What’s Next In Maine’s Senate Race? | Ryan Grim | TMR

As Emma says in the intro what reporters including herself decide to include, leave out, or highlight can influence how a story is received and the reaction to it. I know my last post had raised some concern. I will be addressing all of that after I get tomorrow’s cartoon / meme / news post scheduled and the Sunday morning semi news shows watched. If you listen to this please note that neither one of the reporters is excusing what Platner might have done; they are discussing the omitting of details that could color the story in different ways and should reporters be concerned with that shading effect. The fact is in my opinion there are a lot of unknowns and unanswered question. This is not a court of law that a person’s life is being examined under; no one is under oath in any of this. It is being tried in the media of public perception. So in that case I want to be sure of the facts before I condemn a person and ruin their life.

I also believe strongly in redemption. We all have made mistakes and we all were young. I am not perfect. I have always had the idea of being a better Scottie today than I was yesterday. I had a temper in my 20s and have struggled most of my life to not just control it but to remove it and the triggers that ignite it. Should 20 year old me ready to battle and fight at the least provocation be the down fall of 40, 50, 60 year old Scottie now? Is there no redemption, compassion, or empathy for the experiences that lead to mistakes and wrong choices? But that is not what this post is about, it is about what facts should be included or omitted in reporting. Hugs

Her Gotcha Backfired Spectacularly…

Sam and crew go over Graham Platner’s win and his interview with Mika Brzezinski Scarborough on Morning Joe. Amoung the jokes about her interview they go over his acceptance speech. I am personally satisfied he has answered all the questions. I love his line “… if you give me the chance I will be a senator for the people who cannot afford to buy a senator”. I am a progressive and a believer in DSA policies. Graham Platner is not the perfect person who is flawless and unlike many his flaws are out in the open, not hidden behind a facade of fake religious politeness. He is a populist. I am not looking for religious leaders in our lawmakers, I am not expecting someone who walked blamelessly through life, that they way only one person did and his name was Jesus. I am looking for someone whose policies help the lower incomes and the public at large, not the privileged few. I am looking for a congress and White House filled with people who do not think elected office is their golden ticket to personal wealth and authority over others. Real people screw up and those that ask and work for a second chance should be given a chance to show they deserve it. In my opinion Platner has and does shown he deserves his forgiveness. Plus people look at Graham’s past are not looking at Collin’s past or even Mika who started dating Joe when he was still married. To me a lot of these people going on about Platner’s past seem to hold him to a different standard than they themselves are held or republican canidates are held. Hugs.

Mehdi CHALLENGES Graham Platner on His Tattoo and More

In this interview Graham Platner responds to his detractors accusations against him. He discusses the tattoo and the Jewish times report that says he had talked about it while working at a bar during the time frame he was not working there. So there is not any credible evidence that he knew what the tattoo was. As he said why would he have danced with it in full display to his extended Jewish family? He makes sense. He understands that people may not like him because he is not polished as a politician. He also says he stumbles verbally and struggles to correct and improve himself. It was a hard hitting interview and Platner came off as very reasonable. Hugs

Now, in this must-watch interview, Mehdi Hasan speaks to Platner not just about his vision for a progressive “political revolution” in Washington DC but also about some of his controversies, including his social media and his tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol.