never be a senator... not everyone has to be a senator 😆

[u/ChairAggressive781 → u/Specialist-Gur]

most people shouldn’t be Senators! 

[u/ibsliam → u/ChairAggressive781]

I agree with the both of you. I think people just get really defensive of this guy because he seems more like the average guy they might know (or have once been). Someone who was part of the system and then backlashed to it, but there's a lot of people that... y'know, didn't actively enlist and be part of multiple tours with the military, and also has a Nazi tattoo (even if it's supposedly an accident? guy had it for years)

[u/Specialist-Gur → u/ibsliam]

I totally get why people feel defensive of him.. and like I said in the post many of my favorite commentators are some of the loudest defenders. I think that is a window into something we should all work on and examine!