All this "once an X always an X" rhetoric does is prevent anyone who wants to pull away from trump from doing so.

It's already difficult enough for people to change, basically telling anyone who wants to change "yeah you can alienate yourself from my enemies but you'll always be on my shit list" is absolutely not going to win them over and just reinforces that X identity is all they have.

Unless you like losing elections you really need to consider how winning people over is crucially important to any movement.

His explanation that he was drunk with buddies on deployment in Croatia is perhaps the most believable circumstance in which someone would make that mistake. Yes, he had the tattoo for several years. I don't recall how long he said he was aware of it being the Nazi symbol, but yes, in my opinion he should have gotten it removed or covered sooner once he did know. I certainly never would have known that the skull was a Nazi symbol without being explicitly told.

That said, no, I don't think it sounds like he's lying. He isn't posturing either, and there's plenty of evidence to back that up.

If you're not capable of accepting that he made a mistake and addressed it appropriately, then I don't see how you could ever be satisfied. If we want real people to run for office and not just establishment approved candidates, you need to open to the idea that people make mistakes, they change, and they may not have the squeaky-clean past you idealize.

I think you have unrealistic expectations, not just of people running for office, but for people in general. Your purity test is not only foolish, but will cause you to be deeply unsatisfied and let down by so much in the world.