A while back I wrote that the way Democrats get taken out, especially but not only the left, is usually a sex scandal.for whatever reason, Americans take allegations like these much more seriously than gross corruption, bribe taking, insider trading, or mass murder.
And now an allegation against Platner which was organized by a Democratic establishment lawyer has lead to Platner quitting.
Which is exactly the wrong thing to do. He says he didn’t do it, the Maine party will pick the new candidate through a meeting of six hundred insiders, so the candidate won’t be a strong progressive, and by stepping down he removes protection from those who supported him.
How much more obvious can it be that this Platner ‘scandal’ is an attempted ideological purge of the left?
A lot of people played into it because they just don’t really hold to their stated values. https://t.co/fDlTIFgzAf
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) July 8, 2026
The reason Stoller is on this is that like me he came up through the Netroots. We’ve seen this playbook over and over and over again. We recognize it.
The idea that it is principled is laughable. I saw Fetterman attacking Sanders for supporting Platner, as if Fetterman doesn’t support Israel, who rapes as policy and raped at least one person to death (and it won’t just be one.) Oh, and that genocide.
The left is getting scary to the center. They won quite a few primaries, and the goal now is to take them out post-primary. The most important thing is always controlling the party, winning is secondary, especially in America where the duopoly means that whichever party is out of power knows it will soon be back in.
This is why Starmer purged the left, including kicking out Corbyn.
Platner may or may not be guilty. I don’t know. But I do know that he just made a mistake in folding. To be fair, practically all his support in the party “un-endorsed” him, but frankly, who cares. At the least he should have stuck firm till he got to choose his successor. Make it clear that they’ll have him around all election season, drawing media attention the party doesn’t want, one way or the other.
Folding never gets you anything. There is no honorable peace between the left and the establishment: there are no rules of war, and the left needs to stop acting as if there are. Platner will be smeared as a rapist either way (even if he’s never charged) and the people who believed in him will be fucked over.
(And yeah, he had plenty of red flags and someone else should have been found. But charisma is a thing, and he had it and the safer candidates didn’t.)
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Lyle
Ian this asshole had a nazi tattoo and that’s disqualifying in and of itself, full stop. If we correctly call the Azov battalion freaks nazi’s because of their tats, the same goes for this guy. Either character is destiny or it isn’t.
I’ve supported you with funding for years and I have no idea why this guys mouth noises, with NOTHING substantial to back it up, has so persuaded you and Sirota, Stoller, Grim, Klippenstein, etc. to burn your credibility to the ground for a nazi tatted blackwater merc failson.
I kept quiet the last time you glazed this asshole but you need to look in the mirror man. This guy is made entirely out of red flags, god only knows what oppo Collins didn’t even get to use from his blackwater time. Every item in his personal history backs up he’s a rapey freak in addition to the nazi tat.
The dem party never should have endorsed him at any level (Warren, Sanders, etc.) and even the neolib freaks in the DNC can like a blind squirrel find an acorn from time to time.
The answer to DNC fecklessness is not nazi tatted blackwater mercs. Holy fuck. You fucking know better and shouldn’t have to be told this.
Ian Welsh
Reasonable points,
he still shouldn’t have folded without getting a successor who isn’t a centrist genocide supporting Zionist. And being a Zionist comes with mass rape and mass torture.
I’ve written about him twice, is all, and I doubt I’ll write more. I wrote about attempts to remove him that are part of a long term pattern because it is.
Feral Finster
“The reason Stoller is on this is that like me he came up through the Netroots. We’ve seen this playbook over and over and over again. We recognize it.”
AIPAC wins again. Believe me, Team D and Team R are paying very close attention. Learn well The Iron Law of Oligarchy and its corollary, the Iron Law of Institutions.
Plattner certainly made AIPAC’s job easier, as did the folks who wanted so badly to believe. Of course, Bill Clinton also had a reputation for being unable to take “no” for an answer, as Juanita Broderick, Paula Jones, and Kathleen Willey and others would testify.
But because Clinton was part of the Club, the Cool Kids Table, all the ugly rumors were pushed aside, or more likely, held back in case Clinton decided to stray.
TM
It is very sad that his murderous, mercenary past isn’t disqualifying of being in the American left. I can understand being in Maine, looking at your options and going “Well, let’s have some hope over this other ghoul.” but I don’t understand the broader support he’s garnered based on some rhetoric. It’s like we learned nothing from Obama (or Sanders or AOC… or… or…).
Oakchair
We’ve seen this playbook over and over and over again. We recognize it.
———
Al Franken, Julian Assange, Bernie Sanders on and on and on and now Platner. Next is Abdul El-Sayed.
Though maybe the ruling class will pass on him in fear that the manufactured scandals would be too conspicuous so close together.
The message is clear. Oppose the ruling class in any meaningful way and they will Platner you. Ironically the only way Platner can get his day in court is if he sues Politco and company for slander.
Soredemos
Maybe the ideal candidate is a virgin.
I mean this only semi-ironically.