# People defending Graham Platner are pathetic and intellectually bankrupt **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 12, 2026, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839 "2026-06-12T02:58:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/401 "2026-07-07T03:45:20Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > I’m not sure what you are imputing to me here. Smapti has a smug certainty about his political wisdom and prophetic powers that is, as near as I can tell, completely unwarranted. You, on the other hand, have a smug certainty about your political wisdom and prophetic powers that is, as near as I can tell, completely unwarranted. In this case, the coin flipped heads, and your prediction was right. But it’s flipped tails plenty of other times. Your calling people stupid because they didn’t join you in your smug prediction is contemptible. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/402 "2026-07-07T03:46:28Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > So did the woman who told Rolling Stone she was gang-raped by seven fraternity pledges at UVA. Remember that? […] Wouldn’t surprise me if this story had the same kind of origin. So in order to impugn the testimony of _anyone_, all you have to do is show that someone at some time in the past also lied? That is fucked reasoning. > [@](#): > > He’s not running to marry my daughter. He’s running to punch fascists in the face. That’s what I care about. And the Nazis themselves were fighting “international Bolshevism,” so to them their methods were justified. Again, you’re way off base here. Get a grip. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/403 "2026-07-07T03:48:45Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > So in order to impugn the testimony of _anyone_, all you have to do is show that someone at some time in the past also lied? I’m saying “she told someone about it a long time ago” is not the smoking gun people are making it out to be and that a mere accusation without proof is not cause to end a candidacy. I’m also saying that the timing of this accusation shows that it has nothing to do with pursuing justice, or being the truth, and everything to do with overturning the will of Maine’s Democratic electorate and imposing upon them a candidate that will do as Palantir and AIPAC tell them. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/404 "2026-07-07T03:51:42Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Smapti has a smug certainty about his political wisdom and prophetic powers that is, as near as I can tell, completely unwarranted. I just perceive him to be doubling and tripling down on a bad position here and don’t draw any big conclusions about his politics and prophesies on the whole. > [@](#): > > You, on the other hand, have a smug certainty about your political wisdom and prophetic powers that is, as near as I can tell, completely unwarranted. Maybe. But in this case, the future to be predicted was so fucking obvious that I perceive those who didn’t see it as being rather stupid in this case. I hardly see it as myself discerning anything difficult to see. > [@](#): > > In this case, the coin flipped heads, and your prediction was right. But it’s flipped tails plenty of other times. As is true of any pundit. I am held to a very high standard on this board! > [@](#): > > Your calling people stupid because they didn’t join you in your smug prediction is contemptible. I am not calling them stupid in general but definitely stupid in this one case. Platner was, from the start, an obvious recidivist scumbag. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/405 "2026-07-07T03:53:54Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I’m saying “she told someone about it a long time ago” is not the smoking gun people are making it out to be and that a mere accusation without proof And thus did Smapti make the Epstein Files a mere pile of paper. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/406 "2026-07-07T03:58:40Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > > [@BigT](#): > > > > It’s because we have ample evidence he wasn’t lying about the Nazi tattoo. This revelation doesn’t make that evidence not exist. > > WTF, it’s clear that he _did_ lie. There are multiple people saying that he bragged about the tattoo and knew what it was. Sigh. That was at least in part based on a Reddit post. When we actually looked at what it said, there was no such bragging, just talking about why military people thought skulls were cool. This was one of many things shown to Chronos that he ignored. There’s more, but I don’t feel like relitigating everything. The old arguments are all still there and remain just as valid, despite this new revelation. That’s what I find frustrating: people using this as evidence that their unrelated argument was correct. You can look back and see the state of both threads before today. We were at the point of “well, assuming nothing else bad happens, it’s better to support him than not.” Not some blind support. My ire with you is you claiming that this is somehow the same as Trump support. It just wasn’t. It was full of legitimate, rational arguments. Trump’s support is cult-like. It has no rationality to it at all. It’s just “I’m angry at libs, so I support the guy who hates libs.” My ire with Chronos is that he keeps ignoring what’s inconvenient to him. He did it several times. Go look at his one liner posts where he kept claiming Platner had no record. Hopefully I don’t need to reexplain my ire with iiandyiiii (whose posts I won’t see for a while). Smapti just needs to accept reality and stop complaining about things not going the way he wishes it did. My ire with HMS is that he keeps asking how this doesn’t change people’s opinion about the tattoo. The answer is, because nothing has actually changed with regard to that. **You want to believe that he was lying the whole time? Fine.** But today’s revelation doesn’t change that. They are unrelated topics. The tattoo was something that came and went and was no longer considered an issue. I thought it would be an issue originally. But then it wasn’t. This rape issue? Yeah, I think it might be. This new revelation doesn’t make anyone wrong unless they argued that nothing new would happen or that Platner never committed rape. (Assuming the accusation is true.) Just some people need this to be proof they were right all along. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/407 "2026-07-07T03:59:00Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I’m saying “she told someone about it a long time ago” is not the smoking gun people are making it out to be It fortifies her accusation to a great degree. Platner was not famous at the time. So what would have been her motivation for conveying to others a false accusation about just “some guy”? A guy who, “by coincidence,” has been accused of abusive behavior by multiple women and has himself admitted to sexting six women right after he got married. Mmm hmm… > [@](#): > > and that a mere accusation without proof is not cause to end a candidacy. It is! And what level of proof do you want? A full on court trial? > [@](#): > > I’m also saying that the timing of this accusation shows that it has nothing to do with pursuing justice, or being the truth, and everything to do with overturning the will of Maine’s Democratic electorate and imposing upon them a candidate that will do as Palantir and AIPAC tell them. As has been pointed out by others, the timing is beneficial to Democrats, or at least much better than had she waited for him to be locked in as the candidate. In terms of scandals that knock out a candidate, this isn’t a kinda-sorta case. This is top-grade “this guy is FUCKED” level scandal. I am referring to the _aggregate_ of all the scandals, not just this latest, very severe addition to the pile. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/408 "2026-07-07T04:03:56Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > It fortifies her accusation to a great degree. Platner was not famous at the time. So what would have been her motivation for conveying to others a false accusation about just “some guy”? The same as the UVA hoaxer’ motive for accusing just some frat. > [@Aeschines](#): > > And what level of proof do you want? A full on court trial? Yes. If he committed rape then he should be prosecuted and tried for it. Why tell Politico and Jake Tapper instead of telling the Maine state police? > [@Aeschines](#): > > As has been pointed out by others, the timing is beneficial to Democrats The timing is beneficial to the DNC, who would rather be a minority party than share a majority with progressives. It is NOT beneficial to Democratic voters, who are having their votes overturned and their chosen candidate taken away from them via skullduggery. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/409 "2026-07-07T04:11:36Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Sigh. That was at least in part based on a Reddit post. When we actually looked at what it said, there was no such bragging, just talking about why military people thought skulls were cool. Incorrect. One woman said she showed Platner the tattoo to her and indicated that he knew what it meant. Multiple people have said something similar. I’m not going to go dig up cites because I consider this all to be an obvious point and, based on the horns of the dilemma I elucidated, you have the choice between this guy being a liar or being a dumbass. I’ll take either one. > [@](#): > > There’s more, but I don’t feel like relitigating everything. The old arguments are all still there and remain just as valid, despite this new revelation. That’s what I find frustrating: people using this as evidence that their unrelated argument was correct. I perceive this as splitting hairs and more or less irrelevant, and I will point out the reason in a second here. > [@](#): > > You can look back and see the state of both threads before today. We were at the point of “well, assuming nothing else bad happens, it’s better to support him than not.” Not some blind support. Yeah, and I was taking that position too _while_ pointing out that people were defending him baselessly and irrationally as do the Trumpists defend their orange god. > [@](#): > > My ire with you is you claiming that this is somehow the same as Trump support. It just wasn’t. It was full of legitimate, rational arguments. Trump’s support is cult-like. It has no rationality to it at all. It’s just “I’m angry at libs, so I support the guy who hates libs.” I spoke very specifically and never said that people were supporting Platner like a cult idol. > [@](#): > > They are unrelated topics. The tattoo was something that came and went and was no longer considered an issue. I thought it would be an issue originally. But then it wasn’t. This rape issue? Yeah, I think it might be. WTF? _Of course_ it’s still an issue. The rape issue _might_ be?! Yeah, it’s splitting hairs to argue about whether posters were correctly arguing backwards about their position on the tattoo based on the rape accusation. LOL, it would take pages of text just to untwist that. It’s irrelevant because it _all still matters_ and Platner is a lying scumbag ffs! ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/410 "2026-07-07T04:12:21Z")
LOL 2x. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/411 "2026-07-07T04:16:07Z")
Oh for fuck’s sake. If this is a hoax, why aren’t there similar stories about Mamdani and Talarico and Villegas and Dunlap and El-Sayed? Platner isn’t the great white hope. I thought he was a clueless dumbass, but it turns out he was a clueless dumbass who’s also (almost certainly) a violent rapist. I was wrong about him, to the extent that “not being willing to speculate beyond the evidence at hand” counts as “wrong.” Platner isn’t getting accused of rape because he’s a leftist. He’s getting accused of rape for the same reason that Trump and Kavanaugh got accused of rape. And Mamdani isn’t getting accused of rape for the same reason that JD Vance isn’t getting accused of rape. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/412 "2026-07-07T04:19:44Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > If this is a hoax, why aren’t there similar stories about Mamdani and Talarico and Villegas and Dunlap and El-Sayed? …there _are_ similar stories about all those people. The only reason this one is getting traction is you’ve been preconditioned to accept it by the previous attempts to ratfuck him. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Platner isn’t the great white hope No, but he is the Democratic nominee and one of only two people who is going to be the next senator from Maine. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Platner isn’t getting accused of rape because he’s a leftist. That’s EXACTLY why he’s been accused of everything he’s been accused of. The DNC has no problem standing by sex pests when the alternative is a leftist, or did you not notice how they repeatedly tried to ratfuck Zohran after he won the nomination it was Cuomo’s turn to have? ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/413 "2026-07-07T04:24:35Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > …there _are_ similar stories about all those people. Cite? > [@](#): > > That’s EXACTLY why he’s been accused of everything he’s been accused of. Baseless conspiracy theory. Inexcusable. So the DNC is fabricating all of this and is comfortable with making _rape accusations_ against an innocent man in order to get their way? AND no insider is going to leak such a plot? > [@](#): > > The DNC has no problem standing by sex pests when the alternative is a leftist, or did you not notice how they repeatedly tried to ratfuck Zohran after he won the nomination it was Cuomo’s turn to have? They were definitely leery about supporting him. They did not engage in a criminal conspiracy against him and make baseless rape allegations. You’ve lost the thread here, my friend. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/414 "2026-07-07T04:35:41Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Cite? [https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/23/andrew-cuomo-suggests-mamdani-would-cheer-future-terror-attack-00620620](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/23/andrew-cuomo-suggests-mamdani-would-cheer-future-terror-attack-00620620) > **[‘What so many Black people fear’: Jasmine Crockett slams Talarico over...](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/many-black-people-fear-jasmine-233501309.html)** > > EXCLUSIVE: “Even the most quote-unquote well-intentioned white folk, sometimes behind closed doors, may say things about us…and it doesn’t matter [https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article315831958.html](https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article315831958.html) > **[CD2 candidate Joe Baldacci accuses Republican PAC of 'meddling' in primaries](https://wgme.com/news/local/cd2-candidate-joe-baldacci-accuses-republican-pac-of-meddling-in-primaries-maine-democratic-primary-matt-dunlap-dc-republicans)** > > Baldacci said the group is operating through the GOP-affiliated Real Change PAC and is attempting to influence Maine's Democratic primary. > **[New ad claiming El-Sayed disrespected women stretches its facts](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/ad-claiming-el-sayed-disrespected-211438766.html)** > > Several of the claims made by an AIPAC-aligned group beg credulity. The ratfucking is coming from the DNC/AIPAC machine. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/415 "2026-07-07T04:37:37Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > So the DNC is fabricating all of this and is comfortable with making _rape accusations_ against an innocent man in order to get their way? Yes. Calling him a Nazi didn’t work, so they needed to up the stakes. > [@Aeschines](#): > > AND no insider is going to leak such a plot? I rather expect that one eventually will and you’ll all look quite foolish for falling for it. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/416 "2026-07-07T04:49:09Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > And Mamdani isn’t getting accused of rape for the same reason that JD Vance isn’t getting accused of rape. Couches don’t talk? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/417 "2026-07-07T04:50:52Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > He’s getting accused of rape for the same reason that Trump and Kavanaugh got accused of rape. And Mamdani isn’t getting accused of rape for the same reason that JD Vance isn’t getting accused of rape. So what’s the reason Bill Clinton was accused of rape? ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/418 "2026-07-07T05:00:23Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > So what’s the reason Bill Clinton was accused of rape? He’s a rapist and a scumbag. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/419 "2026-07-07T05:01:19Z")
These are not nearly on the same level as a false rape allegation, and two of them are clearly just matters of opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/420 "2026-07-07T05:02:57Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > These are not nearly on the same level as a false rape allegation And none of them worked, which is why they’ve gone to the next level. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839.md?page=22)