Re: Platner and the intellectual Twister and Yoga to rehabilitate him...

[QueerDuck]

36. Thank you! For me, it's the Nazi tattoo thing that I can't get over... and here's why.

For some reason, I've always had a hard time trusting anyone who claims to "not know" what a Totenkopf is.

I also find it improbable that in the eighteen years they had a tattoo of a Nazi symbol, they never figured it out. It's not just a drunken choice of "cool skull and crossbones dude" tattoo, I'll take THAT one! Instead, it's a specific historical emblem worn by concentration camp guards.

In fairness... and this is FULL EXTENT of the lenience I'm willing to extend to Platner... perhaps in a drunken moment he looked around the walls of the tattoo shop or a three-ring binder of designs displayed plastic page protectors... and blindly chose that particular one from "skull and crossbones" collection.

Perhaps he really didn't know its meaning at the time. But in the subsequent eighteen years (EIGHTEEN YEARS!) that passed before he FINALLY had it covered (and only when it was politically expedient) it seems unlikely. He was a political activist and organizer during some of those years, so, the argument that a politically active person wouldn't have encountered the meaning of a Totenkopf in nearly two decades is statistically very thin. It's hard for me to accept that he had "no idea" what it meant and that nobody ever bothered to question him or tell him.

Even though Platner maintained he didn't know the symbol's meaning, reports from CNN surfaced alleged past Reddit comments (now deleted) and witness claims suggesting he was aware of the Totenkopf connection years earlier. His former political director and some past acquaintances have claimed he "knows damn well" what the symbol meant years ago, contradicting his claim of ignorance.

Personally, I find it difficult to completely trust his judgement. I subscribe to the philosophy of Maya Angelou who gives the advice that "when people show you who they are, believe them." His insults and other "jokes" about: women, sexual assault victims, LGBTQ, LEO's, rural-Americans being dumb, the "cheap" tipping habits of AA's, and using the R-word as recently as last month cannot be ignored. I know that we're all just human and imperfect, but these things indicate a pattern of poor judgement and lack of impulse control that bother me.

If he ends up being our nominee, I'll hope and pray that he wins... as I've said in the past: the "worst Democrat" is always preferable to any Republican. But, honestly, I'm just tired of being disappointed. I'm afraid that the road ahead will be filled with heartbreak and regret.