Final post-mortem from me on the Platner thing

[BWdem4life]

And I'll admit I only halfway followed the saga in the first place, not being from Maine.

1.) I'm glad he is dropping out, because I won't have to be torn between wanting Collins out and having to root for a possible rapist among other things.

2. If he had stayed in, I would have rooted for him because this country is in crisis and no matter how bad a senator he might have been, likely would have been better than the only viable alternative.

3.) I've been one of the most liberal of Democrats, and an unabashed Sanders supporter, but I am disappointed in the way Bernie helped advance his candidacy while overlooking obvious red flags.

4.) I am also now more enlightened to know that there is a faction who doesn't necessarily have the best interests of the Democratic Party (severely imperfect though it is) in mind when recruiting outside candidates. I had mostly dismissed concerns about this in the past.

5.) I remain a "left-wing" Sanders supporter, and remain committed to the idea that the Democratic Party needs to be pushed more to the left, and to be more of a strong opposition party to the Republicans,