this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2026
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Please tell me i'm not the only one who still finds this ridiculous and believes that only a court of law can determine guilt?

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[–] mrodri89@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I think he should take her to court there are things that can prove his innocence. Warrants to get the cell phone pings of his location, the instagram data that was supposedly deleted can still be retrieved. The emails to the Therapist. He should also have other women in his life that he's dated speak on his character.

If Johnny Depp can win against Amber Heard I think he still has a chance.

[–] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca 10 points 1 day ago (2 children)

The women he's dated have spoken on his character, it was pretty bad.

I dunno, this feels like how Republicans defend their own regardless of what comes out. I get you can like a guy's stances but at some point, if we want to be the party of good, we have to act like it.

[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world -2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Fine. Indict him for rape. Senators are not exempt from felony prosecution.

[–] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Sure, that's up to the victim etc.

And as far as I'm aware, being a felon doesn't make someone ineligible for running for Senate.

[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If he was convicted, and he didn't have the honor to step down, the Senate would vote to kick him out at that point. The Senate has routinely voted to kick people out convicted of serious felonies. And he would be replaced with another Democrat anyway. Plus the establishment dems would be happy to see him go.

If he's convicted, and if he doesn't step down, he would be kicked out of the Senate by a vote of 99-1.

[–] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

So, if his victim doesn't feel comfortable undergoing the emotional toil of a legal battle about rape, that means he's good people?

Have you also lobbied and argued for folks who stepped down etc after the Epstein files as almost none of that has gone to court yet?

[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

So, if his victim doesn’t feel comfortable undergoing the emotional toil of a legal battle about rape, that means he’s good people?

If you really internalize the foundational values of our democracy, yes. You do understand that we're not supposed to punish people without trial, right? If a victim doesn't want to come forward, I can understand why. But protecting victims is no excuse to dismantle the very foundations of justice.

Have you also lobbied and argued for folks who stepped down etc after the Epstein files as almost none of that has gone to court yet?

To my knowledge, none of those accusations were made in an extremely opportune manner that demanded action be immediately taken without proper time to investigate them. And the people who were asked to step down are those who we have clear evidence of making damning emails with Epstein. That's the key thing - we have the actual damning emails. We have very little contemporary evidence here.

[–] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca 3 points 1 day ago

You do understand that we’re not supposed to punish people without trial, right?

There's a different between legal punishment and consequences. Typically on the Left, we have this fight with the Right about free speech; yes, the government won't stop you from saying horrific things but those horrific statements still have consequences. Kanye for example, has committed (as far as I know) no crimes but I would be similarly uncomfortable were he running for Senate.

(I also think it's pretty funny that in the next paragraph, you're totally fine with people stepping down without a trial, even though you also claim that punishing people without a trial is a foundational value of American democracy.)

I think at the end of the day, it comes down to what you're willing to tolerate. Personally, I have many women and girls in my life whom I love and value so, I don't feel at all comfortable with an accused rapist running for Senate. I've known enough victims to have some sense of how horrific those situations are, why not everyone feels comfortable going to trial and why predators should be avoided. I didn't feel good about Platner after the piece came out a month ago detailing a bunch of disturbing behavior to women but hey, everyone has different values.

To each their own.

[–] mrodri89@lemmy.zip -1 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Nah Republicans are a different breed because they'll keep supporting even after the court of law has been applied to establish guilt. I'm asking for people to at least let him get to court. Also what sources do you have to show people speaking on his character?

[–] velma@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago

Also what sources do you have to show people speaking on his character?

Oh you have no idea about Platner's history at all but you're going this hard against his victim?

[–] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Mr. Platner could be rough with her, Ms. Fifield said, particularly when they were drinking, leaving her shaken and sometimes afraid. In the interviews, Ms. Fifield grappled with how to process her experiences. She was quick to note that he “never hit me, he never punched me.”

But she said he regularly grabbed her by the shoulders — sometimes hard enough to leave marks — and, on one occasion, yanked her out of a cab by her wrist after an argument when she wanted to stay in the car.

During one argument, she recalled, he twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom and held the door closed from the other side so she couldn’t get out, telling her to remain there until she was “calm.” Eventually, Ms. Fifield said, she fell asleep and left the next morning.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/04/us/politics/platner-maine-senate-girlfriends-relationships.html

[–] velma@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

There are people seriously pushing here that because this woman is conservative she must be lying.

I believe her.

[–] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That's such a weird line, like she planned this out a decade before Platner got into politics?

It's just so depressing. I get that folks can love his positions but goddamn, I also thought we had standards.

[–] velma@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

There's some real conspiracy theory shit brewing here. Talk about the text messages being made up by Israel and whatnot. It's a little much considering the most believable part of this story is that a man got drunk and forced himself on the woman he was seeing at the time.

[–] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Ugh.

I guess, glass half full, it's nice to see the Right doesn't have a monopoly on "well, he's our guy so everything else is a rigged conspiracy."

Depressing AF.

[–] velma@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

When the leftists are yelling about how both sides are the same, they really aren't that far off. They just don't realize fellow progressives are included.

[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world -1 points 1 day ago

Why is it crazy?

Israel carried out an elaborately planned attack involving thousands of booby-trapped pagers that required setting up an entire secret production and logistic chain. Israel spycraft is so good that they literally stole the uranium they used to build their first nukes right out of US labs. They. Stole. Uranium. Weapons grade.

You're talking about a country with the best spies on the planet, and one that openly spends millions of dollars influencing US elections.

You're also talking about a country willing to accept massive collateral damage if it advances their interests. Those pagers for instance? They were smuggled in over years. Many ended up in pawn shops and later bought by random innocent people. Many innocent bystanders were harmed when Hezbollah members were blown up. You can't set off thousands of explosions in a country at random locations without hurting a lot of innocent people.

My point is that Israel has the means, motive, and opportunity to do this. Framing an innocent man for rape is not even on their radar in terms of acceptable levels of collateral damage.

Do I actually think it's an Israel conspiracy? I have no real evidence of that. But I also think it's ridiculous to just dismiss the idea out of hand. You can find numerous incidents of blackmail committed by Israel against American victims.

[–] velma@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I think he should take her to court there are things that can prove his innocence.

Like what?

[–] Ganbat@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

To quote the sentences immediately after your quote:

Warrants to get the cell phone pings of his location, the instagram data that was supposedly deleted can still be retrieved. The emails to the Therapist.

[–] velma@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

He should also have other women in his life that he’s dated speak on his character.

We've already heard from other women in his life and y'all soundly rejected what they had to say.

Warrants to get the cell phone pings of his location, the instagram data that was supposedly deleted can still be retrieved.

Gonna call the victim's evidence weak and then posit that this will exonerate him? All the instagram data is her messages to him. If he didn't delete his side, he could produce them himself.

The evidence the victim has already produced is compelling.

[–] Ganbat@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Gonna call the victim's evidence weak and then posit that this will exonerate him?

Nope, I'm not. I dunno anything about this case, just that you were asking a question that was answered in the next sentence, which is usually a sign of someone acting in bad faith.

[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world -1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The evidence the victim has already produced is compelling.

I firmly disagree. The ONLY evidence contemporary to the events that exists are screenshots of facebook messages that do not explicitly state that Platner raped her. Everything else is either recent or has been deleted. Read the original articles carefully, there's a lot of people spreading misinformation, recasting recent messages as older than they were described in the articles. I don't think you're doing that intentionally, but you should be aware you're spreading falsehoods.

[–] velma@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Platner could release his side of the Instagram messages.

He could release his side of the text messages from the night in question as well for that matter.

[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world -1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

According to his side, the damning messages don't exist. Yes, he dated her, so he would have had some messages from her, but that isn't in dispute. But if what he says is true, those messages won't exist.

How would you feel if someone falsely accused you of a crime, claimed you have non-existant evidence that damns you, and then demanded you produce this nonexistent evidence?

Again, I am not accusing the accuser of lying. I am not however willing to join a witch hunt that crucifies a man based on suspiciously timed accusations. But if Platner is telling the truth, that is the situation you are placing him in. You are demanding he produce damning evidence, evidence that he's claiming never existed.

[–] velma@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

How would you feel if someone falsely accused you of a crime, claimed you have non-existant evidence that damns you, and then demanded you produce this nonexistent evidence?

The evidence is not non-existent.

His ex-girlfriend has just come forward about his habit of stealthing (taking condoms off during sex). His campaign is done.

[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world -1 points 1 day ago

That was the same ex-girlfriend who supported Kavanaugh and is literally a Republican political organizer. And she also waited to make this accusation at the most opportune time.

We have cases of politicians being falsely accused of sexual assault, where they were conclusively proven innocent. It does happen. Politics is an area extremely vulnerable to it. If you time it right, the accusations don't need to be good enough to hold up in court.

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/pete-buttigieg-hit-fake-sexual-assault-allegations-can-he-sue-ncna1000501

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/alleged-victim-no-show-press-conference-claiming-mueller-sex-assaults-n929951

[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world -2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Exactly. I want to see him indicted and charged with rape. We aren't supposed to operate by witch hunts. We're supposed to operate by the rule of law. Republican lawlessness does not excuse Democratic lawlessness.

[–] velma@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Rapists are very rarely convicted in court.

98% of perpetrators walk free.

For every 1000 sexual assaults, 50 reports lead to arrests, 28 cases lead to felony convictions, and only 25 perpetrators are sentenced to incarceration.

[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

So by your numbers, there's a greater than fifty percent conviction rate once the thing actually goes to trial. And I see no reason this case can't go to trial, as the accuser has already taken the most difficult step of going public. The hardest part is just getting to the point of public accusation and trial. If the evidence is compelling as everyone here is saying, then there should be no problem convicting him.

Do some rapists go free? Yes. But even beyond sexism, that's simply a function of the foundations of our justice system. Most rape occurs in a setting where it's one person's word against the other. Hell, what starts as a private consensual act can turn into rape. (Not what's being alleged in this case.)

Have you forgotten the basic foundations of our justice system? Did you receive that poor of a civics education? Have you forgotten, "it's better for ten guilty men to go free than for one to be wrongfully punished?"

Well I actually believe that. I don't want to see anyone guilty go free. But I also don't want to see our country become a place where people can easily be falsely convicted of crimes based on little evidence. (And people still end up falsely convicted.) I want to see rape convictions be as successful as possible. But if you actually care about human rights and justice, you have to acknowledge that the conviction rate for rape is always going to be lower than other crimes. It's just the nature of the crime itself.