capitolhunters

'See you in court': Trump and Maine's governor spar over trans athlete order The Maine Principals' Association said it would continue to allow trans girls to compete in school sports, saying President Trump's recent executive order is in conflict with state law.

Janet Mills made a stand for trans students in her state that was stronger and braver than any other governor. She risked tanking her entire state budget by defying Trump. And she won.

Is she a "corporate Dem"? Don't know what that means, but she did something very brave for a marginalized group.

The reason you so many of the most annoying Twitter Politics guys are sticking by Platner has nothing to do with the candidate or policy and more to do with the fact that they can never have been wrong. I was excited about him for a bit and now I am not. Very easy thing to say if you are normal.

strongly feel, though cannot prove, that Justice Dems started out as an op.

I do think, or cautiously hope, that Justice Dems backfired as an op in that it delivered AOC who is, yes, a lightning rod for criticism, but also a very canny politician who is doing a lot of good.

Multiple commentators have pointed out that "Iraq War" would have been a better choice than "Gulf War". "Operation Iraqi Freedom" and "Second Gulf War" had too many characters. To me "Iraq War" sounded like 1991, but that would have been the best choice here.

This account has repeatedly said: the goal is a Dem majority Senate that can bring accountability for Jan 6, including to the Senators that were directly involved in creating it (Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley). Don't vote in Maine and tbh figure multiple Maine candidates could win - but not Platner.

Exactly, they have no game plan for if Platner is the candidate, no thought on the strategy besides getting him past Mills.

There are good people in the DSA, and also attempts to influence. That is tbh common throughout politics. You just have to assume that in any group there's a mix. Even in wildly astroturfed and foreign-steered groups like Medea Benjamin's Code Pink, most people are genuine and unaware.

I don't see any way Platner can be telling the truth. He should expect scrutiny as a US Senate candidate. That comes with the job. If he can't handle that, he's not ready for the Senate. He can and should show his paperwork to the public.

Not sure what the comment about rich people is aimed at.

He went IRR for a year, he wasn't trying to re-enlist, just come back to active duty.

If Platner is telling the truth he's welcome to show his paperwork. Which he'll surely do now since this is going viral, if he is innocent. Right? He has every means of defending against a false allegation.

Hoping journalists will do that. Begged journalists to do it and no one would. Got the advice, if the thread goes viral, then journalists will finally respond. So that's the goal here.

My friend you are expending a lot of energy on an issue that seems very emotional for you.

OK buddy, it's a free country and you can believe what you want to believe.

There's 18 pages of documentation there. People who care about the race will read it. People who want to shitpost online won't.

Just agreed that based on comments received, Iraq War would be the better term. At the time of drafting, the choice wasn't clear.

Not sure what your issue is. You can conclude that the thread was not drafted by a Middle East specialist. And you would be right! But anything past that is.. a stretch.

You are literally saying, this thread about someone's lies (for carefully documented reasons) must be a lie because I decided a single word choice is deeply sus. Do you not see how ridiculous that sounds?

You guys are really stretching here for no reason - literally drafted that Tweet going back and forth between Gulf War and Iraq War. Why waste all your energy being weirdly suspicious and accusing people of lying?

Explaining the reasoning. I went back and forth between "Gulf War" and "Iraq War" (both 4 characters) trying to decide which was most accurate. Decided Iraq War felt too much like 1991, so went with Gulf. Based on comments, Iraq War would have been the better choice.

It is "Operation Iraqi Freedom" but try fitting that into a 300-character Tweet. OIF is often called the Second Gulf War.

Having Mills win the primary is fine. She is a strong candidate for Maine and can very likely win the general.

These issues will not remain covered. You have to expect that they will come out in the general. It is best to bring them out now. If Platner has a defense, let him provide it now.

Yes, he was a currently-serving Marine on Independent Ready Reserve.

He did not finish his term of enlistment. His MSO ended in 2012. All that happened was that in 2008, Platner went on IRR and in 2009 he asked to come back to active duty.

No, it would have applied to Platner. That is why the report grandfathering in his tattoos was sent to RELMS (the recruitment, enlistment, and lateral move system).

I don't know for sure if it would have applied to him after his MSO ended, but that didn't happen til 2012.

Maybe someone more familiar with the Army can speak to how Platner got through with that tattoo.

My friend, did you read the document? Platner's stepbrother works for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. I'm not going to go there for what that means, but you might look it up.

but it seemed important to post the thread before the filing deadline so there would be no accusation that it was intended to help Mills specifically.

I agree that Mills can win.

ah, got it. The one that had the most name recognition was Jordan Wood who dropped out. Yes, well, maybe there will a groundswell of support for another young candidate. That's what primaries are for.

TBH probably any non-problematic D candidate could win.

This thread was put out now because the filing deadline for this race is in 1.5 weeks, on March 16, 2026.

Mills will likely win. She is old, but so is the Maine electorate. But, if you want a younger candidate, there is still time.

Army had lower tattoo standards than the Marine Corps.

1 term is better than 0 terms. But, if you want a younger candidate, the filing deadline for this race is March 16 - you have 1.5 weeks. That drove the timing of this thread.

The filing deadline for this race is March 16, 2026, in a week and a half. That drove the timing of this thread.

Mills would likely win over Collins. She is old, but the Maine electorate is also old (the oldest of any state in the US). But if you want a younger candidate, there's still time.