Hallmarks of an orchestrated smear

[pat_k]

6. Who said "nothing to do with Platner?"

Certainly not me.

Al Franken understands the part his own conduct played. But that doesn't make the smears and mob mentality that prompted Schumer to give him a "resign or else" ultimatum right. The "punishment" was so incredibly out of proportion to the actual "crimes" it is beyond belief.

And I'm sure Graham Platner understands the role his conduct is playing.

That doesn't make it right for a campaign staffer to leak something his wife revealed as part of the internal vetting process. That doesn't make it right to report that betrayal of trust as if his wife was an accuser, instead of what she was, a part of a couple that has done, and continues to do, the work -- a person who feels deeply betrayed by the breach of trust.

That doesn't make it right to report an account of a violent interaction for which there is no concrete corroboration with "support" that amounts to little more than vague innuendo. That doesn't make it right to pile on with reports of "unsettling" behavior as if he had been a rapist.