Pundits argue a man covered in fascist tattoos is the wrong answer to a party flirting with authoritarianism. But what happened to celebrating political transparency?
I first met the man at the center of the so-called "Platner Trap" during a bipartisan thought-leadership retreat in Aspen, and I was immediately struck by his absolute candor. Pundits have spent weeks arguing that the exact wrong answer to a Republican Party flirting with fascism is a man who chose to put vile Nazi imagery on his own body. But in an era defined by political waffling and dog whistles, shouldn't we be celebrating a leader who skips the flirting entirely and makes a lifelong, indelible commitment to the bit?
We hear endless complaints from voters that politicians are two-faced. Yet the moment a public figure has the basic courtesy to take his shirt off and provide a high-resolution, permanent visual aid of his exact prejudices right there on his epidermis, the media erupts in bad-faith outrage. It is a stunning double standard. We beg for authenticity, but when a man literally etches his hostile ideology into his own pectoral muscle, we suddenly decide transparency is a bad thing.
I raised this very point over drinks with several corporate strategists who, frankly, are exhausted by the ambiguity of modern governance. Markets hate uncertainty. When a political party merely "flirts" with authoritarianism through subtle rhetoric, investors are forced to guess at the coming regulatory landscape. But a giant, unmistakable hate symbol inked directly onto a man's torso? That is a stable, predictable economic indicator that Wall Street can immediately price in.
You have to respect the sheer logistical follow-through of the man. Flirting with fascism is easy—it is just talk. But sitting in a parlor chair for six hours to ensure your bigotry is perfectly legible from across the country club pool? That shows real executive function.
Ultimately, the "Platner Trap" is a trap of our own making. We asked for politicians who refuse to hide their true selves from the electorate. We just didn't expect them to be so breathtakingly efficient at it. I, for one, am cautiously optimistic about what other bold, easily readable policies this man might bring to the table—provided he remembers to leave his shirt unbuttoned.