Violet_Crumble
Violet_Crumble's JournalThe Platner Trap
By David French
I don’t want politicians to be “authentic.” I want them to be decent. I want them to be honest. I want them to be competent. And if they fail those tests, they don’t redeem themselves by opposing Donald Trump.
If you’re a conservative watching Democrats talk themselves into supporting Graham Platner, the Maine Democrat who until recently wore what sure looked like a Totenkopf tattoo (he covered it up after it became a political embarrassment) is to experience déjà vu. To a lesser but still familiar degree, I’m seeing Democrats engage in the same process of absurd accommodation and justification that Republicans use to excuse their deep love for Trump.
Let’s talk about that tattoo first, no matter how sick you are of hearing about it. For those who are not familiar with the Totenkopf, it’s the death’s head insignia of the SS-Totenkopfverbande, one of the three key branches of Hitler’s Waffen-SS, the armed backbone of the Nazi regime. And the SS-Totenkopfverbande arguably represented the worst of the SS. Among other duties, they were concentration camp guards, the people who were responsible for order in the industrial killing machines of Nazi Germany.
*snip*
But still, you might think, if push comes to shove, isn’t it necessary to support the lesser evil? There are two problems with this argument, however, one that’s obvious and the other that’s more subtle and insidious.
First, the obvious problem — the lesser evil is still evil. You’re still compromising your standards. You’re still empowering someone you’d never ordinarily support. If a person with an identical profile applied to be your manager at work, would you be comfortable hiring him?
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/10/opinion/graham-platner-democrats-senate-maine.html?unlocked_article_code=1.hVA.6T_g.TxxkfMLt-N3d&smid=nytcore-android-share
I'm guessing by what I've read that some at DU agree with this. I do see some inconsistency in this logic.
(Jewish Group) Australian Royal Commission into Antisemitism
I'm not sure if anyone in the US has heard of it, but this is a result of the Bondi Massacre. Royal Commission's are slow-moving things, and the report won't be issued till late this year, but evidence has been happening over the past few days and some of it is heartbreaking. Two things from today have struck hard. The first is the fucker who was clearly trying to intimidate the Commission and was rightly arrested for it.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-06/swastika-shirt-antisemitism-social-cohesion-royal-commission/106646264
The second was the high school teacher who spoke of Year 10 students being rude to an elderly Jewish man who'd come to the school to talk to the kids about antisemitism and ended up being accused of being responsible for what was happening in Gaza. When the teacher complained about it to the school, she was told she was being too emotional.
If anyone wants to watch the Royal Commission, there's a livestream. With the time difference there might not be anything happening when American's are awake, but just in case....
https://asc.royalcommission.gov.au/
Man arrested by police after wearing swastika shirt outside antisemitism royal commission
A man has been arrested after wearing a T-shirt with a swastika on it while standing outside the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion in Sydney.
Police approached the man about 11am after he was seen loitering near the venue wearing the white shirt emblazoned with a blue swastika with a Star of David inside.
It also had the slogan: "Antisemitism. Proud to be accused. Speak up!"
Police initially issued the 68-year-old man with a move-on order after patrolling officers saw him in "clothing which allegedly displayed an offensive slogan on the front".
About 2:45pm, the man attended Manly Police Station where he was arrested by officers.
The man remains in custody while inquiries continue.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-06/swastika-shirt-antisemitism-social-cohesion-royal-commission/106646264
Revolting. There's children and traumatised people who are giving evidence at the Royal Commission who would have been exposed to that. I hope they throw the book at the dickhead.
My absolute favourite bit of an album. Husker Du, Warehouse: Songs and Stories
More specifically it's side 4. I've still got the LP that I bought when it was first released many years ago and until I relistened to it today, I would have awarded best album (or section of) to listen to all the way through to The Bends by Radiohead. But side 4 of this album is total perfection and in my very biased and ageing opinion, beats the absolute crap out of anything being released nowadays. Hüsker Dü (It may have also been The Replacements or maybe both at the same time) was the first band I discovered on my own after moving on from the influence of a very musically snobby boyfriend who introduced me to early REM, the Pixies, The Triffids and Echo & the Bunnymen. They changed the way I listened to music and what I listened to, and I listened to New Day Rising when I was in labour having my daughter. I'll always love Hüsker Dü and when I die I'm insisting 'Never Talking To You Again' be played at my funeral.
First, for anyone who had the misfortune to never come across Hüsker Dü. Totally agree with Dave Grohl describing them as Black Flag meets The Byrds.
Here's side 4 of Warehouse. Mainly just audio but it's so worth listening to!
Turn it Around
She's a Woman (And Now He is a Man)
&list=RDCvNRPHaxdRc&start_radio=1
Up In The Air (my absolute favourite!)
&list=RD6-SA0UySC7A&start_radio=1
You Can Live At Home
Queensland hate speech laws backfiring
I posted this in a thread in GD and suspect it will get lost in a thread that hasn't got any substantive discussion going on. It's a really good example of what happens when terms and phrases are criminalised.
Lest we forget
Thinking of my great granddad and my grandfather today, who both were veterans of respectively The Great War and WWII
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anzac_Day
I'm in Canberra, but I never wake up early enough to go to the Dawn Service at the War Memorial. I just experienced the very low flyover, being only a few kilometres from where all the official stuff is happening this morning. Scared the shit out of my tiny dogs...
Two Strong Hearts - John Farnham
I'm dedicating this to the Queensland Government and their attempts to ban what people can say. Thanks to them this song has come.oit of retirement.
We all need a Fuckit Bucket
Saw this on Threads this morning. Even though I hate Bunnings and try to avoid shopping there, this is very good.
Sorry. Would have posted this in the Lounge, but it is political, so here it is.
Two gunmen open fire at Bondi Chanukkah event, 10 confirmed dead in mass shooting
Source: news.com.au
A gunman has been shot dead and another is being treated after opening fire on Bondi Beach, killing 10 people in what is believed to be a targeted attack on a Jewish event.
It is understood a Chanukkah event was the target of the attack, which police sources believe had been planned for months.
One gunman is understood to have been shot dead and another has been shot and is custody while being worked on by emergency services.
NewsWire understands 10 people have been confirmed dead, including children and a police officer.
Read more: https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/nsw-police-are-urging-people-to-avoid-bondi-beach/news-story/507c72e792348a04730a3157e69e5cec
Revealed: Israeli military's own data indicates civilian death rate of 83% in Gaza war
Figures from a classified Israeli military intelligence database indicate five out of six Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza have been civilians, an extreme rate of slaughter rarely matched in recent decades of warfare.
As of May, 19 months into the war, Israeli intelligence officials listed 8,900 named fighters from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as dead or “probably dead”, a joint investigation by the Guardian, the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call has found.
At that time 53,000 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli attacks, according to health authorities in Gaza, a toll that included combatants and civilians. Fighters named in the Israeli military intelligence database accounted for just 17% of the total, which indicates that 83% of the dead were civilians.
That apparent ratio of civilians to combatants among the dead is extremely high for modern warfare, even compared with conflicts notorious for indiscriminate killing, including the Syrian and Sudanese civil wars.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2025/aug/21/revealed-israeli-militarys-own-data-indicates-civilian-death-rate-of-83-in-gaza-war
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