Times reporting puts Nazi nipple on defense

Some of you, those who reside on the Right, may be very surprised by this one — The New York Times, the Leftist “failing” newspaper, according to President Trump — just fired a huge salvo into the Democrat poised to wrest Maine’s senatorial seat away from Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

That Democrat is nipple Nazi Graham Platner, the retired Marine oyster farmer with a trail of social media posts that echo of homophobia, misogynism, anti-Semitism, and lying.

By now you should have heard of the Totenkopf (death’s head)  tattoo on his chest that he said he got one night while a drunken Marine with no idea of what it meant. That tattoo is clearly visible in a selfie he took of himself and posted on a dating app of questionable reputation. He covered up the tattoo only after he began his quest for elective office. (This is particularly rich from a political party that delights in calling opponents “Nazis.”)

All this, and more, had been aired, but a couple of days ago the Times unearthed several women who told disturbing stories about Platner, following reports of him sexting up to a dozen women while he was still a newlywed.

Here’s a chunk of the Times’ reporting, after which I will return with some final thoughts:

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On Tuesday evening, after a whirlwind day in Washington, Graham Platner, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine, rushed home.

Rumors were spreading from Portland to the Potomac about Mr. Platner’s messy personal life, after news reports that he had sent sexual messages to women while married. Democratic senators were pressing him about whether more damaging revelations were coming. Journalists were swarming, staking out his hometown.

Amid the turmoil, Mr. Platner worked the phones, rolling through calls to ex-girlfriends who might publicly acknowledge that while he may have been a bad boyfriend, he was, in fact, a decent guy.

In interviews with The New York Times on Wednesday, several women did just that, describing Mr. Platner as a fun and caring partner, and saying they felt safe with him. Some remain friends with him to this day, years after their relationships ended.

But in extensive conversations over the past two months, three other women who had been romantically involved with Mr. Platner offered a far more complicated assessment, describing volatile and “toxic” relationships that were unsettling and at times emotionally wrenching.

Mr. Platner could be charming and charismatic, they recalled in interviews, but also demeaning to women and, in at least one case, even physically threatening. He drank heavily and was regularly unfaithful.

Mr. Platner, 41, a combat veteran, has spoken openly about grappling with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and drinking that he said resulted from his time in the military. As revelations about him have surfaced — including his dismissive remarks online about rape and derogatory comments about women, as well as a tattoo he had that is widely recognized as a Nazi symbol — he has said his past behavior does not reflect who he is today. Mainers, he has urged, should not judge him for “the worst thing I said on the internet on my worst day 14 years ago.”

The critical accounts provided by three of the women interviewed by The Times, who were each in romantic relationships with him for years, give a fuller picture of Mr. Platner’s life. They shed light on an earlier era, when he has acknowledged intense struggles, but also raise questions about his more recent years in Maine, which his campaign has presented as a period of healing and personal redemption.

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As I write this, Platner is still trying to bail out a fisherman’s boat that is taking on water, fast. Denial is not just a river in Egypt, and he is denying like his hair’s on fire.

Maine voters will decide on Tuesday. 

The point I want to make here is that the liberal Times had no compunction about publishing an expose that could harm a Democrat. 

And don’t hand me baloney about how the Times wants him to lose. What it wants, is what every reporter wants, a Page One story — a factual, balanced story. Most reporters would knock over their grandmother to get on Page One.

I have been disheartened, but not surprised, by Democratic “leaders,” such as Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren, Ro Khanna, among others, standing by their man.

Why?

They are chasing the dream of defeating Collins, who’s been a senator since 1997. At this moment, Platner is edging Collins in the polls, and Dems are drooling at the prospect of knocking  her off. 

They are so starved, so deeply enmeshed in Trump hatred, so anxious to impeach, they are willing to make a deal with the devil.

Meaning Platner.

Can he win? Yes.

Should he win? No.

But I am not a Maine voter.