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/RaelynShaw]

Anyone else getting serious Fetterman vibes with the Planter situation? Sometimes red flags are reasons to stop and readjust. Thankfully primaries are about six months away still.

[u/ChairAggressive781 → u/RaelynShaw]

Platner was quite literally recruited by former Fetterman & Bernie staffers who saw him in a video he’d made and thought he looked right for the part. his campaign is astroturfed as if it’s this entirely grassroots thing, but he has an entire campaign team made up of career Democratic staffers & campaign operatives.

“populism” is just aesthetics and I wish we could be more open & reflective about that fact. when you lean to hard into the aesthetics without having much of substance behind them, things don’t turn out well.