"I stopped using the internet because I got happy." -- Graham Platner

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I love this quote. It relates to questions about some of Platner’s social media posting history. I don’t have any discussion I wish to have, or any topic, or anything else here. That’s why it’s in MPSIMS where I normally don’t hang out.

I just loved the pithiness. It’s even better when you read it in context. There’s an interview with Platner in the NYT today and this quote comes from there. I’m sorry I’m not able to provide a gift link.

There are controversial statements also on social media. You posted over 1,800 comments under the username P-Hustle from 2009 to November 2021. And some of them are objectively concerning. You said that rural Mainers are racist and stupid. You said that sexual assault victims should take responsibility for themselves. This all came out in the national press. Why didn’t you disclose this stuff first?

Oh, we did. We released all of the comments. When people came to us, they’re like, We’ve got a couple little ones. And we were like, There’s a lot more than a couple. So we just put everything out there.

You did delete them, though, before the campaign launched.

I deleted them a while ago. I haven’t used Reddit, I think, since 2021. I’ll be honest, I don’t actually know when I did delete everything.

It wasn’t because you were going to run?

No, no, no. I stopped using the internet because I got happy. I sat on the internet for a number of years getting in fights, in the parlance of the times, shit-posting, trying to get a rise out of people, trying to get in arguments because it brought me some form of serotonin boost. Truthfully I was really, really isolated and alone. Very angry.

Go Graham.

NOTE to Moderators: I recognize that this thread could turn into a general thread about Platner’s run for Senator. If it does, I would welcome that but I am not seeking it out. Please feel free to change forums if you see any need. Thanks!

2

Another I like is:

" We didn’t beat the Nazis with smiles. We beat them with war."

From the same NYT interview:

You wrote in 2018 about armed resistance to fascism. You said, “An armed working class is a requirement for economic justice.” How do you think about that now? As a student of history, it is difficult for me to not see elements of that as being a reality, especially in resistance to fascism. We didn’t beat the Nazis with smiles. We beat them with war. I don’t think it’s a very controversial statement.

3

There’s a big difference between “I’ve changed from what I was 20 years ago” and “I’ve changed from what I was 5 years ago”. The burden of proof is on him.

4

They’re just statements, though, so it’s hard to figure out what the “proof” would even be besides more statements.

The account was deleted 5 years ago, so the comments have not been out there during that time. And he flat out admits that not all of them were even positions he actually held at the time.

I will note that both of the statements being brought up are also common here on this board, from people who have since changed their views. And what evidence do we have to conclude that their views have changed? Well, their speech.

5

His remark about ceasing to use the Internet because he got happy may be insulting to us who do enjoy using the Internet. But the repudiation of shit-posting (which most of us don’t do) seems fairly healthy to me.

It does seem likely that Platner was, for some period of his life, attracted to conflict. And that’s not what I’d ideally like in a Senator (not that I live in his state).

Still, people are capable of changing.

6

I think by “internet” he mostly meant 4chan and the like. The places where trolls live to happily troll. And the cumulative vandalism is left to fester.

I’m on the internet (duh), but not that “internet”.

And inherently stupid 20-something testosterone-poisoned kids grow older. Some even grow up at the same time.

Agree completely.

7

Well, we could look at his voting record in the lesser offices he’s held. Or at least, we could, if he’d held any lesser offices.

Senator is not an entry-level position.

8

Certainly should not be.

We live in weird times.

9

I’ll buy that.

I’m not thrilled with various aspects of Platner’s past. But I do think he’s miles better (for Maine and for the nation) than Susan Collins. If I lived in Maine I believe I’d put aside my reservations.

(One Senator can’t do the harm that one President can do. Though I suppose it could be argued that a Senate seat is a jumping off place for a Presidential run…)