Smart Aleck Kojeve

Philosopher and French government economic planner. My interests are in Hegel, Heidegger, Husserl and Marx.

[Smart Aleck Kojeve @AlexKojeve]

Capitalism has failed to unite the world.

[Mark Ames @MarkAmesExiled]

Zaluzhny’s piece is interesting. Most of it argues that Ukraine is not winning & that Russia is better placed to win long war of attrition. Then shifts at the end strongly implying that for Ukraine to win, NATO needs to transform from a defensive alliance to get directly involved

[Matt Stoller @matthewstoller]

How much more obvious do they have to make the ratfucking?

[Ryan Grim @ryangrim]

NEW: Politico knew at the time of publication precisely what Jenny Racicot texted to Graham Platner but deliberately omitted it from their article. Racicot, according to the lead Politico reporter on the story, told Platner she “needed her glute massaged.” He told her he was coming right over; she responded by telling him not to do so, but he came over quickly.

Whether this detail is important to you or not, it is a shocking breach of journalistic ethics by Politico and CNN not to include it in their coverage. Story at Drop Site to follow.

[Matt Stoller @matthewstoller]

Since lots of gossips are now gunning for me, I'm redoing this thread. It's clear something messed up happened in Platner's relationships, and he hasn't hidden that. But there's a big difference between 'normal people in bad relationships who hate each other' and 'crime.'

So let's be adults. This is a political attack.

Top Maine Democratic Party donors in recent years are Reid Hoffman, Haim Saban, and David Ellison. David Ellison! As in the Trump ally who fired Stephen Colbert and is taking over TikTok, CBS News, and CNN. These names should mean something. Saban may be the single most important AIPAC donor in the Democratic Party.

Another big donor to the Maine Democratic Party is the founder of Zynga, Marc Pincus, who said in 2024 that "an attack on Amazon is an attack on America." It goes beyond big tech and Wall Street. Crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried’s partner Nishad Singh at FTX gave $100k to the Maine Democratic Party in 2022.

The insiders running the party are the people funded through these streams of revenue, they are the ones dealing with the donors and currying favor with them. And while I will not speak out of school, the Maine Democratic establishment simply cannot be trusted and that is well-known.

Platner may be a fatally weakened candidate, that is for others to decide. It's a wave year in a blue state, but I get that Susan Collins is a strong incumbent. Winning this Senate seat matters, so I get why people might see value in ditching him. I generally think that polls and electoral guesses are mechanisms to get ordinary voters to focus on anything but policy. It's a disciplining mechanism, since no one can tell the future. But it's not crazy to see Platner as a poor candidate.

Let's be clear, the goal of pushing Platner aside is to destroy the agenda on which he was elected, which is about taming oligarchy and reorienting us from endless war. That is why the Maine Democrats aren't saying 'let's respect Platner voters and transition to someone else,' they are taking a sanctimonious 'he gets NO say in ANYTHING.' Those are not the actions of people who want to win a Senate seat, those are the actions of nasty insiders claiming factional power for themselves.

If Platner steps down, he will be characterized as a deviant, and that's just how it'll be forever. True or not. And everyone will be tarred as supportive of immoral behavior. It doesn't matter if you are a liberal, centrist, young, old, whatever. People are saying the Bulwark, a centrist outlet started by ex-Republicans who were skeptical of Platner, are tarred by this. Punchbowl is reporting that Senate progressives will never have credibility going forward. The ploy here is obvious.

That is, even though the actual immoral behavior at issue here is the genocide in Gaza, the corruption of DOGE and Musk, and the neoliberal turn in American politics for 40 years that has destroyed our faith in society and each other.

Platner has been consistent about his platform, and there's no reason to assume that will change. 70% of Maine Democrats picked him as their candidate, and he has the right to represent their views. So he should stay in the race or, if he feels he cannot win, leave on terms that will ensure his platform, and not that of Maine Dem Party oligarch donors, is the one on the ballot in November. The Maine Dem establishment cannot be trusted.

And frankly, this kind of ugly scenario is how power works. They make ordinary people pick among ugly scenarios, and then they make it seem like the obvious path is the one that accords more power and wealth to oligarchs. And if you don't choose that one, you're a bad person who deserves approbation and scorn. That's why I had to delete the original thread and rewrite it, because endless numbers of reporter gossips - who don't report on government policy - are using this extremely obvious ratfucking to try and destroy people like me telling you the truth.

[Basel Musharbash @musharbash_b]

The Maine Democratic Party establishment has officially decided to exploit Racicot's story not just to replace Graham Platner — but to subvert and destroy the democratic will of Maine's voters. This is ratfuckery of the highest order.

[Matt Stoller @matthewstoller]

Oh wow look the party insiders are now going to pick. No one could have seen this one coming.

[Matt Stoller @matthewstoller]

Democrats - and plenty of leftists - worked with the women who got Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court to destroy their own nominee.

Don’t expect anything except the boot on your neck.

[David Sirota @davidsirota]

In the wake of Platner’s withdrawal, it’s very important for national media to platform every Democratic Party elite in DC for their views about what should happen in Maine — and to literally not talk to one single human being who actually lives in Maine. This is praxis.

[Mark Ames @MarkAmesExiled]

Aside from our little soapbox at Radio War Nerd, I haven't seen anyone question the strategic wisdom of Trump's decision to escalate against Russia just months before launching a war against Russia's ally Iran.
https://t.co/et7YBjFr5x

[Mark Ames @MarkAmesExiled]

The Russians obviously knew Trump approved giving Ukraine targeting intel for deep strikes on Ru energy. Russia answered it this year by providing Iran targeting intel on US bases, radars & infrastructure. Iran defeated the US. Quite a brilliant tradeoff.
https://t.co/X7vfRaExNO

[Mark Ames @MarkAmesExiled]

America First is starting a war to help Israel, and losing the war to help Ukraine.

[Mark Ames @MarkAmesExiled]

jfc Platner is STILL polling better than the preferred DNC candidate even after the SA allegations. Can the Dems possibly suck more? Trick question i know

[Kevin Rothrock @MrKevinRothrock]

The latest numbers compiled by Meduza show that the balance in territorial advances (which, according to these figures, never swung to a net positive for Ukraine, unlike in ISW's monitoring) continues to shift in Moscow's favor. https://t.co/2Fh5RTsmYY

[Mark Ames @MarkAmesExiled]

In our Op Barbarossa episode with @Annibal97783312 we also discussed the high likelihood that the US relaunches the Iran war, that the Empire won’t allow the L to Iran hold without trying to reverse it, with disastrous consequences.

[barry with the NED @bonzerbarry]

The various refuelers participating in tonight's attacks have been taking off from Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia and israel.

[Mark Ames @MarkAmesExiled]

Anti-draft riots in the heartland of western Ukrainian nationalism

[Yasha Levine @yashalevine]

Every nobody issuing official statements on why they backed Platner and how they promise to do better next time. A nation of sovereign citizens each running their own PR department.

[Mark Ames @MarkAmesExiled]

If the IRI considers ongoing US attacks as prelude to ground invasion to take Gulf islands, could incite Iran to escalate disproportionately, setting off escalatory chain reaction. US is unlikely to achieve in new round what it failed to in 40 day war.
https://t.co/Seejr972Fn

[Sina Toossi @SinaToossi]

Massive funeral processions for Iran's slain Ayatollah Khamenei in the Iraqi cities of Najaf & Karbala today.

Imagine Saddam Hussein or Khomeini seeing this. Actually, someone show George W Bush.

The depth of ties between these two Shia-majority countries is extraordinary.

[Mel @Villgecrazylady]

In February 2025, Republican Cory Mills beat the shit out of his girlfriend… who he was cheating on his “wife” with… while he was simultaneously threatening another girlfriend with revenge porn… and he’s still a sitting member of the House, running for reelection.

But he 100% supports Israel so no one actually cares.