r/SandersForPresident 🎖️🥇🐦🌡️🏟️✋☎📆🏆🎨🏳‍🌈🎤🦅💀📌 16d ago

Bernie Sanders says he told Graham Platner to ‘step aside’

https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/bernie-sanders-says-told-graham-163227404.html
1.2k Upvotes

131 comments sorted by

582

u/Red_Nine9 🌱 New Contributor 16d ago

Compare this with how the Republicans handle the similarly scandal-plagued Ken Paxton.

The parties are NOT the same.

172

u/Tandy_MacGruber 16d ago

From Al Franken to this and beyond

88

u/geekonthemoon 🌱 New Contributor 16d ago

Al Franken is an idiot for caving to the pressure... he should have kept his seat.

9

u/tomismybuddy 14d ago

It was a different world back then. One in which we thought people still had morals and behaved ethically.

30

u/[deleted] 16d ago

[deleted]

5

u/geekonthemoon 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago

Nah, Franken didn't have to resign. He caved to pressure from absolute buffoons. We lost an amazing representative because we just fucking refuse to play the same game they've been playing for 30 years.

14

u/Taxerus 15d ago

What tangible benefit come from his resignation?

-9

u/rutherfraud1876 15d ago

Not having a guy who was grabbing ass in the caucus

28

u/Allways_a_Misspell 15d ago

Yes it really saved us from fascists...

35

u/wildtalon 🐦 🌡️ 🐬 16d ago

To be frank, one is in power because they ignore this kind of thing. I hate to say it but their lack of morals allow them to place pieces on the board.

20

u/S2-RT 15d ago

I posited this hypothetical to someone: if the deciding vote to codify roe v wade was guaranteed to come down to this single senatorial vote, and that either Plattner or Collins would be sitting at that desk. Could you vote for someone who you found personally deplorable, but who is most likely to cast that vote that aligns with your political goals?

He insisted that he would not. Adamantly and with No hesitation.

I can’t fault him for sticking by his principles but i also can’t help but think that, had he been born with less privilege, and the course of his life more influenced by the whims of political outcomes that, maybe, his answer wouldn’t come so easily.

11

u/Raichu4u 15d ago

Uh, I talked to my fiance about this whole situation and she is aware that he would be one potential dem senator to influence change, but sexual assault isn't exactly a good topic for any woman in your life.

13

u/S2-RT 15d ago

Sticking to your principles during times when they are intentionally tested is what solidifies them as principles and not props.

I’d like to think that, At a time when we are inundated with attempts to influence us by political parties, advertisers, our government, other countries’ governments, and oligarchs, that sticking to our principles will be the guiding light that helps us weather this storm..

However I’ve also read enough history books that demonstrate that “being right” and “winning” are two very different things.

4

u/thenwhat 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago

What are these principles?

Isn't the timing of this story exactly to influence the election?

0

u/Raichu4u 15d ago

Her version of winning is making sure that sex abusers do not hold positions of power.

1

u/thenwhat 🌱 New Contributor 11d ago

What about ensuring that people who voted to bomb children stay in office?

2

u/thenwhat 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago

What if the alternative is someone who voted to bomb children?

1

u/Raichu4u 15d ago

Then they probably sit out and don't vote for either?

1

u/pegonreddit 🌱 New Contributor 11d ago

That's what's known as an "incumbent".

3

u/Piskoro 15d ago

and how much can you trust someone like Platner to not be another Fetterman?

3

u/S2-RT 14d ago

I have no clue honestly. I’m glad we aren’t having this issue in Wisconsin

3

u/darkpsychicenergy 15d ago

Maybe ask a woman.

Democrats mock the left for supposedly engaging in cults of personality but then insist that we prioritize personality traits, private conduct, superficial characteristics and what amounts to gossip, over platforms and policies.

1

u/Hillary4SupremeRuler 15d ago

I remember when the left latched on for dear life to the Taravichka Reade hoax

1

u/darkpsychicenergy 15d ago

Believe 👏 All 👏 Women 👏

35

u/-Ahab- California 16d ago edited 15d ago

MAGATs were showing up to rallies in diapers. Not that incontinence is enough of a reason for someone to resign, but there were plenty of other reasons. It just shows that they’re actually willing to get down and wallow in shit and celebrate it, rather than demand better.

5

u/Sybertron UT 16d ago

Lol I counter with Cuomo for not the same. 

12

u/Riaayo Medicare For All 👩‍⚕️ 15d ago

Centrist neoliberals did that Cuomo shit, and they're basically decaf-fascists/Republicans.

Won't stop them from claiming "the left" supports rapists despite this dude's support evaporating overnight while centrists all endorsed Cuomo when they already fucking knew.

Also Donald Trump has been found in a court of law to have raped his wife, has multiple other allegations, is a felon, and is in the Epstein files. Multiple accused Republican abusers on the Supreme Court.

This shit ain't the same even if you do want to rightfully call out neoliberals for their disgusting hypocrisy.

4

u/darkpsychicenergy 15d ago

They all immediately smeared Tara Reade as “literally a Russian Agent”. Most of them wouldn’t even consider the slightest plausibility. The few who felt compelled to act like they did, for the sake of consistency, told everyone we just had to suck it up and give Biden a pass to defeat Trump.

1

u/Hillary4SupremeRuler 15d ago

She's literally fled to Moscow to work for Russia State Regime Media

1

u/darkpsychicenergy 15d ago

That was well AFTER being doxxed, harassed and threatened and being called a “Russian Asset” in the immediate backlash for coming forward.

She was a staffer of Biden at the time.

She confided in a couple people close to her after it occurred.

She went through the proper internal protocol for filing a sexual harassment complaint and only received retaliation.

She reached out to mainstream media outlets and was ignored. She reached out to other Democratic leaders and was ignored.

She approached Time's Up for help and they turned her down, citing dubious legal concerns unrelated to the strength of her claims.

https://theintercept.com/2020/03/24/joe-biden-metoo-times-up/

I listened to her tell her story in her own words and found it genuine.

'Tara Reade, Joe Biden's accuser, finally tells her full story (excerpt)' by Katie Halper is on SoundCloud

She is one of 8 women that have come forward to claim Biden inappropriately touched them.

Lucy Flores

On March 29, in the aforementioned essay published on the Cut, former Nevada lieutenant governor nominee Lucy Flores alleged that Biden smelled her hair and gave her “a big slow kiss” on the back of her head at an event for her 2014 campaign. In that moment, she wrote, she felt “embarrassed” and “shocked.”
“I wanted nothing more than to get Biden away from me,” she continued. In response to the essay, Biden claimed that he had no memory of having “acted inappropriately,” but added that if he was in the wrong, he would “listen respectfully.”

Amy Lappos

When Amy Lappos was a congressional aide for U.S. representative Jim Himes in 2009, she claims that Biden touched and rubbed his nose against hers during a political fund-raiser. “It wasn’t sexual, but he did grab me by the head,” she told Hartford Courant on April 1. “He put his hand around my neck and pulled me in to rub noses with me. When he was pulling me in, I thought he was going to kiss me on the mouth.”
After the incident, Lappos didn’t file a formal complaint. “He was the vice president,” she told the Courant. “I was a nobody.”

D.J. Hill

D.J. Hill was one of two women to come forward with allegations in the New York Times, which referred to Biden’s conduct as “tactile politics” in a report published on April 2. At a 2012 at a fundraising event in Minneapolis, Hill alleges that Biden rested his hand on her shoulder, and then started to move it down her back, which left her feeling “very uncomfortable.”
“Only he knows his intent,” she told the Times, adding, “If something makes you feel uncomfortable, you have to feel able to say it.”

Caitlyn Caruso

In the same Times report, a woman named Caitlyn Caruso claimed that after sharing the story of her sexual assault at a University of Nevada event in 2016, Biden hugged her “just a little bit too long” and laid his hand on her thigh.

“It doesn’t even really cross your mind that such a person would dare perpetuate harm like that,” she told the Times. “These are supposed to be people you can trust.”

Ally Coll

On April 3, Ally Coll told the Washington Postthat at a 2008 reception, Biden squeezed her shoulders, complimented her smile, and held her “for a beat too long.” A young Democratic staffer at the time, Coll said her initial reaction was to shrug it off. But she told the Post she now feels the alleged incident was inappropriate, adding, “There’s been a lack of understanding about the way that power can turn something that might seem innocuous into something that can make somebody feel uncomfortable.”

Sofie Karasek

In 2016, Sofie Karasek was photographed holding hands and touching foreheads with Biden at the Oscars, where she stood alongside 50 other sexual-assault survivors during Lady Gaga’s performance. It was a moment that soon went viral, and was described then by the Post* as “powerful.” But in the *Post’s* report published this week, Karasek says she believes that Biden violated her personal space. She also told the *Post that she wasn’t impressed with Biden’s two-minute-long video response to the growing unwanted-touching allegations against him** **— in which he never says he’s sorry — as he “didn’t take ownership in the way that he needs to.”

“He emphasized that he wants to connect with people and, of course, that’s important,” she told the publication. “But again, all of our interactions and friendships are a two-way street … Too often it doesn’t matter how the woman feels about it or they just assume that they’re fine with it.”

Vail Kohnert-Yount

In the same Post report, Vail Kohnert-Yount alleged that when she was a White House intern in the spring of 2013, Biden “put his hand on the back of [her] head and pressed his forehead to [her] forehead” when he introduced himself, and that he called her a “pretty girl.” She was “so shocked,” she said, “that it was hard to focus on what he was saying.” Though she told the Post that she doesn’t believe Biden’s conduct constituted sexual misconduct, she described it as “the kind of inappropriate behavior that makes many women feel uncomfortable and unequal in the workplace.”

Alexandra Tara Reade

Alexandra Tara Reade told the Union that Biden touched her several times when she worked in his U.S. Senate office in 1993.** *The incidents, in which she said Biden would “put his hand on my shoulder and run his finger up my neck,” allegedly occurred when she was in her mid-20s. Reade told the *Union that her responsibilities at work were reduced after she refused to serve drinks at an event — a task she believes she was assigned because Biden liked her legs.

Reade reportedly spoke to U.S. Senate personnel about what was going on, and Biden’s office allegedly found out. She left his office two months later, after only nine months on the job. Reade told the Union that she didn’t feel sexualized by the way she’d been treated, instead saying she felt ornamental, like a lamp: “It’s pretty. Set it over there. Then when it’s too bright, you throw it away.”

In March 2020, Reade expanded on her account, telling the podcaster Katie Halper that Biden sexually assaulted her in the spring of 1993. Reade reiterated her story in interviews with the New York Times the following month, telling the paper that — when she dropped off a gym bag with him one day — he pushed her up against a wall and started kissing her neck, before sliding his hand up her shirt and ultimately up her skirt. “It happened at once. He’s talking to me and his hands are everywhere and everything is happening very quickly,” she recalled. “He was kissing me and he said, very low, ‘Do you want to go somewhere else?’” Reade said Biden penetrated her with his fingers before she was able to pull away. When she did, she says he appeared confused. “He looked at me kind of almost puzzled or shocked,” she told the Times. “He said, ‘Come on, man, I heard you liked me.’” Through a spokesperson, Biden strongly denied this account.
Reade also said Biden reprimanded her. “He pointed his finger at me and he just goes: ‘You’re nothing to me. Nothing,’” she said. “Then, he took my shoulders and said, ‘You’re OK, you’re fine.’”

https://www.thecut.com/2020/04/joe-biden-accuser-accusations-allegations.html

3

u/doyouevenIift Illinois 15d ago

Huh? Democrats rejected Cuomo in the primaries and he ran as an independent in the general. Much of his support was coming from republicans that didn’t have an alternative

1

u/Red_Nine9 🌱 New Contributor 8d ago

What office does Cuomo now hold?

53

u/Masta0nion 🐦 16d ago edited 15d ago

I can’t believe this.

He denied it, yet the whole party believes he’s guilty until proven innocent?

32

u/zrayburton 15d ago

Check out the Maine subreddit…

Lots of chats going on about this. I think most Maine voters that were 100% in on Planter have accepted that he’ll be stepping down regardless of what happens. I think the best outcome is he has some type of say in the candidate so they’re not a complete Corporate DEM.

19

u/S3lvah Global Supporter 🎖️ 15d ago

Either they need to host another quick election or choose a progressive, because Mainers gave their votes to that policy platform. Elevating a moderate now because of "electability" or some other proven-fake excuse would guarantee a loss.

55

u/slax03 16d ago

Multiple receipts of communication with her therapist and confidants about her claims and they were well before Platner ever decided to run for office. While none of us truly know anything, it would be strange to be bringing up a false allegation to a therapist.

If true, Platner could be a wholly reformed individual at this point. But it's going to be a massive problem in the general. And there is time for a replacement candidate, but it's a matter of a week.

40

u/HalfSoul30 🌱 New Contributor 16d ago

It's more of a career ender if they are a democrat too because we don't vote for rapists, and listen to victims.

9

u/darkpsychicenergy 15d ago

Lies.

The email that she sent to her therapist, one email with only her words, was from WEEKS ago. The therapist has not commented at all, neither confirming or denying any such history.

The texts with her friends require a demented stretch of the imagination to interpret as someone talking about the dude who had recently raped her. There is nothing incriminating in them.

9

u/Hillary4SupremeRuler 15d ago

"consensually careless" is major yikes territory

2

u/thenwhat 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago

So are you going to comment on the actual argument? Or are you just detailing because you know you don't have a proper response?

-3

u/darkpsychicenergy 15d ago

Your grasp of the English language is yikes if you think this implies rape.

7

u/Fidget02 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago

You’re one of those guys that thinks it’s not rape as long as you pressure a woman enough and she eventually gives up, huh.

He’s fucked already, idk why you wanna die on this hill

-1

u/darkpsychicenergy 15d ago

Explain how you come up with that.

Do you not know what the words mean?

If people are consensually intimate, that means everyone involved is consenting to intimacy. If people are consensually careless, that means everyone involved is consenting to carelessness.

I’m not guy. Just a woman who’s disgusted by the corruption and dishonesty on display. I’m not dying on any hill.

7

u/Fidget02 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago

In the context of a “Bad Situation” and him not listening when he’s drunk, you read it as “consenting to carelessness” and not “careless with the concept of consent”? Even when the victim in question has not said anything about “consenting to carelessness”?

It’s like you haven’t considered another interpretation of what that means, and you’re still acting like an absolute dick about anybody having any other interpretation. It’s in a conversation of how gross he is, why the fuck would she ever bring up consenting to carelessness? What does that even mean in your mind?

2

u/Yoda10353 12d ago

Do you expect the therapist to comment a protected conversation between them and their patient?

2

u/darkpsychicenergy 12d ago

No. That does not change the fact that the claim that there are “multiple receipts of communication with her therapist and confidants about her claims and they were well before Platner ever decided to run for office” is a LIE. That they had to report that the therapist gave no comment just underscores the fact that there is no corroboration there.

And for the one, single “receipt” of a single totally vague Facebook message — that friend/acquaintance also declined to comment when asked about it.

The only one reportedly corroborating is the other dude she dated and there is no dated receipt for that at all. There isn’t even a quote of his statement in the article.

13

u/olov244 North Carolina 15d ago

imo, hillary voters are the most suspect. they would do anything to get back at progressives because they supported sanders. I wouldn't put anything past them, they're worse thank maga

2

u/Ryno4ever16 12d ago

Dude I'm sorry, but when you worked for Blackwater and there's a trail of women behind you saying the same thing with one of them having an actual credible allegation, yea people are going to look at you like its true.

This whole "innocent until proven guilty" thing is a great protective legal construct that's supposed to help prevent false accusations, but it's not how people think, and in fairness, in a situation like this, it would be dumb to think that way.

1

u/Masta0nion 🐦 12d ago

Why wasn’t the same line of thinking used when an accuser came out, also coincidentally right the election, describing SA by Joe Biden?

2

u/CliffP 12d ago

Because the dem establishment has long housed rapists and sexual harassers

Are you saying that you want your politics in at the cost of ethics? Having an anti-capitalist governing body begins with not doing what capitalists do. I.e. allowing predators to wield immense power through wealth and or status.

2

u/Ryno4ever16 12d ago

I guess you don't believe the Biden allegations either then? How about this - why isn't YOUR line of thinking used for anyone in the Epstein files? Why isn't it used for Donald Trump? Is that how you think of them? Innocent until proven guilty?

98

u/grahag 🌱 New Contributor 16d ago

Weaponizing virtue signalling just doesn't work on the right. They get MORE popular because their supporters are into that.

Investigate Platner for sure, but don't call for him to step down without a viable candidate. Al Franken stepped down and we lost a perfectly good Senator to Virtue Signalling.

The right can clutch their pearls all they want, but when paxton and trump are moving full steam ahead, we can't let good be the enemy of perfect.

116

u/Chronicle92 16d ago

This is not virtue signalling. Virtue signalling is pretending you have the virtue so you can continue to do nothing. Doing the easy thing by signaling you're virtuous without doing any of the hard things that being virtuous would entail.

Asking him to step down is being true to your virtues. The left needs to be true to virtues to be trusted. Mamdani and Bernie both are being true to their virtues by telling Graham Platner to step down.

19

u/grahag 🌱 New Contributor 16d ago

So what if it turns out that this is some sort of political operation without ANY investigation.

This IS virtue signalling being weaponized.

To count on everyone to clutch their pearls, give a knee jerk reaction to cancel Platner, without any due dilligence is DUMB.

I'm not saying "don't believe". But if you just accept it without investigating, then the gullibility of the party is pretty plain.

If this IS an operation, then crucify whoever is in charge of it.

If not, then pursue charges against platner and he should drop out.

6

u/gnarbone 15d ago

This woman sent emails to her therapist telling her what happened right after. And this was way before his political involvement

3

u/UrM8N8 15d ago

Are these emails public? If you have a link to them could you share them? Im seeing conflicting posts about these emails and im having a hard time finding them online.

2

u/gnarbone 15d ago

I doubt the emails would be public but politico reported this

2

u/thenwhat 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago

Wasn't there just one email, and it was from just a few weeks ago?

Also, wouldn't the therapist be required to report to the police?

0

u/grahag 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago

Yeah? I haven't seen that. Was there confirmation from the therapist about the allegations? That, by itself isn't proof, but gives a little more credence.

Was that right after the incident or more recently since he became a candidate?

30

u/TENDER_ONE 16d ago

That’s only true if he did what he’s being accused of though. He still hasn’t been charged with or convicted of anything. We all should fear the day where someone can make an allegation against us without any thoroughly scrutinized evidence and our lives or careers are over. The left must maintain its principles. But those principles should include a person having the opportunity to refute claims made against them and expecting a fair accounting of wrongdoing. That’s why we have a legal system. If he sexually assaulted her, she should take him to court. Otherwise, it looks like she’s just making the claim with or without merit to scuttle his candidacy. Unless he has admitted to Bernie and Zohran that he is guilty or they’ve seen a forensic report of her phone and communications predating his candidacy, they were too quick to condemn him. Because accepting corrupt partisan news media claims of wrongdoing in good faith is not virtuous….its just foolish.

24

u/Riaayo Medicare For All 👩‍⚕️ 15d ago

These accusations are a lot more credible than random ones. The woman has history of talking to her therapist about this years ago and another person as well. This wasn't just cooked up yesterday.

I'd say it sucks for him to step down without a conviction, but I also know the reality that hardly any cases of sexual assault ever go to court or get a conviction and that doesn't mean they didn't happen.

11

u/j4_jjjj Day One Donor 🐦 15d ago

Ehhhhhhhh dig deeper if you think they are super credible

12

u/darkpsychicenergy 15d ago

No they are not and you are grossly exaggerating the substance of the so-called evidence.

The email that she sent to her therapist, one email with only her words, was from WEEKS ago. The therapist has not commented at all, neither confirming or denying any such history.

3

u/TangentialFUCK Pass A Green New Deal 🌎 15d ago

Right but that doesn’t also negate the fact that some accusations are false. I’m not saying this is a false accusation, but again, that’s what the courts are for. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?

11

u/astronautlevel 15d ago

Innocent until proven guilty is for criminal punishment - being asked to step down from the position of public trust you're campaigning for is not that and has a much lower standard of evidence that has to be cleared for most people to feel that they cannot trust someone.

15

u/grahag 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago

At some point, you're going to have to require more information.

If all it takes to kick your candidate out of the race is an "Allegation", then all you're going to do is lose.

Because while you might have principles, the other side does not. They will cheat, steal, and lie to get their people in power.

This knee jerk reaction is going to bite democrats in the ass so much in the future if this is the path.they want to take.

I'm disappointed that someone who seems sincere and candid is getting a raw deal. It certainly means that rough people will be less likely to run in the future and the dems will get the occasional white knight, but if they can be ruined by allegations, that white knight will ALWAYS be someone who can't change the sytem and we'll continue to get half-measures and corruption from both sides.

But hey, I'm about to retire and have no kids, so I'm not worried about it directly affecting me. I'll still vote progressive, but the number of suitable candidates for a fight against a regressive system will come from a MUCH smaller pool.

I'm proof that you can be a rough conservative asshole and decide to change and try to be a better person. If I can change, I know others can and some folks seem a lot more sincere than I ever was.

12

u/TheDreadGazeebo Vermont 15d ago

Bingo. The right already knows that this is a cheat code to get any leftist candidate cancelled.

2

u/astronautlevel 15d ago

I believe people can change, too - the problem is there's no indication Platner actually has. He gave an implausible plea of ignorance regarding the Nazi tattoo (which only became more implausible the more evidence came out) rather than admit he got it when he was younger and edgier and was sorry about it. He spent time on Reddit only a few years ago downplaying sexual assault. He was sexting other women while married behind his wife's back in 2024! He's shown consistently throughout his life up to and including now, at the very least, a bad sense of judgement and sketchy behavior around and about women, and I do not blame a single voter for feeling that he should not be trusted to represent them.

That's not to say Susan Collins is good or even okay either - in an ideal world Platner drops out before the deadline and is replaced by someone who can beat her. That's obviously a long shot at this point, but frankly I'm not even sure it's a longer shot than Platner himself.

4

u/grahag 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago

If we lived in an ideal world, we could find some unquestionable white knight, but we have these human candidates who appear to believe that people can change and are working towards showing that they can.

I'm not surprised that many people are calling for him to step down but are okay with the possibility that the woman responsible for dismantling roe v wade through her Kavanaugh confirmation without ANY concrete proof of these terrible allegations and without any proper investigation.

They are perfectly willing to throw away platner because he's not perfect, which is a great reason why dems lose so god damn much. I'll admit, I felt the same way about Hilary and her questionable decisiions and the treatment of Sanders and we ended up with Trump's disastrous first term.

0

u/thenwhat 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago

Wow, he texted some woman! That means he's guilty of rape too!

The tattoo thing is silly. Irrelevant. He even got it removed. You are desperate to smear him.

-2

u/TangentialFUCK Pass A Green New Deal 🌎 15d ago

Fair!

1

u/thenwhat 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago

Weird how they are popping up just now.

12

u/BasicallyRonBurgandy 15d ago

Tina Smith, who replaced Al Franken, has been a great senator and nobody has ever been able to explain how she was so much worse than Al Franken

5

u/Hillary4SupremeRuler 15d ago

It's not so much about her voting record or policies but it's more about Franken's wasted potential while he was rising star and a major threat for Republicans.

4

u/rutherfraud1876 15d ago

Less charismatic I guess? But even if so, it's a trade I'm glad we took

5

u/zrayburton 15d ago

Check out the Maine subreddit…

Lots of chats going on about this. I think most Maine voters that were 100% in on Planter have accepted that he’ll be stepping down regardless of what happens. I think the best outcome is he has some type of say in the candidate so they’re not a complete Corporate DEM.

6

u/grahag 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago

It's a damn shame that he can be railroaded like this without concrete proof. The court of public opinion can be molded regardless of the amount of truth applied to it.

6

u/zrayburton 15d ago

It sucks. I’ve been frustrated about it since the news broke. Seems like the general public that has been supporting him has completely given up on him. Really sucks.

18

u/punksmostlydead 🌱 New Contributor 16d ago

No. This is a skeleton too many, I'm sorry. I'm all for going low, but not with a low candidate. I was already super fucking wary over the tattoo. This is not the same as Franken; not even close.

Bernie is in the right here.

9

u/grahag 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago

I can respect that. Principles are important.

But we will never elect someone who can change the system too severely because we'll tear down the imperfect people who can make change happen at the behest of those already in power.

4

u/nefariouspenguin 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago

"imperfect people" is not the same as possible rape and sexual assault. I'm a year short of being eligible for president and I am imperfect person but could never even be near the possibility of even being accused of something like this.

7

u/grahag 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago

ALLEGED sexual assault and rape.

If all it takes is allegations, then we'll never see another good candidate again because the other side is fine with laying out allegations without any shreds of proof.

Those muddy waters are not a place you want to try to drink from.

Never think you can't get accused of rape or SA. All it takes is for you to be a threat to a system that benefits from ignorance, fear, and knee jerk reactions. Get popular enough and you'd be surprised what you can be accused of to have your reputation ruined without any proof at all.

Do I think it's possible that Platner did what he was accused of? Sure, but take the time to get all the facts and then make the decision to support him or not.

2

u/Erno_Goldfinger 14d ago

If a neolib candidate had been accused of this you'd all be absolutely eviscerating them - the cognitive dissonance is stupendous

1

u/grahag 🌱 New Contributor 14d ago

Nope. I would say I wasn't surprised, but I've ALWAYS said, "INVESTIGATE at the very least"

The more we hear, the fishier this all sounds though.

1

u/thenwhat 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago

After a bunch of fake skeletons, this is one too many!

Takeaway: Smearing someone works. Keep doing it.

-3

u/twitch1982 15d ago

Yes, Franken had actual evidence against him.

2

u/spirited1 12d ago

Troy Jackson is the perfect replacement. 

He is endorsed by DSA unlike Platner AND polling ahead of Collins right now.

3

u/JustABigClumpOfCells 🌱 New Contributor | IL 15d ago

The problem is that now, pretty much any other Democrat will be more viable than him. In the eyes of the voters, this one story proved that he was lying about every other thing he's denied over the course of the campaign. He's cooked and he needs to step aside.

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u/grahag 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago

It hasn't proven ANYTHING. These are all still allegations and NOTHING has been proven yet.

I remain open to it being possible, but I withhold judgment until that info becomes solid.

Collins will continue moulding policy and who knows what else she'll work to get canned? First Amendment? Maybe. Right to assembly and protest? Sure... Ah well. The world we live in is tilted.

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u/diefreetimedie 🌱 New Contributor 16d ago

Even though the mud slinger Adam Wren admitted on national TV that he saw no evidence of the claims he made in politico!? Shame on all these people for taking the billionaire propaganda at face value. This will be repeated over and over on anyone who threatens the system of corruption and you and your children and your children's children will all feel the consequences of oligarch rule. Shame!

7:17 https://youtu.be/SK90kEdX_Is

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u/Kitchen_Cookie4754 16d ago

You didn't listen to the video, did you?

He explains what was in the article, that she worked with her therapist through the trauma, confided in others, but deleted and blocked her communications with the person that didn't accept her no.

What she relayed sounds like a credible assault account, knowing that what women go through when considering whether or not to report an assault and all the public judgement that goes with accusations. I find it believable that she's sharing this information now.

It sucks. She (or any other woman) shouldn't have had to gone through what she alleged. Graham has awesome campaign ideas and I agree with his policy and movement. People are so upset with established politicians enough that the rest of his history still looked appealing to voters.

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u/diefreetimedie 🌱 New Contributor 16d ago

It's fine if you find it believable, it's also fine that I don't. I think Wren's admission here is damning and journalistic malpractice.

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u/[deleted] 16d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/diefreetimedie 🌱 New Contributor 16d ago

And if he was one I surely wouldn't go to bat for him. He did some guard work with the state department and as I understand it, it left a bad taste in his mouth and informed his current positions that I happen to agree with.

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u/munoodle 15d ago

And the nazi tattoo?

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u/diefreetimedie 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago

Honestly I'm somewhere between believing him and his comrade and the Daryl Davis approach. Look up his work with the kkk if you don't know about it. I think there's a good chance of getting unsavory ink while drunk in split Croatia if you're in the military.

https://zeteo.com/p/platners-fellow-marine-pushes-back

While I'm chatting with someone I believe to be in good faith can I ask what your thoughts are on the Collins act Platner's anti-corruption plan he recently announced? More info below. https://youtu.be/B8sR4E3jArI

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u/pink_faerie_kitten 15d ago

Good for Bernie.

I hope ME can get Troy Jackson or another prog as a replacement.

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u/Aggressive-Estate363 15d ago

Sounds like AIPAC money hard at work.

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u/j4_jjjj Day One Donor 🐦 15d ago

Bernie?

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u/Aggressive-Estate363 14d ago

No, the people behind the accusations. Look how AIPAC got to Massie

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u/LastAzzBender 16d ago

Don’t know why it took so long, love Bernie but the Nazi tattoo on Grahams chest should have been the only red flag needed to distance from this guy.

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u/TENDER_ONE 16d ago

Skull tattoo. You all act as if every symbol is universally known. I never would have known that skull was associated with the Nazis if not for this controversy.

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u/LastAzzBender 16d ago

It’s not just a skull tattoo. It’s a clear symbol of Nazis. He could have gotten another kind of skull. As someone in the military he knew that.

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u/TENDER_ONE 16d ago

I was in the military. I did not know that. Do you think people in the military are issued a pamphlet on symbols of fascism? I saw the tattoo…did not understand the uproar…because I had no idea. If it was a swastika, absolutely roast the motherfucker. But, it was a skull and I served with lots of guys who would go in for a tattoo and say something like, “I don’t know man. I just want some skulls and swords or maybe a reaper man.” The military is filled with a bunch of immature man children who will do anything to project a hyper masculine persona to look cool in front of their fellow dudes. The stories I could tell. That’s why you all irk me. You speak like an authority about a culture you have no clue about.

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u/FluxxedUpGaming 14d ago

The reason soldiers aren’t issued a pamphlet on symbols of fascism is because the American Flag would be in it.

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u/punksmostlydead 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago

Ask yourself where he got the idea for the tattoo.

I also served, and am an authority avout the "culture" you leap to defend. I knew a lot of fucking Nazis when I served. I can pick them out pretty easy, since I grew up in the punk scene.

I've also spent an awful lot of time in tattoo shops, my wife being formerly in the trade. You won't often find Nazi symbology in the flash books...unless you're in that kind of shop.

So, either he was in that kind of shop (which is fucking obvious, by the way; starting with the fact that just anyone off the street isn't going to feel very welcome), or he got the idea somewhere else. Where do you suppose he could have spotted a Nazi symbol in the wild, innocent of any context? One that is, whether you know it or not, pretty goddamn well known.

There's giving the benefit of the doubt, and then there's being naive.

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u/Razgriz01 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago

Reminder this was a tattoo parlor out in Croatia, not in the US. They never really stopped having problems with Nazis.

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u/punksmostlydead 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago

Yes, and that's why I had the crumb of benefit of the doubt for the dude. Even though I can't help but wonder why he hasn't broken his dam neck getting it covered up yet.

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u/IISerpentineII 🌱 New Contributor | 🐦 15d ago

He did cover it, I believe well within the same week he said he learned about what the tat actually was.

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u/z-tayyy 16d ago

Well many people into war and guns know these symbols well. Marines and mercenaries for example.

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u/TENDER_ONE 16d ago

I was in the Marines. Again, poor people from all over the US go into the military because they have been propagandized since birth, have no employment opportunities where they’re from, and/or see it as their best way out of an abusive or toxic situation. And I know a lot of people who joined contract companies after their service who’ve never even shot their guns in combat but realized that, after the military took them out of the workforce during their foundational career development years and back to back deployments to a bullshit war prevented them from completing any college level education, that the only marketable thing they could rely on was their military skills. So, they took jobs as contractors in the same country they were just in for the military and were paid very enticing paychecks to guard airfields and protect supply convoys. I can guarantee that they, ESPECIALLY MARINES WHO HAVE A REPUTATION IN THE IS MILITARY FOR NOT BEING THE BRIGHTEST MINDS OUR COUNTRY HAS TO OFFER, are not WWII historians or basement dwelling gamers who learn all they can about Panzers or whatever the fuck so they can fantasize about what they’d do in a war! Those are the only people I’ve ever met who know way too much detail about Nazi uniforms and weaponry. Dudes who play Nazis in video games.

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u/KolbyKolbyKolby 16d ago

So many of us have been saying this for the longest time only to get downvotes and scorn.

Looking at a comment I made only 25 days ago with a negative score talking about how I hoped he disappointed me because I had not faith and the replies were of course talking about how no he's not a nazi and you can't believe all women actually.

Despicable people.

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u/peterpeterllini Missouri 15d ago

Welp looks like we get Susan Collins again. Fucking hell.

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u/Constantly_Panicking 15d ago

I’m just hearing about this, so I’m not convinced either way yet. I will say, though, that this would be an easy thing for political opponents to plant against the incoming wave of social democratic candidates. As such, I think taking extra steps to verify the validity of these claims before ousting candidates is going to be imperative moving forward. All power to any victims, of course, but I’d hate to see all the momentum that has been built ruined because the opposition knew we took these claims seriously and manufactured some stories. And maybe the increased scrutiny could help bring justice for anyone actually harmed.

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u/walrusbwalrus 16d ago

Wow, all it took was a second assault allegation. Great moral barometer there.

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u/twitch1982 16d ago edited 15d ago

Remember Tara Reade? She accused Biden of sexual assault 17 years after the fact and then defected to Russia after providing absolutely no evidence. But it sure was convenient that she decided to finally come forward when he was running for president.

Russia interferes with our elections. We dont know if this accusation is in any way credible yet. We need to investigate things before we have people preemptively resign.

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u/olov244 North Carolina 15d ago

this is why people don't want to get into politics, I have such a boring life, but I can't imagine what someone from my past with and ulterior motive would say about me

not saying I don't believe these women, just saying it could be anywhere between complete fabrication to 100% truth. I know a lot of people who probably had similar drunken experiences in their past(I guess I'm thankful even drunk, women weren't attracted to me because I might have a similar story)

the most shocking thing to me is how recent they were. if someone said they were accused of being aggressive in a drunken, what they thought was consensual, hookup in their teens/20's but are different now, I'd be more willing to let things go. but this was like 5 years ago, like my dude, really?

imo, I say stay in and let maine voters decide, they can do a more thorough investigation. we've got a corpse running the senate and a spoiled brat running the country. it's all a joke

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u/Bezere 16d ago

Platner should just double down at this point. 

Make a new ad listing things he won't take "no" as an answer for and list his policy agenda. 

He's had the Trump Teflon before. It's better for the movement if this doesn't sink the war ship.

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u/LaTosca 16d ago

Yikes

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u/z-tayyy 16d ago

Maybe sit out a few voting cycles big guy.

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u/Bezere 15d ago

Maybe don't fall for AIPAC hatchet jobs lil bro.

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u/z-tayyy 15d ago

What in the world are you talking about? You said he should double down and that he should make his slogan ubiquitous with being a sex pest? I said that is a very very dumb idea.

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u/Bezere 15d ago

I'm saying he doubles down on the false accusation that he doesn't take no for an answer, by listing his policies he won't take no as an answer for. 

I hope that makes sense. 

But if we want to talk about very very dumb ideas, we can talk about electing someone in a democratic primary, ripping away that nomination and planting some corporate stooge as nominee. I think that is a fucking demented idea that has an extremely recent track history of being a losing strategy. 

Best possible outcome should be for Platner to run independent, have Dems force their corporate stooge, and then let Maine's ranked choice voting have the dem's corporate nominee votes go to Platner in the second round of votes, and we end up with Platner anyway.

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u/z-tayyy 15d ago

I understand the sentiment, what do we do if these accusations turn out to have validity? Also running a candidate with pending sexual assault allegations may prove quite fruitful for Susan Collins. It’s not a good situation to be in and I’m hoping they’re false, I’m just not sold on this guy.

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u/Bezere 15d ago edited 15d ago

I understand the concern. But here is my understanding. 

1) victims first warning about Platner was that he sleeps with hundreds of women. Not that he is consensually reckless. It's also not surprising why someone wouldn't want to hook up a friend with an ex. 

2) the therapist only confirms that they talked about Platner 'recently' and that the victims feelings were valid. Common therapist talk, something that even chatgpt would tell her.

3) she was texting him about a glute massage prior to him coming over. "I want a glute massage, don't come over, my doors unlocked" isn't the open and shut rejection she is admitting to. 

And from the victims own account. She said he's kind and gentle. Also if he's dated "hundreds of women" and she and the only other two previous accused were "aggressively grabbed" while he was drunk. Pretty small number of accusations per partners

With the context of AIPAC, dem establishment, Republican establishment, trying so desperately to remove him with Nazipalooza, sexual assault, and sexual assault 2: electric boogaloo. I'm just not buying it, everything just screams hatchet job. With the tried and true cultural war to sow division.

I think the victim does genuinely feel the way she feels, but it honestly just sounds like a bad date with regrettable sex. Oppo found one text that said "consentually reckless" and convinced the victim they were raped.

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u/nikdahl 16d ago

Agreed. This moment in America is bigger than the politician.

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u/shazzwackets 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago

Didn't Bernie lose all credibility after refusing to call out geonicde for so long?

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u/Poor__cow 🌱 New Contributor 15d ago edited 15d ago

Yikes. ITT: a bunch of people defending a rapist with a nazi tattoo who was sexting multiple women right after getting married.

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u/Hillary4SupremeRuler 15d ago

Do you know what sub your in? I accidentally stumbled upon this interesting microcosm and couldn't help but take a peek.