Democrat rulers to 156,000 Maine Platner voters: “Alright, we let you have your fun, and you blew it. Now stand aside, and let us pros show you how it's done”

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(No, she’s not a maga republican, although she should be)

Democracy, Pine Tree style

Maine Democrats approve 600-person convention to pick Graham Platner’s replacement

The Maine Democratic Party’s state committee voted Wednesday to hold a nominating convention to select a replacement for U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner, according to a party statement and an account of the meeting shared with the Bangor Daily News.

More than 100 state committee members attended the meeting and voted in favor of the convention process, the party said in a statement. The convention would include 500 delegates elected proportionally by county committees, along with the entire state committee, according to the account of the meeting.

The account of the meeting was written by an attendee and provided to the BDN. 

But have no fear:

“We will announce the full timeline, details for how the nomination process will move forward, information about how to participate, and requirements for candidates soon,” party Chair Charlie Dingman, Vice Chair Imke Schessler and Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson said in a statement. “We will keep the public informed throughout the process – transparency is of the utmost importance.”

Old Greenwich land sale

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Our late, beloved local animal rescue lady Meredith Sampson’s 0.22-acre lot at 27 Park Avenue was recently brought to the market by Daphne Lamsvelt-Pol for $1.795 million. The Dutchess (yes, we know we’re misspelling that, don’t worry) didn’t bother posting pictures of the property itself — they wouldn’t have helped, and were irrelevant — and contented herself instead with postcard scenes of her native Amsterdam, and it worked: sold yesterday for $2.850 million.

Phew! Dodged a bullet

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The owners of 55 Stag Lane paid $2.6 million for it in July 2024 but, nice as the house is, they discovered that they were a little too close to a certain FWIW reader/commentator we all know (and love), and decided to move back out. Placed on the Market in May at $2.8 million, it has now sold for an even $3 million, so what could have been a loss has worked out just fine.

Buyers are from Tribeca, where they’re probably used to quirky neighbors; although, if they thought they were escaping them by moving here, well, …

Fortunately, NYC's sending a no-borders communist to Congress to stop this kind of cruelty

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ICE detains Honduran man involved in Connecticut crash for illegally reentering [5X, by my count] US, officials say

HARTFORD — A man who was under the influence when he was involved in an Andover crash has been ordered detained for illegally reentering the U.S., officials said Wednesday.

  • Belin Antonio Gonzalez-Garcia, 39, a Honduran citizen, appeared Tuesday in federal court in Hartford after being taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on June 23, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut David Sullivan said in a news release.

  • Gonzalez-Garcia was convicted of first-degree assault in the state in October 2009, the release said. After his 18-year prison sentence, which was suspended after seven years served and three years of probation, he was deported, the release said. He was sent back to Honduras in April 2015, the release said. 

  • The release said over a year later, in September 2016, Gonzalez-Garcia was taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol in Brownsville, Texas. The release said he served 2½ years in prison before being deported to Honduras in December 2018.

  • Gonzalez-Garcia had two more instances in Texas where he was caught by border patrol in the subsequent years, sentenced to prison and then deported to Honduras, the release said. 

  • Gonzalez-Garcia was charged by state police on June 7 in connection with the crash in Andover, the release said. It said he was charged with OUI, evading responsibility, failure to drive in proper lane and operating a motor vehicle without a license. The release said Gonzalez-Garcia appeared in state Superior Court in Rockville for those charges, and ended up being freed on a $2,500 bond. [Fun fact: CT forbids police to honor ICE detainers — Ed]

  • The release said ICE took Gonzalez-Garcia into custody on June 23. The release said he is now charged with illegal reentry of a removed alien. 

Spoiler alert: it's the DSA, and I think he's spot-on

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Scott Pinsker, PJMedia:

Good News Is, Platner Just Killed the Democrats' Brand. Bad News Is, You’re Gonna HATE What Replaces It.

My only disagreement is his statement that the process is happening in slow motion. It seems to me that we’re almost there already, and speeding up.

…. The amount of damage that Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner has inflicted on the Democrats' brand is simply extraordinary. It’s probably the most underreported story in politics today. There’s just no credible way the Dems can pretend to be a Nazi-hating, pro-woman party when they’ve spent months wrapping their brand around a Nazi-tatted, woman-abusing, foul-mouthed rapist (allegedly).

…. But I’m less interested in Platner’s personal future than the Democratic Party’s: Now that it can’t credibly brand itself as the anti-Nazi, “Believe All Women” party, what happens next?

Its old brand is done. Platner killed it. (But not singlehandedly: If his candidacy had been spurned by Dem leaders, party kingpins, and left-wing tastemakers, the damage would’ve been limited. It was embracing Platner right up to the bitter end — wrapping their arms around him and lovingly calling him “My kind of man” — that delivered the deathblow.)

Ding dong, the old brand is dead!

But that doesn’t mean the Democratic Party is dead. Because it’s not.

It means the Democratic Party brand will become something new.

This is a party, after all, that explicitly rejects patriotism and the concept of American exceptionalism. It loves socialism. It hates capitalism, billionaires, and (most of all) MAGA Republicans. And its soul is now 100%, unapologetically Machiavellian: Win at all costs, because the ends justify the means.

If we’ve gotta support a Nazi rapist to regain power, then that’s what we’ll do!

The evolving image of the new Democratic brand — which was born this week — should send a shiver down your spine: It’s now the political party of class warfare and the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism.

A left-wing version of “Make America Great Again” would fall on deaf ears, because today’s Dems reject the premise that America was ever great — or even deserves greatness. Instead, our country is a rigged con-game, and the only solution is to tear the damn thing down. 

That’s disastrous for establishment Democrats.

But it’s PERFECT brand alignment for the Democratic Socialists of America.

And that’s how it’ll go. First the Democrats' old brand fell. Then goes the establishment.

Next goes the party.

It’s happening in slow motion, but make no mistake: It’s absolutely happening.

Platner plans?

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David Strom:

You Know, Platner Doesn't HAVE to Pull Out

(I don’t think Strom intended to employ a double-entendre is this analysis of the Maine rapist’s troubles and possible paths forward, but you never know)

I don’t really care whether Platner drops out or stands firm, because the Democrat alternatives here in Vacation Land are all equally as bad, but watching the hypocrisy at play is truly awesome. And fun.

If I had to lay odds, I would bet that Platner eventually pulls the plug on his campaign for Senate. 

But, really, it's hardly a sure thing. He actually has some reasons to stay in the race, and if he does, the Democrats really can't do anything about it. Despite all the claims that Platner has no choice, no cards to play, and no say in whether he stays on the ballot, he actually holds most of the cards. 

Platner, you see, is not a loyal member of the Democratic Party, which, ironically, was why he won. The Democratic Socialists of America are engaged in a hostile takeover of the Democratic Party, and his entire pitch to the voters who dutifully marched to the polls and eagerly sent in their absentee ballots was that he wasn't a normal kind of Democrat. 

The normal rules don't apply to him, and the Democrats have nothing to give to him in exchange for getting out of the race. 

Bernie Sanders flew him around to be a headliner at the "Fight Oligarchy" rallies. Ro Khanna flew off to Portland, ME to campaign with him. The New York Times did a "catch and kill" with the story, despite knowing that he was credibly accused of rape. The relationship with the Democrats and Platner was transactional: they wanted to win, and the best path they saw was a Democratic Socialist who obviously hated the party, hated women, hated Jews, hated America, and who was openly extremist in just about every way. 

Busy on Stanwich

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300 Stanwich Road, listed at $2.950 million and has sold for $3.1. How Dutchess Daphne found her-buyer clients in Manhattan Beach California, I don’t know, but she did — probably lured them out here with a promise of a lifetime supply of gouda, knowing Daphne. Clever girl.

Closer to town, 184 Stanwich was priced at $4.650 million but a generous benefactor insisted on paying $5.052 million, and the owners graciously acceded; Greenwich folks are nice like that.