The whole Graham Platner situation has officially made me lose all hope in the western left. They were fine supporting him when openly talked about enjoying having killed brown people abroad, but raping an American is where they draw the line. I actually think they dont even care about the fact that he is a rapist, just about optics. If they knew he did this but it wasnt revealed to the public, I fully believe people like Hasan Piker and Emma Vigeland would still support him.
Even worse is their bastardization of concepts like rehabilitative justice. Rehabilitative justice does not mean the person shouldnt face consequences, those consequence just shouldnt be punitive and should be aimed at rehabilitating them and giving closure to victims. All Platner did was say he was somewhat disillusioned but the military, while continuing to support them in his campaign. In addition, even if someone is rehabilitated, that does NOT mean they get a clean slate and should not be scrutinized in their past, it just means there should no longer be systemic barriers or consequences in their life because of their past actions. It does not mean they get to just run for office and no one is allowed to object because "hE'S dIfFeRnReNt nOw".
Finally, if they were so willing to excuse murder because he isnt doing it anymore, WHY would the same not apply for rape? "Well its not 100% confirmed he did war crimes" the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were both illegal and killed millions of civilians! He admitted to killing people, called it an excellent experience, and the team he was in admitted to firing in civilians areas. Him having killed civilians is even more verifiable than the rape, which is also extremely verifiable. They don't see people from the global south as equal. Their concern for them is purely paternalistic and this proves it.
