

DES
34.4K posts

@DaniaStrong
A surrealist from Maine














"You're sentenced to work 9 to 5 with 2 weeks vacation a year for the rest of your life"



Editorial: A Fake Indian and a Nazi Walk Into a Bar… By Jon Fetherston Am I living in the Twilight Zone, or has 2026 politics simply become unbearable? At this point, it’s a fair question. Here in Maine, and on the national stage, we’re watching a U.S. Senate campaign unfold that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. A candidate carrying the weight of deeply disturbing past statements is now asking voters to look the other way. Not minor missteps. Not off-the-cuff remarks taken out of context. But a record that includes offensive commentary about rural Mainers, derogatory statements about Black Americans, anti-police rhetoric, and perhaps most alarming of all, comments suggesting that women who are raped bear responsibility for what happened to them. That’s not a “gotcha.” That’s not opposition research. That’s disqualifying. So how does a candidacy like this even gain traction? Even more baffling, how does it earn the backing of national political figures who have built careers around claiming moral authority on these very issues? That’s where things stop making sense. For years, Elizabeth Warren has positioned herself as a champion for women, a voice for justice, and a fighter against injustice in all forms. She has made a career out of calling out offensive rhetoric and demanding accountability, loudly and often. And yet, here we are. Elizabeth Warren has now formally endorsed Graham Platner’s campaign. Let that sink in. A candidate with a documented history of deeply troubling comments about women and others is running for the United States Senate and instead of clear, unequivocal condemnation, he is receiving the support of one of the country’s most prominent progressive voices. It raises a simple question: were those principles ever real, or were they just politically convenient? This week’s press conference only deepened the concern. A rape victim was brought forward to speak in defense of the candidate, a moment that should have been about accountability but instead felt like a carefully staged attempt to blunt criticism. The candidate himself spoke for less than 90 seconds, offering what amounted to a brief dismissal of his past. Don’t judge me for who I was. It’s a familiar line in politics. Sometimes it’s even valid. People can change. Growth is real. But change requires something more than a quick soundbite. It requires ownership. It requires clarity. It requires genuine remorse. What we saw looked less like accountability and more like deflection. And voters can tell the difference. That’s what makes this moment so surreal. The standards that are so often applied to some candidates seem to vanish entirely for others. The outrage machine that usually runs at full speed suddenly goes quiet. Which brings us back to that Twilight Zone feeling. Because somehow, in the middle of all this, we’ve reached a point where even longtime political opponents are finding themselves aligned ,at least temporarily, against something they view as far worse. Only in 2026 could a Senate race produce a moment where critics of Governor Janet Mills are saying, “You might actually be right on this one.” And maybe that’s the clearest signal of all. When the lines blur this much, when basic standards of decency become optional, it’s not just one campaign that’s at issue. It’s the broader political culture that allowed it to happen. Maine voters deserve better than this. Not perfection. Not ideological purity. But a baseline of character and judgment that shouldn’t even be up for debate. If that’s too much to ask, then maybe we really are in the Twilight Zone. @themainewire





