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| Sanders and Platner |
Graham Platner, running for the U.S. Senate against Susan Collins in Maine, has lost considerable support among establishment Democrats in the face of allegations that were known long before they disembarked from the Platner bandwagon.
On July 7 Politico reported, “More than half
of the Senate Democratic caucus has called for Graham Platner to drop out of
the Maine Senate race, less than 24 hours after POLITICO reported that a woman
the oysterman once dated had accused him of sexual assault… Most Democrats
previously stuck by Platner even as his beleaguered campaign battled scandal
after scandal in recent months. By Tuesday, the tide had turned firmly against
Platner, with 38 of the Senate’s 47 Democratic senators calling for him to drop
out as of early Tuesday afternoon.”
What was the straw the broke the donkey’s back?
It was not the “Nazi” tattoo Platner proudly sported
throughout his questionable assignations. Correcting some unintentional
mislabeling, the tattoo was a representation of an insignia worn by Nazi
concentration camp guards who were responsible, directly or indirectly, for
keeping the ovens well stocked with Jewish prisoners.
Connecticut’s two U.S. Senators, Junior Senator Chris Murphy
and Senior Senator Dick Blumenthal, were not sufficiently appalled by the
tattoo on Platner’s chest to declare, immediately upon seeing it, that a red
line had been crossed. Blumenthal, whose present term in office ends on January
3, 2029, is Jewish. Some of his fellow Jewish constituents in Connecticut no
doubt will be disappointed in the senator’s frigid sangfroid. Murphy’s term in
office ends on January 3, 2031. The senator has five luxurious years before
voters, many familiar with the history of Nazi genocide, forget poorly
remembered events and Murphy’s long delayed inadequate moral response to
Platner’s many shortcomings. Things happen in the fog of political campaigns,
don’t they? And it is doubtful that Connecticut reporters and political
commentators are keeping a record of the number of times Murphy has archly
hinted that Trump and his supporters are guilty of “genocide” or worse –
hypocrisy.
Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, for weeks Platner’s energetic
campaign associate, has gingerly stepped away from the stricken “oyster farmer.”
It is a violation of the rules of grammar and common understanding to call
Platner an oyster farmer.
Platner’s oyster farm has been amusingly described by others
as a “boutique or small-scale operation rather than a large commercial
enterprise.” The Waukeag Neck Oyster Company, established in 2020 and co-owned
by Platner and his wife Amy, supplies oysters to local restaurants, one of
which is owned by his mother. The business generates a modest income. Platner
has earned only a few thousand dollars in sales, the majority of his income
coming from VA disability benefits.
In a belated post on X, Murphy noted that Democrats must win
back the Senate to challenge President Donald Trump’s "daily,
nuclear-grade corruption." But he
acknowledged the allegations against Platner were serious enough to require a
change in the Democratic nominee. "The assault allegations against Graham
Platner are disqualifying and he should be replaced as the nominee,"
Murphy forthrightly declared -- much too late, but “better late than never”
moral apologists tell us.
By supporting Platner, leading Democrats, Blumenthal and
Murphy among them, had hoped to win back the U.S. Senate from genocidal
Republicans. Had Platner in the upcoming general election defeated current
Maine U.S. Senator Susan Collins – the only New England Republican Senator in
Congress -- national Democrats would have moved four Senate Seats to their side
of the political aisle.
With a backward glance at the way Democrats removed
President Joe Biden from their ticket, Murphy declared that any replacement of
Platner with a less flawed candidate “can’t happen as a party insider backroom
deal. Voters are sick of the status quo and they need to have a say here — or
our party will squander whatever credibility we have left."
In early May, Blumenthal offered what one
publication called “a measured defense” of Platner. Mistakes, unmentioned by
Blumenthal, were made, but Platner’s “heart is in the right place.” The
publication noted that Democrats were engaged in a “delicate balancing act
national Democrats face when supporting candidates whose prior statements have
attracted scrutiny ahead of a competitive Senate race.”
Very late in the game, the tide turned, and Blumenthal with
it. U.S Representative from New York
City Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), considered with her comrade anti- Zionists
on the cutting edge of Democrat socialism and a strong supporter of Mayor of
New York Zohran Mamdani, an outspoken socialist, guardedly restrained her
enthusiasm for Platner. Foul rumors of the mistreatment of women and even rape
were very early in the air.
Never shy of a television camera, Blumenthal told a CNN reporter two days ago that charges
made publicly by a Platner
rape victim were “serious, credible; they’re unacceptable. This [rape]
survivor ought to be recognized for the tremendous courage she showed in coming
forward. She should never have had to endure this kind of assault on her.” His
fellow Democrats, Blumenthal pointed out, “have called for his [Platner’s] withdraw.
I agree.”
Two days ago, Platner’s accuser, Lyndsey Fifield, fired a
plausible round at the New York Times, according to the New York Post: “The first woman to
publicly accuse Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner of abuse and
other violent behavior excoriated the New York Times Tuesday for its reporting
of her claims, alleging the Gray Lady played up her story and political views
to boost the Platner campaign. “’I actually understand why Democrat leaders
didn’t take our stories seriously when the Times reported them in June but are
taking them seriously now,’ Fifield declared on X. ‘It was by design. The line
most shared from the piece was the claim that the Times “could not corroborate”
my story despite talking to two of my friends. I gave them the contact
information for five friends,’ she further explained.”
Perhaps it is an encouraging sign that Blumenthal may have
read either the New York Post story or the X representation, but it is more likely that Blumenthal’s tardy denunciation of Platner was occasioned by a
falling roof beam in the house built by President Andy Jackson, the architect
of the modern Democrat Party.
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