Exclusive: Woman who dated Graham Platner says he sexually assaulted her

[pat_k]

74. Conclusion premature. Up until this latest accusation, I would agree that...

... what we were seeing has all the hallmarks of an orchestrated smear. (Not necessarily that it was an orchestrated smear, but the signs were all there.)

This latest accusation has brought things to another level. I suspect it will ultimately prove to be true. However, believing any accusation without scrutiny rubs me the wrong way. Always has.

I know I could be wrong, perhaps the incident didn't happen, but his admitted alcohol abuse raises questions. Drunk people are capable of things they would NEVER do if they weren't so drunk. This is not to excuse the behavior, only to point out that anyone with a history of alcohol abuse may have done awful things while in a drunken blackout. And not to "victim shame," but generally a person who abuses alcohol dates people who also abuse alcohol.

I'll leave it at that. The thing is, whether the accusation is ultimately proven true or false may be irrelevant at this point. The mob-mentality is in full swing. There is no stopping it now.

FWIW, I posted the following summarizing the hallmarks of an orchestrated smear back on June 5 when the NYTimes article came out.

Perhaps someday Jane Mayer will weigh in on Platner's case and we'll have much greater insight.
___________________________

Hallmarks of an Orchestrated Smear

I just re-read Jane Mayer's The Case of Al Franken.

Start with a drip drip, then pile on everything you can possibly dig up without looking past the surface. Release in rapid succession so there's no time for individual reports to be scrutinized. Cue outrage at "nothing terrible in isolation, but look at the number of them!"

The goal is to incite a mob mentality. Cue the pitchforks and torches.

It sure looks like some entity is orchestrating the smear of Platner following the same playbook.

Perhaps Jane will do an investigation of "The Case of Graham Platner." I'd sure like to hear more background on each and every report. I suspect it comes down to the same thing. A whole lot of smoke with no actual fire.

New Yorker
The Case of Al Franken
Jane Mayer
July 22, 2019

https://web.archive.org/web/20190829044419/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/07/29/the-case-of-al-franken