Author | Lightnews

Ben McCombe @benmccombe.bsky.social · 10h

The only poll conducted after the controversies came to light - from SoCal - shows his support dropped significantly over less than a week.

From 34% ahead of Mills in the UNH poll beforehand to -5% behind afterwards.

He drops even further to -30% when voters are informed of the tattoo.

Ben McCombe @benmccombe.bsky.social · 10h

He has described his years in DC as his "party years".

Likely that and his untreated PTSD/TBI was behind his difficulty finishing.

I can sympathise. My first undergrad took seven years due to illness.

Had to pull out of my second bachelors for the same reason with 3 subjects left.

1

Ben McCombe @benmccombe.bsky.social · 10h

Initially yes, then went on deployment to Afghanistan in 2010-11 with his National Guard unit.

Went back to DC again after that.

Then home to Maine in 2016.

PMC in 2018 for Kabul Embassy.

Then took over the oyster farm.

Sullivan Town boards in 2021.

1

Ben McCombe @benmccombe.bsky.social · 10h

Yes. See the transcript from his interview a few days ago with Breaking Point.

Not sure what it cost 25 years ago, but it's $12,500 pa for a day student now.

Ben McCombe @benmccombe.bsky.social · 10h

He was at GWU from 2008 until 2016.

Would have met a lot of people at either college or at the bar.

He ultimately dropped out before finishing his International Relations and Languages undergrad.

1

Ben McCombe @benmccombe.bsky.social · 10h

See previous reply.

Not sure when they met.

Maybe while he was at GWU and bartending in DC?

1

Ben McCombe @benmccombe.bsky.social · 10h

He was Warren's senior advisor according to the Portland Press Herald.

I don't think many people can call someone who held a postion like that a best friend.

Ben McCombe @benmccombe.bsky.social · 10h

Tbf the friend I was talking about, Kevin Brown, worked on Obama's amd Warren's campaign staff.

He was the guy he brought in to salvage his campaign and lasted four days.

He's not just a volunteer.

2

Ben McCombe @benmccombe.bsky.social · 11h

Yeah it does.

$9k in 2024
$1k in 2023
$5k in 2022
$3k in 2021
$13k in 2020

Etc

Ben McCombe @benmccombe.bsky.social · 16h

You order a copy of the chapter from the National Library as well.

copiesdirect.nla.gov.au/items/import...

Copies Direct | Order a Copy

copiesdirect.nla.gov.au

Ben McCombe @benmccombe.bsky.social · 16h

Here you go, it's in his 1994 book "Freedom & Its Discontents: Reflections on Four Decades of American Moral Experience" of collected essays.

archive.org/details/free...

Freedom & its discontents : reflections on four decades of American moral experience : Marin, Peter : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

xi, 265 p. ; 23 cm

archive.org

2 1

Ben McCombe @benmccombe.bsky.social · 17h

Lot's of political discourse going on there too.

Bluesky is great, but I think if you want to have an impact on more people from more silos without the stain of Elon's app, might be worth branching out to.

Ben McCombe @benmccombe.bsky.social · 17h

Until recently I ignored Threads after a brief look at launch.

But it's now buzzing.

It's now larger than X/twitter, regularly beating it in daily users after doing so for the first time in September.

Threads: 128m
X: 126m
Bluesky: 1.5m
Truth Social: 0.5m

www.forbes.com/sites/conorm...

1 2

Reposted by Ben McCombe

Rich Haridy @richharidy.bsky.social · 23h

"Ultimately, it is something of an advertisement for a new therapeutic protocol"...

Could be describing almost every similar documentary on the topic from the last ten years.

In Waves and War review – Navy Seals battle PTSD with psychedelic therapy

Sombre documentary sees US soldiers give brave testimony while undergoing ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT treatment to confront their traumas

www.theguardian.com

1 1 1

Ben McCombe @benmccombe.bsky.social · 17h

Can't wait to read your book and see what's hype and what's real.

Ben McCombe @benmccombe.bsky.social · 17h

Sarina Russo's EMTR is probably in the mid to low 30's.

Her total effective tax rate could be lower.

Meanwhile someone on Jobseeker, single parent payment, carers allowance, disability or aged pensions can often lose 70-80% of each extra dollar earnt.

Ben McCombe @benmccombe.bsky.social · 17h

The amount of money people like Sarina Russo have made from the poor and disadvantaged in Australia since Howard privatised CES in the 90's is disgraceful.

This system and the high Effective Marginal Tax rates these people face needs to be reformed badly.

Andy Fleming @slackbastard.bsky.social · 18h

Nearly 90% of jobseekers unable to get long-term work despite millions spent on private job agencies

www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Nearly 90% of jobseekers unable to get long-term work despite millions spent on private job agencies

Employment department’s annual report shows just 11.7% of jobseekers ended up with jobs lasting at least 26 weeks last year

www.theguardian.com

1 1

Reposted by Ben McCombe

Andy Fleming @slackbastard.bsky.social · 18h

Nearly 90% of jobseekers unable to get long-term work despite millions spent on private job agencies

www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Nearly 90% of jobseekers unable to get long-term work despite millions spent on private job agencies

Employment department’s annual report shows just 11.7% of jobseekers ended up with jobs lasting at least 26 weeks last year

www.theguardian.com

2 28 67

Ben McCombe @benmccombe.bsky.social · 18h

Or a large amount of wealth he has access too.

Here's the FEC data for his donations.

www.fec.gov/data/receipt...

Browse Individual contributions - FEC.gov

Explore current and historic federal campaign finance data on the new fec.gov. Look at totals and trends, and see how candidates and committees raise and spend money. When you find what you need, expo...

www.fec.gov

Ben McCombe @benmccombe.bsky.social · 18h

It is plausible that Bronson Platner has a low income and is comfortable donating a very large portion of his income to political campaigns.

But I don't think that's probable.

The proxies we have; school tuition fees and donation size, suggest he has a very high income.

1 1

Ben McCombe @benmccombe.bsky.social · 18h

Something to keep in mind:

Roughly 0.5% of Americans made donations over $200 in 2016, a presidential year.

Those that do typically donate less than 1%.

Platners father's average donations of $4,600 per year puts him well into the 0.1% of Americans who donate over $2700.

1

Reposted by Ben McCombe

Democracy Dies in Dorkness @lizamazel.bsky.social · 18h

the thing is, having now watched a bit, Fuentes is unfortunately rather good at what he does; that is, he's not stupid, and he's a good performer. So yeah, reaction guy nodding & laughing, bc Fuentes is being funny about Erika.

and the term "ZOG" slips in there and still: nod nod laugh laugh

Democracy Dies in Dorkness @lizamazel.bsky.social · 18h

hell, even Carlson found Fuentes distasteful--presumably, this isn't a change of views so much as a fall in TC's fortune + a rise in Fuentes' = them converging.

Someone presumably progressive had a reaction video to Fuentes, laughing & nodding bc he was slamming Erika Kirk. Not great, I thought.

1 3

Ben McCombe @benmccombe.bsky.social · 18h

No need for that.

Ego and incompetence from him and those who recruited and vetted him, then went on to badly manage his campaign, are all that's needed.

The only good thing they did was a few polished videos for his launch.

Reposted by Ben McCombe

Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 19h

Really worth reading the entire 60 minutes interview transcript but admit this part got me laughing out loud.

860 2.2K 8.9K

Ben McCombe @benmccombe.bsky.social · 18h

We can do some rough calculations from the donations based on some speculative assumptions.

If his father donated 5% of his income (I'd consider that a high %) he made about $92k.

If it's 1%, his income would be ~ $460k.

Likely somewhere in the middle.

2