this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2025
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Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner says his six months in Afghanistan in 2018 as a State Department security contractor revealed how America’s wars had become “a corporate money-grab.” He clarified he never worked for Erik Prince’s Blackwater but for a hedge-fund-owned successor that inherited its State Department contracts. “They used guys like me with these backgrounds to meet the contract requirements so they could pay us bare minimum and walk away with the balance.”

Platner said his job mostly involved driving for the U.S. ambassador’s security team. “We were barely leaving the Green Zone… All I did was lift weights and play video games. I got huge and I played a lot of Far Cry,” he said.

He quit after six months and went home to farm oysters.

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[–] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] hateisreality@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I knew a girl who worked in the administrative side of that company, they were purchased by blackwater. then blackwater renamed themselves a few times ending on reusing Constellis. But it's just the name now.

[–] yonderbarn@lazysoci.al 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

What's your point? He said the company went through several iterations but whether it was Blackwater or Constellis he never worked for them.

[–] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

He worked for Constellis...

[–] yonderbarn@lazysoci.al 0 points 1 month ago (2 children)

As I said he never worked for Blackwater/Constellis, as seen in the clip........

[–] BrainInABox@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Constellis before they were acquired by Blackwater.

[–] BrainInABox@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Didn't Blackwater acquire Constellis in 2014, before Planter was working for them?

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That may be the case. I am just repeating what the article indicated. I don't know about the actual timeline.

[–] BrainInABox@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 month ago

Well, in that case the article is lying; be worked for Constellis after it merged with Blackwater.

[–] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 month ago

Try opening a search engine and check if evidence of the contrary exists before very confidently repeating his lies.

[–] wheezy@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

Dude spent 2 decades working for the interest of corporate and imperialist powers and then says in 2018 that "it started to become a corporate money grab".

Every time he talks I hate him more. It's like he thinks that people criticizing him are as stupid as he is.

[–] BussyGyatt@feddit.org 6 points 1 month ago (3 children)

I just don't buy the tattoo angle he's selling. Either he's a cryptofascist or a drunken idiot, either case not fit for office.

[–] wheezy@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 month ago

Agreed. It doesn't have to be this big conversation about "letting people change". That's fine for a personal friend I'm trying to help grow. We're talking about a politician that will influence the lives of thousands to millions of people. Yeah. I'll have a higher standard and much more doubt. It's that simple.

[–] obsoleteacct@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 month ago

You're presenting a false dichotomy. There's the distinct possibility he WAS a drunken idiot and no longer is.

I've got no skin in the game here, but to compare those options:

  1. He quits working in the lucrative military industrial complex to become a fascist sleeper agent (because if he didn't know in advance his reddit history wouldn't make any sense). So he spends the better part of a decade making functionally anonamous reddit posts on lefty and socialist subs while oyster farming (presumably) to build credibility as a lefty... In Maine... but curiously he does so while not building any sort of real political capital or credibility. After 7 years the Democrats are weak, he activates with bonafides to flank the party from the left and emerge as a working class fighter. He decides not to get rid of the tattoo that could expose him to the public as a fascist (perhaps because he needs to secretly maintain his fascist bonafides).

  2. He's authentic, but as a young guy in the service, he gets shit faced and makes a terrible decision in a tattoo shop. Accepting this theory does require one to believe that Platner had not committed the first 10 pages of the ADL hate symbol database to memory.

Occams razor makes a pretty clear case here.

Still, I would be concerned about getting Fetterman'd if I were a Maine voter. Platner comes with some baggage and requires a good bit of faith. I also don't think there are any clearly, better options for voters in Maine.

[–] yonderbarn@lazysoci.al -2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

There's no evidence of either.

[–] BussyGyatt@feddit.org 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

His own claim is that he got the tattoo while drunk, which is idiotic. I decline to pretend with you that the tattoo is not its own evidence of cryptofascism.

[–] yonderbarn@lazysoci.al -5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

I've heard plenty of drunken stories of people getting a tattoo while intoxicated.

Even buzzfeed has an article on all the dumb tattoos people got when they were drunk.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/sydrobinson1/drunk-tattoos-thatll-make-you-smile-and-cringe

[–] BussyGyatt@feddit.org 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

i dont think 'lots of other people are drunken idiots too' is quite the argument you were looking for

[–] yonderbarn@lazysoci.al -2 points 1 month ago

That's right because it isn't

[–] wheezy@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I've been drunk as fuck for most weekends of my life. Never once did I find myself getting a Nazi tattoo to celebrate my service killing brown people in Iraq. Idk. Maybe have a higher standard for a representative than you would some random reddit comment?

Like, this isn't a personal friend you're trying to help explain the personal struggles of to another friend. This is a representative that will influence the lives of thousands to potentially millions of people. Maybe have a higher standard for them to reach than you would a drunk idiot in a bar.

That's why he's a "pass" for me. I don't live in Maine. I don't have any interest in helping or promoting him. Maybe if I was in Maine I'd have a bit more patience.

But I am not gonna waste my time defending or promoting a dude with a Nazi tattoo just because he said "fight the oligarchs" like it's a copy pasta from Sanders to get voters.

[–] yonderbarn@lazysoci.al 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

He said he had no idea it was Nazi symbolism. No one in his family or friends made him aware of it either. I was also unaware of it.

[–] wheezy@lemmy.ml -1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

You being stupid is ok with me. You're not running as a politician.

Edit: I'm sorry. Maybe the average person is just really stupid. But it's literally the second symbol listed on the Nazi Symbolism Wikipedia. First is the Swastika. Is the average person really that ignorant of history?

[–] yonderbarn@lazysoci.al 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Do you want to take that back or do you want me to make a comment about your ADHD?

[–] wheezy@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Like, you're telling me if you saw a guy with that tattoo in the gym the first thing that comes to mind is not "damn, that looks like some Nazi shit"?

Like, I'm not saying people need to know the exact symbol and name. But, come on, you watch one WW2 documentary and you should be able to put that together. That shit was all over.

[–] yonderbarn@lazysoci.al 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Like, did you forget to take your ritalin today? C'mon yo!

[–] wheezy@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I'm gonna guess you're just projecting or something. Either that; or you're hallucinating. Good luck mate.

[–] yonderbarn@lazysoci.al 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Me hallucinating? I'm not the one on meds. Have a nice day.

[–] wheezy@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 month ago

You're hallucinating that I'm on different medications. It's why I'm assuming you're projecting.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 month ago

Except the fucking totenkopf tattooed on his chest

[–] yonderbarn@lazysoci.al -4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Personal growth. You never went through it?

[–] wheezy@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 month ago

I don't judge my policians with the same criteria that I would a personal friend. I think this is a problem with modern social media and media in general. It's given people the delusion that we should consider political figures by the same means we do our friends.

If I want to help a personal friend overcome their racism and bigotry. I will make that decision because I have a personal connection to them that I can influence.

We're talking about a representative though. Why would I give benefit of the doubt to someone ill literally never sit down with?