To add to this: Platner didn't "blame" anything on anyone until he constructed this newest version of his persona. He didn't blame anyone because, from 2011 to 2020, he repeatedly wrote he had no regrets.
r/AskReddit | May 2011
"I realize this isn't the standard 'I went to war and now I'm broken and angry and depressed' story, but it is mine and it is true."
r/Military | August 2012
"I have no regrets."
r/AdviceAnimals | October 2013
"I joined up for an experience, and found a career, I have no regrets."
r/AskReddit | December 2015
"Given the choice of a safe, stable, and fulfilled civilian life or another tour like Ramadi in 2006, I wouldn't even hesitate."
"In the end, civilian life really seems devoid of purpose or excitement after intense combat."
r/USMC | May 2018
"Don't regret a thing."
r/USMC | January 2020
"Wanted to have an adventure and kill some people. Joined up in '04, did Fallujah and Ramadi, and managed both. Hell of an excellent experience."
Flash-forward six years and it's "Susan Collins sent me to war" on repeat.
This kind of audience-adjustment in persona is legitimately concerning. Particularly when it doesn't *need* to be done. There is no account for a recent change in perspective. And, even if there were such an account, it would't make a lot of sense.
"Oh, in 2004 I chose to go to war because I wanted an adventure and, yes, I wanted to kill some people. Up until 2020, I not only felt no regrets, but thought it was a damn fine experience. Then, sometime after 2020, I realized that it was Susan Collins, a woman I voted for several times over this period, who compelled me to go to war. It took me between 15-20 years to come to this realization, but I stand by it now."
Do people not realize how odd this is?
You don’t get to eagerly sign up for a war then turn around and try to blame your decisions on somebody else.