The tattoo is nowhere near as bad to me as his military history (literally as recent as 2018 for blackwater) and his "rebuild our military" shit. Like, I feel like he'll literally only be useful in pushing some pro imperialist legislation for liberals and be completely useless in his other very generalized policy positions.

Compare Mamdani's very specific free bus and rent freeze policies to Planters "oligarchy is the problem" messaging. It feels like a means of capturing the momentum of that sentiment than anything else.

And, again, being "better" than a Republican is not enough. We have nearly a year to find a better candidate EVERYWHERE. Dropping some rich unexceptional white guy for some massive red flags is more helpful than spending a year defending a dude like him and at best getting some pro military legislation he "reaches across the aisle" for to make a name for himself. I'm sorry. I'm tired of unexceptional white dudes that use military service as a means to collect voters.

He'd have my respect if he actually called the military out for what it is. A terrorist organization.