Graham Platner Has Radical Impeachment Plans for Supreme Court
The Supreme Court could be in for some big changes if Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner gets his way.
During an interview with NBC News, the oyster farmer tossed out the idea of investigating Supreme Court impeachments. He wasn’t done there though. Platner also discussed investigating President Donald Trump’s business dealings after the recent wave of moves related to fund raising and appropriating funds in strange ways that other presidential administrations haven’t dared to do.
“I want to shut the White House down,” Platner told NBC. “I want us to, for the next two years, be dragging every single person in the White House, every single person in all these agencies that have been conducting themselves in illegal and unconstitutional ways.”
To a lot of the Democratic electorate, that sounds like a plan. Or, in some corners, maybe even the bare minimum. But, the main Democrat wasn’t done there. Platner quickly took aim at the improprieties he saw from the Supreme Court. Two justices in particular found themselves singled out for business dealings.
“The relationship between Clarence Thomas and Harlan Crow is not hard to see as clearly corrupt, and Justice Thomas doesn’t even recuse himself from cases that impact Crow’s businesses,” he said. “There’s absolutely reasons for removal.”
In the same interview, Platner argued for stricter ethical standards on the court. Both Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas would fall into the bucket that the Senate candidate was building here. He also argued for expanding seats on the court to reduce the effect of partisan maneuvering in deciding massive cases.
Graham Platner calls for Supreme Court reform
In addition to these comments about the Supreme Court, he has his sights set on all kinds of different law breaking. When the topic of ice came up in the interview, Plattner made it clear that the people that you see on your phones every night causing havoc in American communities should have their day in court.
“We drag people who are involved in putting ICE agents in our streets, murdering American citizens, terrorizing communities,” Platner explained before mentioning the people who “dropped a bunch of bombs on boats in the Caribbean all last fall.”
The prospective candidate classified that as murder. And, if you look at the approval ratings for what went on in Venezuela, what is currently happening in Iran, and what’s been going on in America, the people disapprove of all of this violence as well.
Will Platner win though?
Maine’s Senate race has attracted a lot of media attention. Platner has had multiple scandals tumble out on his way to trying to secure a spot in Congress. But, even still, The kind of populism he’s speaking towards in this interview and other places is striking a chord with some voters. His biggest strength is the media’s willingness to paint him as an everyman. A couple of weird tattoos closely associated with ethno-nationalism? Handwaved away by supporters.
But, anyone who’s been watching politics long enough knows that his opposition across the aisle will seize upon these kinds of gaffes in order to try and drive a wedge between the electorate and his causes. There’s also the recent track record of other senators who talk to progressive game on the campaign trail and then failed to back up these lofty promises once they got into office. That specter always looms. For now, Platner is playing a tune that a lot of voters seem to get along with.
(featured image: MAINEiac4434, CC BY-SA 4.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.)
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