26 Comments
User's avatar
Charles Bastille's avatar

Thanks for all the comments. I'm not going to do a tit for tat argument on them. I appreciate all the opinions. I've made my case and am content hearing yours. My only request is for the comments to remain respectful. So far, so good, so thanks for that.

Disrespectful comments, especially any directed towards another commenter, will be deleted without further engagement.

It's a tough subject. The enemy (the insurrectionists) doesn't have any of the moral or ethical considerations we are looking at.

Susan Niemann's avatar

DAMN IT! I wanted to believe...I mean, Collins MUST GO... but Platner has proven he doesnt possess the character to continue. *sigh The Democrats are in such a mess. I wonder if both parties arent driving voters to Democratic Socialists, who seem to be gaining momentum. They are getting positive results in New York City with Mamdani. Voters want positive results.

"the cesspool of American politics." Couldnt have said that any better. 👏👏👏

Charles Bastille's avatar

Possibly a blessing in disguise. He was basically tied in the polls. They'll fiind a better candidate. Janet Mills, the very old ex governor who ran against Platner in the primary, is said to be out. They're looking at three local politicians to take Platner's place. They won't have his ugly track record, so hopefully they can beat Collins, who is not popular.

Susan Niemann's avatar

Have you seen the thought of Heather Cox Richardson jumping into the race? I’m sure she wouldn’t as politics is beneath her, but I dream of a time when our government is full of scholars and doctors and other professionals.

Charles Bastille's avatar

One of my regular readers, Suzanne Taylor,has been begging for months for HCR to run for office. She posts about it frequently.

Paula Rossi's avatar

And what is so wrong with the Democratic socialist? as far as I can tell, they only want to re-distribute the wealth in this country which really needs to be done. My mantra is tax the wealthy.

Susan Niemann's avatar

Not one thing is wrong!! Tax the rich!!

Paula Rossi's avatar

I’m very sorry if I came across as harsh. Just weary of bad news - and sick to death of the current regime.

Susan Niemann's avatar

You are not alone. Every damned day it’s something 🤦‍♀️

Linda's avatar

We the democrats do not have enough grit to play the DC game anymore. My god the Republicans have a convicted felon running in TX. They have a child predator in the Whitehouse. They have Nazi camps going up everywhere. This is not a good crowd. I think Platner is just as rough and pure in his political dissent and that scared them but made me hopeful. If we aren’t winning, maybe we should look at what we think are good qualifications and what are the values in our candidate. What can we to tolerate, maybe lower the standards and get some street fighters involved. If Platner doesn’t leave his campaign, 1. I wouldn’t be surprised and 2. He would win.

Sharon C Storm's avatar

As often happens when women accuse a public figure of sexual assault, most men believe the man. Very few women falsely accuse men of rape. It should become a mantra “believe the woman”.

Paula Rossi's avatar

This must’ve been hard to write. Thank you for doing so.

Real Talk with Dr. Emi DNP's avatar

There is ZERO EVIDENCE of rape. She did not pursue emergency treatment or provide forensic evidence to support this allegation. She is being paid by the DNC or RNC to smear Graham Platner before the Midterms because NONE OF THE ESTABLISHMENT IN CONGRESS WANT TO LOSS THEIR POWER TO COMMIT INSIDER TRADING ETC!!!! DO NOT TAKE THE BAIT!!

Carol's avatar

This is what I want to be true

FAKE NEWS ABOUT Platner

It seems like anyone who threatens the status qou is fair game for character assassination of the ugliest kind

Remember John Kerry and the Swift boat scandal? First I remember the politics getting ugly with blatant lies about a candidate but it cast just enough suspicion to cost them their election

Sad and pathetic that people run for office for any reason other than service to the public ~ money and power have directly ruined all of our lives in some way 🆘⚠️🔥🇺🇸‼️😔

SJMeaders's avatar

Why question Platner is different now? We all behaved badly when younger. Hes grown up, regrets his past, has apologized for his actions. Why wait 5 years to report this? Political reasons is highly suspect. Let Mainers decide!

Archetypal Alien's avatar

The Platner/Racicot story was broken by Politico.

Politico is entirely owned by Axel Springer SE, a massive transatlantic media conglomerate headquartered in Berlin, Germany.

Axel Springer purchased 100% of Politico in October 2021 for an estimated $1 billion. This deal included both the North American operations and Politico Europe.Leadership:

The CEO and controlling shareholder of Axel Springer is Mathias Döpfner. The company also owns other prominent media brands, including Business Insider and the German newspaper

Mathias Döpfner has a strong, explicit connection to Israel and has faced frequent scrutiny for steering his media empire toward conservative and right-wing political stances.

In April 2026, after Politico journalists expressed concerns that Döpfner was using the publication to push a personal geopolitical agenda, Döpfner held a tense internal meeting. He told staff that anyone who disagrees with the pro-Israel principles should consider working elsewhere, stating, "Nobody should work for Axel Springer despite the essentials or in disagreement with one of the essentials."

One last thing. The near-total absence of a verifiable public background, employment history, or past political donations for Racicot makes it difficult for the public to independently verify if there are hidden partisan or financial motivations.

This has all the markings of a political hit job with likely a collusion between interested parties on both sides of the coin. Make your own conclusions.

Deborah Avalone-King's avatar

Unfortunately for us the politically motivated news story cannot be validated yea or nea. I’d vote for Heather n a heartbeat.

Geoff Anderson's avatar

You probably need to reckon with the fact that Collins is going to win.

Dionna Joan ark Cross III's avatar

Yup. They abandon their guy now, she wins. And that whole agenda destroying hundreds of thousands maybe millions of lives, who matter just as much as hers, will continue without abatement. And that is a CHOICE.

Linda's avatar

Yes, that is the choice we face.

Dionna Joan ark Cross III's avatar

“Then, she talked to Cheyenne Hunt, a Democratic-leaning social media maven who has helped expose sexual assault by other politicians, including former Democratic House Representative Eric Swalwell in a series of revelations that sent his political career into a permanent death spiral.”

“Democratic-Leaning social media maven” who just *happens* to wait until the most politically damaging times to attack Democratic candidates with real momentum?

That’s called “a Republican operative”.

That’s the definition of a “ratf**ker” in politics. For someone who “leans Democratic” she seems to be doing Roger Stone’s job. I guess that a coincidence and we should “believe her” when she says she’s “Democratic Leaning”?

Y’all go ahead, maybe I’ll see you later.

On that one.

Nah for me.

Melinda's avatar

It doesn’t sound like there was actually any evidence against Graham Platner when the politico reporter was pressed.

Reporter who broke the story on new Graham Platner sexual assault accusa... youtu.be/SK90kEdX_Is?si… via @YouTube https://youtube.com/watch?v=SK90kEdX_Is

Linda's avatar

Ok I agree with much you have written, however the tell in this story, is the fact that Jennie Racicot came out 6 days before the day he would have to drop out so that the monied AIPAC backed Susan Collins could effect a win in November. I don’t trust any of this. Not one bit and Maine is a small state people here know each other. They will find out just who she is. I would start digging to see who contacted her after her name first became attached to Platner. This just doesn’t smell right. I know one thing for sure, if Platner stays in the race he will win. And that makes Republicans do things the rest of us wouldn’t think of. They have boat loads of cash, boat loads and sicko values, nothing would surprise me.

Hey_Demps's avatar

Believe the woman

Believe the woman

Believe the woman

judyendless's avatar

Anyone who commits SA and is misogynistic will not take on Trump for the same actions.

Miles vel Day's avatar

People shouldn’t state things as definitively true if they don’t know they are definitively true, IMO.

I am not a Platner fan; he would have been a bad nom even if he was husband of the century. But I am pretty tired of my party crippling itself through our unilateral attempts to avoid hypocrisy, which we do mostly to feel good about ourselves.

The party’s turn on Franken scarred me pretty deeply on this shit, and as a result, hesitation in throwing dirt on the graves of people like Platner and Swalwell is not something I can avoid. I am sorry if that is morally unacceptable to anyone.