The featured image is of a Totenkopf, a symbol used by the Waffen-SS during World War II. It’s a subject of discussion because Maine senate candidate Graham Platner has admitted to having this tattooed on his chest before obscuring it with another tat.

Platner has told a variety of stories since his death’s head tattoo made the news; none of which make him look like someone who has the judgment to be a United States senator. And that is why the Nazi Tattoo Guy DBA Graham Platner is malaka of the week.

Here’s Platner’s story:

“Graham Platner, a progressive populist running for the U.S. Senate in Maine, is facing a crisis over a tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol called a “Totenkopf.” Platner claims he got it when he was drunk and on a period of military leave many years ago, and that he didn’t know he’d gotten inked with a tattoo that resembles a Nazi symbol until he recently “started hearing from reporters and DC insiders,” he told Politico. He shared a video of himself shirtless on Monday with a podcast in an apparent attempt to get ahead of the story, after his campaign was informed that images of his tattoo were being pitched as “opposition research.” Then, on Wednesday, after a firestorm of controversy, he revealed that he’d covered the tattoo with a new one.”

Platner’s story keeps shifting. I don’t believe any of them. He’s either a liar or an idiot. The Senate already has its share of liars and idiots on the Republican side of the aisle. Is this some twisted form of DEI or is it bullshit? I call bullshit on Platner and his supporters.

Platner has been the flavor of the month among DSA-types this year. They’re among those who believe that policy positions are what matter most in campaigns. I beg to differ: If that were the case Donald Trump would never have been elected. His appeal may be mysterious to me, but it’s based on his personality and persona, not policies. That was also true of Bernie Sanders’ 2016 campaign. It was about Bernie’s persona, not his policies. I have no problem with either, but I have a problem with Bernie’s policy uber alles support of Platner:

“Graham’s tattoo became a test for his progressive allies, who have split on whether to defend or criticize the 41-year-old oyster farmer preparing for what could be a tough Democratic primary against Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a 77-year-old establishment Democrat. But some of those who’ve defended him risk alienating parts of their own base by downplaying a symbol of hate. Those defenders include Sen. Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, who endorsed him in August and praised him as “prepared to take on the billionaire class and fight for working people.”

Sanders repeatedly described Platner’s tattoo Tuesday as a tolerable mistake and said the tattoo would not sway his endorsement of him. “Look, I understand this whole platoon — I don’t know too much about it — got inebriated,” Sanders said when asked about the tattoo, according to Politico. “He went through a dark period. He’s not the only one in America who has gone through a dark period.”

We’re all in a dark period now, Senator. We’re confronting creeping authoritarianism from an administration with many neo-Nazi supporters. The last thing we need is to defend some oysterman’s SS tattoo. I don’t care how gruffly articulate he is, he’s a liability. The same people who attack neo-Nazis like Richard Spencer, Nick Fuentes, and David Duke are defending the Nazi Tattoo Guy. In a word: Disgusting.

We all enjoy making fun of Runaround Sue Collins and her meaningless mantra, I’m concerned. BUT she keeps winning reelection even when she seems vulnerable: Our high hopes in 2020 were dashed. Collins may be a terrible senator BUT she’s a good candidate. She’ll shuck Graham Platner like an oyster, then peel him like a grape just for the hell of it.

One of the worst things about the Nazi Tattoo Guy flap is that it obliges me to agree with self-hating liberal Jonathan Chait. I don’t, however, have to quote his piece about this mishigas. Unlike Chait, I take no pleasure in taking shots at my own side.

One of the Nazi Tattoo Guy’s defenses is that his ink is the emblem in The Punisher comic books, and he didn’t know of its Nazi origins. Sound familiar? That’s Kash Patel’s story about this challenge coin:

If we don’t buy Kash Patel’s story about that challenge coin, why should be buy Graham Platner’s story about his tattoo? Make that stories.

I realize that desperate times call for desperate measures and that Gov. Janet Mills is 78, but are Maine Democrats desperate enough to nominate the Nazi Tattoo Guy? The MAGA maggots are licking their chops over the prospect. And that is why Graham Platner is malaka of the week.

The last word goes to Cheap Trick: