Controversial Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Planter's campaign upended by infidelity scandal.

 

Graham Planter. Fox News/Getty.

Controversial Maine Senate candidate Graham Planter's campaign has been upended by an infidelity scandal. Fox News. Planter is trying to unseat Republican Susan Collins and is currently leading in the polls. But he has been hit with scandals since the start of his campaign, with controversies surrounding his Totenkopf "death's head" Nazi tattoo, a very controversial Reddit history and even mocking a purple heart recipient. However, the newest scandal reveals infidelity as he sent the texts months after he married his wife in 2024. The texts were sent on Kik, a messaging app that is often used for such things, but is also used to share illegal content. 

My Comment:

It's utterly absurd that Graham Planter is able to run for dogcatcher, let alone as a Senator. This latest scandal is just the last one, he's incredibly controversial. In a sane world, he would be replaced as a candidate, and that might just happen. Under Maine's laws he could be replaced even if he wins his senate primary as long as he pulls out before mid July.

It's also critical to point out that the sexting scandal happened on Kik. Kik is a messaging app that has very loose moderation and is most well known for being a haven for pedophiles. Not everyone who using the app is one, obviously, but it's a massive red flag for Planter and one that should be disqualifying alone. The platform has anonymous accounts, no age verification and does not save chats, so it's perfect for folks to try and meet up with underage users or trade illegal content with each other. Indeed, that's about the only thing notable about the app and it's shocking that a mainstream candidate has account there. 

It's not like his Reddit history is any better. Though Reddit has a better reputation than Kik, somehow, it also is a haven for predators. Though I don't think having a Reddit account is disqualifying (though it probably should be), his behavior on there was pretty reprehensible. He posted the kind of stuff an edgy Redditor would post, blaming rape victims, mocking purple heart veterans and general gross behavior. I guess I have some sympathy there, I am guessing if my internet history was dissected to the point Planter's was, people would find embarrassing stuff too. But the difference is I am not running for office and I would not do so for that very reason. 

His tattoo was even more unforgivable. The Totenkopf is about as explicit endorsement of Nazi Germany as you can get. It was used by the SS and units guilty of crimes against humanity, even the units that operated the death camps! And I have zero doubt that a military man like Planter didn't know that. I know the excuse is that he did it for military solidarity in his Marine Unit but even that is just being edgy for the sake of being edgy. Plus he did it in Croatia, where the only people that would do that tattoos would be legit Nazis because they have anti-Nazi laws there for obvious reasons. 

It is telling that the Democrats are finally starting to turn on him. Indeed, Cory Booker said that Planter has some questions to answer and I think that's the first domino to fall. It's very possible, given the websites he had accounts on, that something worse will come up, but even now I think the Democrats are going to raise the white flag and get rid of him. 

I also have to say that it's also crazy that of all the terrible things that Planter did, it was sending naughty texts to women who weren't his wife that may do him in. They were defending him when he had a Nazi tattoo, but the second he did something moderately mean to a woman, they dropped him like a hot cake. I'm not defending cheating on your wife, far from it, but being a Nazi, a Kik User, and, god forbid me for using this word, a Redditor, are all much worse. 

Either way, I am pretty bullish on Susan Collins is going to keep her seat in Maine. Yes, it's a blue state, but she's a pretty liberal Republican, a classic RINO, and I don't see why more moderate Democrats wouldn't vote for her over a guy that has so many problems. Colins was probably going to win regardless, she's survived bad polling many times in the past, but if Planter doesn't drop out, I think it's an easy bet to make that she will win. 

The US has the forces in place to attack Cuba. Will It?

 

The USS Nimitz. Politico/AP.

The United States has enough forces in place to attack Cuba. Politico. The armada assembled in the region includes the USS Nimitz, along with two Amphibious Assault Ships, the Iwo Jima and the Ft. Lauderdale, are in the region, though the two ships are due to be replaced by the USS Kearsarge. Several destroyers and cruisers are deployed in the region as well. Though no signs indicate strikes, there is a time limit due to long deployments for the Nimitz, which was scheduled to be decommissioned this year. The ships in place are enforcing a de facto blockade for Cuba, which is facing heavy diplomatic pressure and a major fuel crisis. 

My Comment:

I'm going to go on record that I don't think military action against Cuba is going to happen in the short term. Long term is a different question but for right now? It's not going to happen. 

Why? The most obvious reason is that the war with Iran is still smoldering. Every day we hear news about peace talks and a deal being imminent but until there is a peace deal signed, I can't see the United States starting another conflict with Cuba. There are hopeful signs that a deal actually is close, but until that happens, any conflict with Cuba is unlikely. 

Even if the war were to end today, and that's hopelessly optimistic, it would still take weeks or even months to move forces around to actually accomplish military strikes. The fact that the Iwo Jima and Ft. Lauderdale are being withdrawn seems to show that things are moving away from a strike, not close to it. I am guessing at least one more Amphibious Assault Ship would be needed for an attack like we saw with Venezuela. 

Of course, I do think that we do technically have enough sources to attack Cuba. Cuba is not anywhere near as powerful as Venezuela was but the forces arrayed against them are roughly the same size, if not bigger. Remember, Cuba is only 90 miles away from Florida and we have significant air assets stationed there. Whatever shortfall we have in Navy assets could be made up for with our Air Force.

With that being said, there is an argument that we are burning through too much with our military operations. Starting a third military operation after a major operation in Venezuela and the closest thing to a major war we have had in a long time in Iran. Our weapons stocks were low before that, thanks to the Biden Administration wasting our weapons on Ukraine, but they are even lower now. And that's not even considering the level of exhaustion that could be setting in with our Naval forces, there have been several very long deployments for some of our most powerful warships. 

Regardless though, we have very little reason to actually attack. Cuba is in an extremely difficult position right now, they are already being squeezed by this blockade. They have had a massive fuel crisis to the point where they are essentially out. There is a very real chance that the blockade and sanctions alone could collapse the regime. It's not a huge chance, but it exists. 

There are political risks as well. The appetite for another war isn't non-existent, the Cuban community absolutely wants one, but a lot of other people do not. Starting a new conflict after ending the one with Iran could do some damage to the Republicans in 2026. Trump says the midterms aren't a concern, but I am guessing that alone will rule out military action until next year. 

Two anti-Trump incumbents voted out in primaries.

 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. NBC News/Getty.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has defeated incumbent Senator John Cornyn. NBC News. Paxton got the coveted endorsement from President Donald Trump after Cornyn failed to help pass the SAVE Act, which would have forced voter ID's. Paxton will face Democratic Representative James Talarico in the general election. Paxton has some controversies in the past but won an expensive primary against a well entrenched incumbent. Cornyn is the latest Republican who angered Trump and his supporters to lose a primary following Thomas Massie, Bill Cassidy, Dan Crenshaw and Brad Raffensburger. 

Congressmen Christian Menefee (left) and Al Green. NBC News/Getty.

In a race that saw to incumbent Congressmen running against each other, freshman congressman Christian Menefee has defeated Al Green. NBC News. Both men were forced to run for the same district after Texas redistricted their Houston area congressional district. Green decided to run in the 18th district after his current district, the 9th, was redrawn so that a Republican was extremely unlikely to win. However, voters in Houston decided to keep Menefee instead of Green. Green was an extremely vocal and long term critic of President Trump.

My Comment:

2026 is rapidly becoming the year where incumbents are getting voted out. Cornyn and Green are just the latest to fall. Trump can take credit for a lot of it. His endorsement was critical, had he endorsed Cornyn over Paxton, we would have likely seen a very different result. 

Cornyn was insufficiently supportive of President Trump and his agenda. Cornyn did not pass the SAVE America Act. He supported the bill, but was not willing to nuke the filibuster to do so. That was the final straw for a man who also criticized Trump for January 6th and was very slow to endorse him. 

And this was not a close race. Cornyn and his allies spent almost $100 million on this runoff and the original primary, but he lost by almost 30 points as of this writing. This just shows how powerful President Trump is in the GOP. Rumors of his political demise are certainly premature. 

I do think that Paxton is going to win the Senate race as well. Though he has had some scandals, he is in a reliably red state. He would almost certainly win against a generic Democrat. But his opponent James Talarico is a far left nutjob to the point where he even said that God was non-binary. That is not something that is going to play well in a religious state like Texas and I would be shocked if the race between Paxton and Talarico is even close. 

As for Green, it was pretty arrogant of him to run against Menefee in the first place. Moving districts, even after a redistricting, is a good way to lose, especially if the incumbent is reasonably popular. I am sure that Green thought that his comparatively higher national profile would translate well to this election, but it absolutely did not.

Age was a pretty big factor in the election as well. Green is 78 while Menefee is 38 and folks felt that Green's age was a major issue. Green didn't have too much of a future and it's very possible that he wouldn't have even survive a full 2 year term. It's no surprise that they stuck with Menefee, who was well liked, young and has a future. 

Regardless, I am very happy that Green is gone. He was one of the most annoying and disrespectful members of Congress and acted like he was more important than the President of the United States during several State of the Union speeches. Though Trump had little to do with getting rid of him, other than encouraging redistricting in Texas, he is also going to be celebrating the fact that Green is gone. 

Rumor that JD Vance might not run in 2028 for President...

 

Vice President JD Vance. Irish Star/AP.

JD Vance is considering skipping a presidential run in 2028. Irish Star. An anonymous source told the Daily Mail that the Vice President thinks he would have a better chance of winning in 2032 or 2036. Vance is a young man at 41, but if he doesn't run he would risk losing his window. Vance has been rumored to be on the outs in the Administration over opposition to the strikes in Iran and is considered to be the largest dove in the admin after Tulsi Gabbard has resigned. 

My Comment:

I've seen this story filtering through social media today and I have to say the reporting is incredibly thin, and it's even accessible. The original Daily Mail report is under a paywall so I can't even read it and supposedly Vance's people have denied this as a rumor. Given that it's an anonymously sourced post by the Daily Mail I'm inclined to agree. 

I also don't really think the implications of the Irish Star article are right either. Vance is more dovish than some of the other people in the White House, but it's not like he was totally opposed to things. Indeed, he thought if it was going to happen, we should go as hard and fast as possible, and, as far as I can tell, his plan won out. And Gabbard wasn't pushed out, she resigned because her husband has an aggressive cancer. I don't think the division over Iran was anywhere as large as people say. 

But I think it's at least possible that Vance could decide to not run in 2028. He's currently leading in most polls but that could change and it's undoubtable that Marco Rubio's star is rising. Indeed, if I had to choose between the two men, I honestly don't know who I would choose. Vance seems like he would be better for folks on the lower end on the economic spectrum, but you can't deny how effective Rubio has been. 

Vance also has a large and young family and who knows if he wants to keep exposing his family to the kind of chaos that is the White House. His wife is expecting their fourth child and there's always a chance that Vance could just decide to hang it up. 

I also think that Vance has some headwinds to face. Though Vance is white, his wife is Indian and he's good friends with Vivek Ramaswamy. That's not great at a time where racism against Indians is almost universal and H1B visas are one of the most toxic topics in the country. He also doesn't seem popular among women for whatever reason. He has some vulnerabilities that could lead him to conclude that it's not worth it to run now. 

Still, all of that is speculation at this point. I think this story is probably bunk and that Vance hasn't decided either way. Campaign season doesn't even start until after the 2026 midterms and a massive amount of change can happen between now and then. 

Angry young men in the Congo are raiding Ebola treatment facilities.

 

Workers carry away the coffin of an Ebola victim in Bunia Congo. AP.

Angry young men in The Congo are raiding Ebola treatment facilities as the outbreak there continues to grow. AP. The outbreak has 900 suspected cases and between 100 and 200 people have already died. Three treatment facilities have been attacked due to anger over Ebola prevention measures that prevent friends and families from interacting with the deceased. Ebola primarily spreads through contact with infected bodily fluids, and traditional funeral practices often spread the disease. The virus in this case is the Bundibugyo virus, which is a subvariant of Ebola that does not have a vaccine. However, the chances of a global pandemic, or even a large outbreak, are still low. 

My Comment:

Ebola is back in the news and it sure looks like we are going to see another major outbreak. Though we are far from the bad days of 2014 where there was an extremely large outbreak that even managed to reach the United States, it's very possible we could see something similar with this outbreak of Bundibugyo.

The good news is that Ebolaviruses usually don't spread via the air. Supposedly in lab conditions it's possible but you really need contact with infected blood or other bodily fluids. That means a global pandemic is almost impossible, though, just like the West African epidemic back in the day, we could see limited cases in the West due to air travel. 

Bundibugyo is also slightly different than the Zaire virus that caused that outbreak. It's generally less lethal, 25% to 50% compared to 60% to 90% or so for Zaire, and is also considered less virulent. The bad news is that unlike the Zaire virus, there is no vaccine for Bundibugyo. 

In a sane world there would be little chance of the virus spreading. Like I said, if you don't come into contact with an infected person's blood, there is very little chance of you actually getting the virus. But we don't have a sane world. 

These attacks on treatment facilities are a good example of that. This is about the worst thing you could do with this kind of pandemic. Not only are folks potentially exposing themselves to the virus, they are also preventing treatment for sick people. Those infected people now probably have a better chance of dying and infecting others as well. 

Why folks are doing that is beyond me. I know folks want to have a proper funeral, but when the bodies are tainted like this, you absolutely shouldn't use traditional funeral techniques like this. I just don't understand the anger here, I know if I was struck down by Ebola, the last thing I would want is to spread it to my loved ones. 

So should we be worried about this outbreak? Not really. It's very dangerous for the folks in Africa who are unwilling or unable to take precautions against the virus, but it's not likely to spread beyond that. There's very little chance of the virus making it out of Africa, and almost zero chance of it becoming a pandemic. It's notable given the human suffering involved and the fact that these attacks are going to make it worse, but that's about it.