# 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:** 29
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2026, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/561 "2026-07-10T22:53:28Z")
The first line of that letter after “To Whom It May Concern” would have amply sufficed, as far as the Maine Secretary of State’s office is concerned. Contrast Platner’s letter to the one Nixon wrote when he resigned the Presidency in 1974. > **[Richard M. Nixon's Resignation Letter - DocsTeach](https://docsteach.org/document/nixons-resignation-letter/)** > > In the wake of the Watergate scandal, and facing almost certain removal from office, President Richard Nixon decided to resign. On the night of August… ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2026, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/562 "2026-07-10T23:00:44Z")
Sure, that would have sufficed. But what’s wrong with what he added? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2026, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/563 "2026-07-10T23:02:05Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > That there’s a named, influential contingent of people who believe Platner’s “I was set up but I’m dropping out anyway”, that simply does not exist. Does [Platner himself](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDTkctQU2aw)not count as influential? Note here that I’m leaning on the broader “the establishment wouldn’t let me win” statement. Platner himself was too smart to elaborate, but his followers are quite robustly connecting the dots and running with it. > [@Shalmanese](#): > > And anytime someone else is telling you what is “all over” social media that you don’t bother to check yourself, I’ve seen it myself on my feed. It’s everywhere, because again, Platner himself is spouting that bullshit line that the establishment took away his legitimate victory. Not, y’know, that he fucked it up himself by being a dirtbag made of red flags, blaming it all on others, never apologizing but simply excusing himself. That’s who he, and his supporters are. Everything is someone else’s fault. That’s yet another of many ways they resemble MAGA in ways that bear more serious reflection. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2026, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/564 "2026-07-10T23:29:54Z")
For the record, I agree that beating Trump doesn’t actually solve the problems, and we need to get at the underlying reasons that led to Trump. But beating Trump is still the essential first step. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2026, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/565 "2026-07-10T23:41:31Z")
It’s like bailing out a boat. If you don’t fix the leak, it’s going to keep happening and the ship will eventually sink. But you have to get the water out first. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2026, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/566 "2026-07-11T02:11:01Z")
I agree, that looks pretty decent, i think. ---
**Author:** ![hideousidiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/858c86/32.png) [@hideousidiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hideousidiot)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2026, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/567 "2026-07-11T13:35:30Z")
In praise of closed-mindedness (not deserving of its own Pit thread) Once I’ve made up my mind about someone or something, it tends to stay closed. It will open up when and if I’m shown some powerful evidence to the contrary, but generally that rarely happens, and I’m good with my mind being shut tight until and unless that contrary evidence appears. Take Platner. I don’t like Nazis, and I don’t like those who are fanboys of Nazis, or admirers of them, or admirers of those who admire Nazis, or those who are Nazi-adjacent, all the way down this line. If I think you’ve done or said something to show any approval or even tolerance of Nazi sm, you’re finished in my book. That’s it. So I didn’t need to listen very long to Platner’s excuse for getting a Nazi tattoo. I don’t even remember anymore what his excuse was. Maybe he said he was drunk, or in the service and peer-pressured into getting it, or a dumb old boy who had no idea what it was, or just a kid who thought it looked cool, or whatever he said. I ain’t voting for someone who ever went to the trouble of getting a Nazi tattoo, and I ain’t supporting anyone to sit in the U.S. Senate who did so. There are plenty of candidates who never got a Nazi tattoo, so I’ll find one of them to support. To the Platners of the world who say, “But I’ve changed,” my response is “I don’t care. You did something that pisses me off, and that I consider unforgiveable. So I don’t forgive you.” If Platner then says, “Can’t you give a guy a second chance?” I say, “Sure, after I’ve run out of people who haven’t needed a second chance.” And when he says, “But if you can’t forgive a youthful mistake that I’ve admitted was wrong, you will ruin my life,” I say, “I’m okay with that. You can do other things besides run for the Senate, that I won’t pay attention to, like farm oysters, or collect a disability pension, so your life isn’t ruined, just your Senate campaign. By forgiving you, I’m harming those candidates for Senate who haven’t gotten a Nazi tattoo, of whom there are plenty, so piss off, please.” Now, if Platner did something arduous and sincere and time-consuming (like getting a gigantic tattoo of the Star of David emblazoned on his chest-- although Jews aren’t supposed to get tattoos at all, he isn’t Jewish, just displaying his solidarity to the Jewish people) , without committing other acts that pissed me off, I might (after a decade or so) give his case another look, and I might come around to supporting him for public office, but until that day, my mind is shut tight. Contrarily enough, however, is that I will vote for Platner if I have no better options—that is, if he is the only viable candidate in a race against Susan Collins, whom I know for a fact to have an absolutely unconscionable voting record in the Senate. I would (if I were a Maine voter) vote for Platner, even now, if he refused to step down and remained on the ballot through November and there were no other candidates (like a third-party candidate) who stood a decent chance to defeat Collins. Platner has a chance to vote correctly on issues I care about, and Collins has none, so I would hold my nose and vote for Platner in the fall, and hope he wins. But if he won, I would also try my best to see that someone else runs for his seat in six years, no matter how good his voting record in the Senate turns out to be, because the stain of that Nazi tattoo still remains. Now, maybe—MAYBE—his voting record in the Senate would be so outstanding that I will consider that as his “arduous and sincere and time-consuming” acts for which I would forgive. Seems a little skimpy to me, but maybe. But far likelier I will never change my mind about him, on the basis of that one unforgivable action, and I’m still okay with that. Because there are so many better people who I can support instead of Platner. Aside from practical politics (i.e. running against Collins) I just don’t believe in being open-minded. Open-mindedness is weakness, and generosity towards the undeserving is foolish. I despise people who keep their minds open about those who’ve committed reprehensible acts—that’s what gets us Presidents like Trump: people who refuse to judge on the basis of available facts, people who need overwhelming proof positive on repeated occasions in order to judge people whose actions have crossed an unforgivable line of conduct. And I think closed-mindedness of the sort I’m describing has been borne out by this Platner debacle. I had no idea he was a rapist or sexual harasser or whatever caused the Dems who supported Platner to change their minds about him. But if more of them had said. “That’s sufficient” when his Nazi tattoo first came to light, we wouldn’t be in this fix at all. You have to do something pretty God-awful to get onto my shit list. But once you get on it, there’s almost no way to get off it. And I’m fine with that. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2026, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/568 "2026-07-11T15:56:24Z")
> [@hideousidiot](#): > > Contrarily enough, however, is that I will vote for Platner if I have no better options—that is, if he is the only viable candidate in a race against Susan Collins I could’ve sworn that your concerns and voting plans have been overtaken by events. Either that or we have entered a bizarre time warp. ---
**Author:** ![Frilly\_Heck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/90ced4/32.png) [@Frilly\_Heck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frilly_Heck)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2026, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/569 "2026-07-11T16:36:13Z")
I think they’re just reflecting on the hypothetical scenario where Platner didn’t drop out. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2026, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/570 "2026-07-11T20:57:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > For the record, I agree that beating Trump doesn’t actually solve the problems, and we need to get at the underlying reasons that led to Trump. > > But beating Trump is still the essential first step. Yep, this. Any candidate running as a Democrat who doesn’t prioritize weakening/reining in Donald and his crew, is a problem. I don’t accept ‘we must get rid of the Democratic Establishment’ as a valid primary goal. Others may see it differently. But they shouldn’t kid themselves. Case in point: > [@Smapti](#): > > The only person I’ve seen attributing anything to “the Jews” is you. Uh-huh. Good thing I’m not challenging you to provide proof of your claim–you would be helpless as a baby. > [@Shalmanese](#): > > It’s not “everywhere” in this thread, it’s a single, named posted who others have spent endless hours arguing against. Out of curiosity: what are you talking about? (If your answer belongs in a new thread, that’s fine with me.) Anyway, back to the grownups: > [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > > [@Shalmanese](#): > > > > And anytime someone else is telling you what is “all over” social media that you don’t bother to check yourself, > > I’ve seen it myself on my feed. It’s everywhere, because again, Platner himself is spouting that bullshit line that the establishment took away his legitimate victory. Not, y’know, that he fucked it up himself by being a dirtbag made of red flags, blaming it all on others, never apologizing but simply excusing himself. > > That’s who he, and his supporters are. Everything is someone else’s fault. That’s yet another of many ways they resemble MAGA in ways that bear more serious reflection. THIS. It’s a strain of “Democrat” that is utterly unhelpful to the project of restoring US integrity and security—a project that requires banishing the self-serving, self-dealing, democracy-despising right. Embracing equally self-serving, self-pitying blowhards is NOT the best choice for Democrats. I’m glad Platner didn’t wait until Monday (as had been floated by his team) to give the required written paperwork for ending his campaign. I agree with some who’ve said his statement isn’t as bad as was his video announcement last week. A relief. I don’t see how this guy comes back. Maybe he makes it big in podcasts and uses that to revive hopes of his being elected to…something. Stranger things have happened. ---
**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 11, 2026, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/571 "2026-07-11T21:42:54Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Good thing I’m not challenging you to provide proof of your claim–you would be helpless as a baby. Prove… that I haven’t seen people blaming the Jews for Platner’s campaign imploding? How would that work? ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2026, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/572 "2026-07-12T22:29:10Z")
An interesting perspective from someone who’s noticed a divide within the Democratic tent: > [@](#): > > …it seems to me that some progressives—especially in the populist progressive space—are either misreading or misrepresenting what’s going on. This is frustrating to me because some of these people claim to be alarmed by Trump’s authoritarian movement—but seem to be more interested in defeating the Democratic “establishment” than in beating Trump’s Republican party. > > I reject this view, completely. The Democratic establishment is imperfect and compromised in many ways—but it is still a liberal institution. More importantly, it is the only vehicle we have for accumulating the political power to push back against Trumpism in this moment. **People who cannot distinguish between the desire for Medicare for All and the danger of authoritarianism are making a grievous mistake**. > > A certain type of progressive is very upset about the Graham Platner implosion. Who are they upset at? The Democratic party. Or Israel. Or oligarchs. Whatever. Some examples: > > Cenk Uygur @cenkuygur Guess who biggest donors to the Maine Democratic Party are? Israel First and corporate donors. They have been gunning for Graham Platner from day one. They don’t care is Susan Collins wins, or whichever party wins, they only care if they win. That’s what this has been about. > [replying to: > Matt Stoller @matthewstoller. 22h Since lots of gossips are now gunning for me, I’m redoing this thread. It’s clear something messed up happened in Platner’s relationships, and he hasn’t hidden that. But there’s a big difference between ‘normal people in bad relationships who hate each other’ and ‘crime.’ (The original screen-grabs of the posts are visible at the link below.) Last goes on to quote several other prominent ‘progressive’ voices, who are similarly focused on “corporate Dems and their donors” and not-so-focused on Republicans. > [@](#): > > **The bad guys in the Graham Platner saga are: corporate Democrats, oligarchs, Neera Tanden, AIPAC, Israel, the media, the elites, and the establishment.** It’s a paywalled article and sadly, as a poor, I don’t have a subscription. But the part they let you read is fairly substantial. > **[Progressives Are Mad at the Wrong People](https://www.thebulwark.com/p/progressives-are-mad-at-the-wrong-people-graham-platner)** > > The last Graham Platner piece we’ll ever have to muddle through together. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2026, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/573 "2026-07-13T01:15:45Z")
> [@hideousidiot](#): > > In praise of closed-mindedness But I would say, is it? > [@hideousidiot](#): > > Contrarily enough, however, is that I will vote for Platner if I have no better options—that is, if he is the only viable candidate in a race against Susan Collins Because you just described adapting to exigent circumstances. You don’t like it and did not want to do it, but had to, and a key part is that nobody can demand that you act like there’s nothing wrong or that you keep quiet about what’s wrong or not demand corrective action. Is it, then, “closed minded” to have arrived at specific hard-line standards, by which you may judge someone and find them wanting? Is it “closed minded” to deny empty blanket forgiveness to someone you do not see having proven themselves worthy of it? An “open mind” IMO could have a different starting point and take a different path, but reach the same conclusion you put forth above: vote to remove Collins but if the only choice is Platner then immediately look for how to replace him. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2026, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/574 "2026-07-13T02:34:27Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > A certain type of progressive is very upset about the Graham Platner implosion. Who are they upset at? The Democratic party. Or Israel. Or oligarchs. Whatever. Some examples: > > > > Cenk Uygur @cenkuygur Cenk Uygur isn’t a progressive. He is, at best, a troll, and at worst a Trumpist operative. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2026, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/575 "2026-07-13T03:58:05Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Cenk Uygur isn’t a progressive. He’s also on record as being extremely misogynistic, going back decades. Of course he’s not going to have a problem with a politician who rapes women. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2026, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/576 "2026-07-13T03:59:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > > [@Sherrerd](#): > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > A certain type of progressive is very upset about the Graham Platner implosion. Who are they upset at? The Democratic party. Or Israel. Or oligarchs. Whatever. Some examples: > > > > > > Cenk Uygur @cenkuygur > > Cenk Uygur isn’t a progressive. He is, at best, a troll, and at worst a Trumpist operative. He [does seem to fit](https://abcnews.com/Politics/democratic-presidential-candidate-cenk-uygur/story?id=105660743) “a certain type of progressive”. > [@](#): > > Uygur is a progressive political commentator and known for co-creating “The Young Turks,” an online news show that touts it is the “largest online progressive news show in the world.” ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2026, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/577 "2026-07-13T15:18:31Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > An interesting perspective from someone who’s noticed a divide within the Democratic tent: OK, but you’re quoting The Bulwark which is explicitly started as a Never-Trump Republican publication by the former communications director for Jeb Bush and the former board chair of the Log Cabin Republicans. It’s not exactly surprising what their viewpoint is. That they’re quoting Cenk and Matt Stoller as a representative sample of progressives is laughable. Matt Stoller is literally on the homepage of the [Federalist Society](http://fedsoc.org/bio/matt-stoller). He just last month tweeted approvingly of [Matt Freaking Tracey](https://x.com/matthewstoller/status/2062894937385972081). ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2026, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/578 "2026-07-13T15:21:27Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > OK, but you’re quoting The Bulwark The quote “largest online progressive news show in the world” comes from Cenk himself, not The Bulwark. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2026, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/579 "2026-07-13T15:23:44Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > He’s also on record as being extremely misogynistic, going back decades. Of course he’s not going to have a problem with a politician who rapes women. He and Ana have both been absolutely reprehensible on this issue, with the narrative that since she texted Platner and said that her glutes were sore, she invited everything that happened next (even though she explicitly told him not to come over). ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2026, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/580 "2026-07-13T15:26:31Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > He and Ana have both been absolutely reprehensible on this issue, with the narrative that since she texted Platner and said that her glutes were sore, she invited everything that happened next (even though she explicitly told him not to come over). What the fuck. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839.md?page=28) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839.md?page=30)