My interest is in not waiting any longer. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.

I was there. Nevertheless, there are fairly strong signals that something isn’t connecting and that more of the same won’t cut it.

Fully agreed. So to narrow it down: exactly what change do you see voters demanding that led them to elect LePage twice in Maine, and Trump twice nationally? Are they purely evil and ignorant — or is there a legitimate complaint or concern that wonky Democrats like me have been failing to satisfy?

Also, support for Congressional Democrats is at historic lows — far lower than support for Trump. Voters want change and have proven several times recently that they’re perfectly willing to vote for someone they disapprove of to get it.

Bye. I’ll just say I was interviewed a lot in 7 terms in the legislature. Not once was I able to convey all my reasoning and have it fully reported. Media works on sound bites, not complexity.

How long was the answer they quoted? I’ve misplaced that interview sorry

I see. And they all said they enlisted because they felt it was 100% a just cause? If so talk to some others.

I also protested. And I thought about enlisting. For a young man who sees his classmates going to fight and maybe die for a cause the nation’s democratically elected leaders have chosen for us, it is not an unreasonable line of thinking. Maybe even heroic. Maybe you should talk to a few veterans.

Amen Andy, my WWII grandfather whose brothers fought and died in the Bulge would have a thing or two to say. I say this as a former Democratic House
Majority Leader: some leading Democrats are failing to grasp reality and failing to respect our veterans.

Yep. Or they didn’t, got drafted and then got spit on. I know
several of them. They were victims twice: good kids treated as cannon fodder, then rejected back home based on an impossible double standard. This seems to be what some are doing to Platner.

@kateinmaine.bsky.social thank you. This is the pain I feel at @asfried.bsky.social’s remarks. My beloved grandfather died of PTSD consequences before I graduated HS. He too was a decorated WWII veteran. His platoon lost 2/3 of its men fighting Nazis in the Bulge. *And* he was an anti-war leftist.

Once again Amy, you’re cherry picking. I think at this point we all understand that you’re not seeking to understand.

I also love it that he protested Bush. Good on him!

Maybe you should ask him. He was young. Maybe he decided if his country was sending its young people to war, he should go too. I was antiwar and considered that myself, but was a bit too old and have a club foot.

What’s your point? He enlisted and fought well. He studied war. That’s what soldiers do. Are you suggesting we should blame them for later renouncing violence — despite the military industrial complex putting its all into making them lethal and loyal, and despite their courage in repudiating it?

Most elected Democrats voted to go to war after 9/11. It was 100% the wrong vote. Platner was a kid then and he trusted the grownups. He was trained to be lethal. Once a Marine, as the saying goes... Yet now, he’s the secular embodiment of this song. I give him immense credit for that transition.

Maybe go ask him his thoughts about this. I’m pretty sure you’ll find he’s *more* anti war than anyone else running — and for very hard earned reasons. I also invite you to talk to other anti-war veterans about their postwar evolution and thoughts on this one comment of the thousands Platner made.

Have you ever run for office successfully in a swing district? If so, how did it go?

The problem is not white, working-class men who feel displaced. The problem is not the red hats.

The problem is the looting and leeching of the whole working class by billionaires like Trump.

Let’s say it. Then repeat it. Then say it again. (2/2)

Source: @nytimes.com