A View from the Beach: Flotsam and Jetsam

Erstwhile Democrat candidate for Susan Collin's Maine senate sea abruptly sent his resignation letter to Maine's Secretary of State yesterday, after having stated he would do so on Monday the 13th, the last possible day he could do it without being on the ballot, spurring rumors he might just "miss" the deadline to withdraw. Matt Margolis at PJM, Platner Drops Out. Althouse, "F*ck ICE. Free Palestine. Up the Hearts. Solidarity forever." "So writes Graham Platner, closing his letter formally withdrawing as a Senate candidate. He says he "seek[s] to further the movement we have built together." The movement is better without him. But why? There's nothing in his letter expressing penitence or regret for anything he's done. "Up the Hearts" — which struck me as a possible euphemism for an obscenity — is a rallying cry for the Portland Maine soccer team, the Hearts of Pine. He stomps off — "F*ck ICE. Free Palestine. Up the Hearts. Solidarity forever." And "Cory Upton-Cosulich sat in a parked car by a hiking trail in Maine this week, fuming over the implosion of Graham Platner’s Senate campaign." "Her anger wasn’t directed at him. It was aimed at the powerful people far away from her working-class harbor town who, one after the next, had rescinded their endorsements of a candidate she supported in the Democratic primary last month. The feeling was familiar — watching people in Washington decide who should represent her. She said she believed the woman who had accused Mr. Platner.... She decided to support him anyway ... From "Why Some Women in Maine Are Mourning the End of Graham Platner’s Campaign/They believe the accuser, but they also grieve the demise of a campaign that promised that politics could be different — and they blame those who failed to find a less flawed candidate" Alex Berenson @AlexBerenson, "Hahaha @nytimes doubles down." At PJM Stephen Kruiser says QUELLE SURPRISE! New York Times Blames Platner on — You Guessed It — President Trump and Vicky Taft, Hold On — Was There a Dirty Quid Quo Bro for Graham Platner? Did Democrats threaten to prosecute the rape if he didn't withdraw ASAP? He might tell us after a couple of drinks. Salem News Channel @WatchSalemNews, ""They called him and said, 'Hey, you could be facing charges...' And all of a sudden, we get a reversal." Jon Fetherston drops a massive investigative bombshell on the Scott @JenningsShow regarding why Maine progressive candidate Graham Platner suddenly aborted his Senate campaign." Chris @Chris_1791, "CBS News anchor tells viewers Democrats dropped Platner because he was looking 'like a loser.'" Campus Reform asks, Did employees at your university donate to Graham Platner? Check out our map. "Campaign finance records reviewed by Campus Reform show that donors listing colleges, universities, and higher-education affiliates as their employers made political contributions to Democrat Graham Platner’s campaign. Donations totaled over $100,000 and came from over 100 different institutions."

I do have a little sympathy for poor Platner. The black-sheep son of a wealthy family, he suffered through boarding school, enlisted in the military, and didn't enjoy the strictures of military life and got a stupid tattoo, while drunk. After returning he got a disability based on possibly made-up PTSD, developed a drinking problem, and got into odd jobs, while largely still sponging off mom and dad. He's only rapey when he's blind drunk, and he claims to be reformed. His politics drifted off to the envy driven left, and based on some wild, likely drunken Reddit posts, he was lifted from obscurity by some Democratic Socialist activists who managed to elevate him to the lead Democrat candidate for the Senate seat. However, when his poll numbers began to flag below Collins' the Democrats revealed the dirt they had on him all along, in a desperate bid to find someone else to carry the day. He was never really in charge.

Note they skipped Little Italy

At Da Signal, The Great Victor Davis Hanson: Mamdani Is the Real Racist Polluting This Country. CJ reports A Top Mamdani Official Tried to Meet with Iran, "Ana Maria Archila, Commissioner for International Affairs, almost took a meeting with the Islamic Republic’s ambassador to the U.N."

Wall Street Apes @WallStreetApes, "WOAH, My jaw literally dropped listening to this The Los Angeles Police Department came and tried to clean up Skid Row and in a response a nonprofit working with Mayor Karen Bass SUED THEM and stopped police from EVEN BEING ALLOWED TO ENTER “LA CAN, which is another organization (an NGO), they get very, very upset and they sue the LAPD when they come and do street cleaning down here. And they're basically saying that their encampments are their Private property. Police can't enter, and they sued the police more than any other organization” Translation: They are suing to keep the homeless population right where they are so the NGO homeless money laundering industrial complex keeps running This same NGO has also launched protests to stop Skid Row from being cleaned up Pure insanity. It’s criminal."

From WCVB, Sen. Markey pledges final term following debate with Rep. Moulton in western Massachusetts.

At Space.com, 'Reckless' space-based data centers lack environmental review, drawing criticism. "Allowing a million orbiting data centers with no environmental review isn’t just irresponsible — it’s reckless," Tim Whitehouse, executive director of Public Employees Unalterably Opposed to Elon Musk for Environmental Responsibility, said in a statement on Wednesday (July 8).

Sundance at CTH reports President Trump Will Not Sign Section 8 Expanding Housing Bill – Auto Effect Midnight Tonight. "I will not sign the Housing Bill, which has been fully approved by Congress and sent to the White House, in PROTEST over the fact that the United States Senate is not capable of passing THE SAVE AMERICA ACT, which is polling at 97% with the Republican Party, and very high with the non-politician Dumocrats." But he did not veto it, so it goes into effect without his signiture. Jeff Crouere at Am Spec examines The GOP’s Self-Inflicted Midterm Crisis, "With narrow majorities and little to show beyond one major bill, congressional Republicans risk demoralizing their own voters — and handing Congress back to Democrats."

Don Surber sees the Globalists pit NATO against Trump. "The last thing they want is nationalism—except in North Korea, Red China and Iran." Insty says WHAT WUSSES: "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan presented engraved revolvers – with bullets – to his guests in Ankara, causing security concerns. “The question asked over and over again: why such a gift? While it is very common for heads of state to exchange various gifts during meetings or summits, such exchanges rarely require these kinds of precautions.” Plus: “An unnamed NATO official told Agence France-Presse the gift triggered “insane” responses behind the scenes from some of the delegations’ security teams.” Gifts of firearms were a traditional thing between leaders until the feminization of the West. You can bet Teddy Roosevelt wouldn’t have panicked. Or LBJ. Or even GWB." Shooting News Week, NATO Leaders Flummoxed by Turkish Python Clone Revolvers Given to Them After Ankara Summit.

1945 insists Taiwan Can Be Defended Against China. The Price Is the Real Problem. "Cheap drones can make a Chinese assault on Taiwan bloodier and a quick victory less likely — but they don’t repeal geography or remove the risk of escalation. CSIS wargames suggest the U.S. and its allies could defeat an invasion while losing dozens of ships, hundreds of aircraft, and thousands of troops."

The NYPo ed board worries The rule of law can’t survive if judges like Hannah Dugan can obstruct justice. "Adelman said Dugan was “an otherwise good person” who “made a bad decision in the moment” because she was “upset by immigrant enforcement.” Sorry: Good people who do bad things deserve serious punishment, especially judges who put their private views above their oaths of impartiality to frustrate completely legitimate law enforcement." Capt. Ed at Hat Hair hears Rubio and DHS Deported Child Molester Walz Tried to Keep In US, via pardon.

Cernovich @Cernovich, "Anthropic is giving left wing NGO’s free access to its tools to target conservatives and MAGA. This company is completely out of control and is now waging war against every Trump voter."