The lead WSJ piece from June 8 (‘Platner Supporters Unfazed by Allegations of Misconduct’) proclaimed:
"Graham Platner held a town hall Sunday evening where
voters could ask him about allegations of past misconduct. No one did.
Instead, voters doubled down on their support for the Democrat.
The Democrat Platner teared up when presented with a poster board that included
supportive messages like ‘Everyone has a past!’"
And why not? Trump certainly has a past, including admitted pussy grabbing, and having sex with a porn star even when wife Melania was caring for a newborn, e.g.
As well as being found guilty with 34 felony convictions for a hush money case connected with the affair, i.e.
Not to mention, already having incited an insurrection and attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021,
And yet you're going to tell me, a la another WSJ piece (June 13-14, p. C3):
"Maine's Platner faces an uphill battle in the wake of his sexting scandal."
When the orange swine fouling the White House has gotten away with not only openly bragging about grabbing female genitals, actual sexual assault on E. Jean Carroll, not to mention palling around with a pedo predator- and even sending him a lascivious birthday card,
WTF is wrong with American brains when a tattoo and some ill-advised ribald riffing on Reddit can make it "uphill" for Platner but Donnie Bonespurs gets a free pass?
Again, none of the cited outrageous actual crimes of Trump have had any effect on stopping him - having being elected twice - and even getting over 74 m votes in his losing effort to Biden in 2020. And yet Graham Platner is dead in the water for 'sins' that are more like crass verbal missteps- compared to Trump's mammoth crimes - like blowing up hundreds of innocents in fishing boats in Caribbean waters.
And yet Traitor Trump had the nerve to call Platner a "thug" and a "pig". Hey, traitor -convicted felon- pedo pal - pussy grabber, look in the mirror.
Enter a Sunday Denver Post letter writer who throws down the political purity breaking gauntlet and defies Dems to find their cojones and support Platner. He writes in his letter ('Dems Should Close Ranks Around Platner):
Moral high ground? Elections are not about morals. They are about power - who gains power, how they are exercising it and accountability for that power.
Elections are not dating events. Voters do not choose a mate. A pure heart. an unimpeachable background, perfect manners and a dental plan do not matter. Graham Platner is not running to be Maine's sweetheart. He is running for one of its Senate seats. Platner is Maine's Democratic Senate candidate.
There is no other. It is him against Republican Susan Collins who talks centrist and votes extremist. He is the Democratic candidate because he has been leading in the polls and offers the party a chance to beat Susan Collins. Democracy in action.
For the sake of us, the people, our country and the planet, Democrats must now regain power. Only with power can they combat the corruption and the chaos, legislate for the people and reverse the prevailing pattern of offensive and vulgar conduct - which columnist Doug Friednash sanctimoniously and wrongfully attributes to Platner, but which the corrupt Trump regime inflicts on we the people, every day and all day long.
Platner with a covered up Totenkopf tatoo? Cute considering Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth uncovered vile white supremacist tattoos and activities. Foul language? Who cares in light of Trump and Co's incessant sewage tweets. Imp[ure manners towards women who are not his wife. Commanding them to 'be quiet, piggy' or bragging about grabbing their nether regions without consent.
Those who want Dems to gain power must close ranks behind Dem candidates, not sabotage them with irrelevant purity tests.
The letter writer is correct on so many counts, I literally could see the finished product as a submission I might have written myself. What is so gob smacking hypocritical is how so many mainstream media Nanny-ites could be picking Platner to shreds yet turn a blind eye to all of Trump's post-midnight howls,
Imagine a charismatic, working class progressive with strong policy values, down-home personality, and awesome articulation – displaying the self-esteem and honesty to apologize and seek forgiveness.
It’s dicey to endorse national candidates without either state or Washington experience. Heading his local Planning Board, salvaging an oyster farm and serving as town harbor master, plus military tours, capture how Platner proves good, heart-felt politics start locally. Were this independent, true “outsider” (disowned at first by tin-ear Dems) to advance to the Senate, that would be a stunning signal that change is on deck.
Here’s the ideal, “citizen” prospect who commits to “working Mainers” by joining a looming progressive coalition to overcome the dismal D.C. stall. Only a serious coalition does anything lasting – and this upstart activist wants to be Maine’s coalition voice. That he looks good to flip a Senate seat grabs everyone’s attention.
Donald Trump threw himself a great big birthday party over the weekend, targeted to appeal to the famous white working-class voters who have formed the core of his base since the moment he came down that golden escalator. He transformed the White House lawn into a makeshift Colosseum and held a modern-day gladiatorial spectacle, officially called UFC Freedom 250. One participant vomited on himself and later made offensive comments about Michelle Obama, to the great amusement of the assembled crowd. But there are signs that this sort of cultural signifier may not be enough to keep the MAGA faithful on board anymore.
It’s always been a bit strange that this spoiled, Richie Rich-style heir to a real estate fortune could possibly become an avatar of the working class. He’s never known a moment of physical labor in his life and has nothing but contempt for any of the hard-fought regulations and rights that protect workers from the predations of the moneyed elite and give them a chance at the American dream. One might have thought that all his ostentatious displays of wealth, compared to the squeeze working people have faced for at least the last generation, would at least make them skeptical. But as we’ve all discussed ad nauseam over the last couple of decades, tribal grievance tends to trump material self-interest among a large faction of the American electorate.
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