So what's your take on Graham Platner?
As any regular readers would have probably already surmised, I'm not a fan. With the latest revelations regarding his violent idealizations and conduct toward women, I am confident that my prior suspicion toward him has been vindicated. His boosters have been trying to sell his past comments on Reddit as something from the past, that he has become a better person. I was skeptical of that, mostly because I saw little in the way of remorse. Now it seems that yeah, he's just a shitty person.
His whole brand of a combat vet and humble oysterman is a fraud. Born wealthy, flunking out of two elite prep schools, upkeep paid for by his wealthy mother, he's a nepo-baby failson instead of a hard-scrabble working stiff - his schtick is about as genuine as Trump's photo-op slinging fries at the drive-thru made him working class. On it's own, I don't much care about political branding, every politican tries to sell themselves as the little guy. But when you sell a lie like that, it makes the explanations for the other things less credible. They become weights in the pan that tip the scale when enough of them are added.
His Reddit comments don't paint a flattering picture. Putting my vehement anti-communism aside, you can explain someone identifying as a communist on Reddit as a combination of internet edge-lordism and Reddit being a highly left-leaning platform, but his comments painted a pretty regular pattern of bigotry and condescension. Was this because of PTSD and alcohol abuse or was he just expressing his contempt at those he sees as his moral and intellectual inferiors? More weights get put in the pan.
His conduct towards women is certainly personally reprehensible. He even admits to serial adultery which is definitely not a showcase of sound judgment. Defenders say that's a private matter, but it's a security concern, as adultery is classic blackmail material, not to mention just very irresponsible. Lindsey Fifield's allegations are more damning. In isolation, it's a he-said, she-said. Could she be lying for a political hit job? Quite possibly. But Platner's pattern of toxic behavior, his volatility that even other partner have stated, his alcohol abuse, and his statements regarding violent ideation toward potential home invaders mean that we need to examine this seriously. A conservative might have challenged him on his political beliefs, and he might have escalated physically, particulatly if he was abusing alcohol at the time. He may have wanted to pin her down to dominate her, to show his strength. Again, weights in the pan. Accepting Platner's defense in one affair becomes harder the more weights get added to the pan.
The Totenkopf tattoo is a classic example. He says he had no idea of the connotations which is hard to swallow. The Totenkopf was not some obscure symbol, it was the cap insignia of the SS, it's one of the most recognizable symbols of the Third Reich after the swastika and the Reichsadler. Do I believe that a bunch of drunk jarheads would get a regrettable tattoo? Absolutely. Do I believe that he carried it around for decades with no knowledge of what it meant? That's a whopper, and he'd have to earn a lot of good faith for me to take his word on it. But when I look at the weights in the pan, I really don't think he's earned it.
This points to another troubling development in politics. Our hyper-partisanship is bad enough, where you have to support "our guy" no matter what. Now we're fetishizing outsider status to the point where we're taking shitty behavior as a badge of honor. Bigotry becomes honesty, toxic behavior and shitty judgment means they're normal like the rest of us - as long as you're a populist of course. I guess trash politics means you get to be a trash person. And since we keep rewarding this shittiness by pushing you to the heights of power, I don't see this changing.
Thanks for the question, Anon.
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