Violent Right-Wing Terrorists Claim: “Trump’s Rhetoric Made Us Do It!”
I wonder if we’re going to see the Florida pipe bomber or the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter try this as a defense tactic (note: I am very deliberately not saying their names, and I will try to maintain this as much as possible, to deny these evil fucksticks their much-craved notoriety):
Convicted Anti-Muslim Plotter Wants Leniency Because Of Trump Rhetoric
Stein’s fear of Muslims and false beliefs about the Quran came “directly from the internet and conservative talk-show hosts such as Sean Hannity and Michael Savage,” his attorneys argue in their latest filing.
When you read the story of his life, you start to appreciate just who these people who show up to Trump’s rallies are. They are the pathetic, drug-addicted, abused children of white trash rural America.
I know these people. I grew up among these people. Some of these people are relatives of mine.
These are the people that Trump connects with, and who identify with him, because he’s the defiant, drunken, rage-filled middle finger thrust into the faces of everyone who is more successful than them, who is smarter than them, who reminds them of what failures in life they are.
Patrick’s struggle with dependency and mental health issues contributed to the failure of two marriages, the estrangement of his sons, and an inability to find connection or success in work, and even placed him in a situation that caused Patrick to become the victim of a violent crime while working as a truck driver. The destruction wrought in Patrick’s life was consistent, continuous, and contributory to the story of this case.
A part of me can’t help but feel a bit sympathetic towards all the Patricks out there. My cousins have gone from the funny kids I used to go fishing with, to sullen alcoholic losers who have systematically alienated every single person who could have ever loved them.
But the rest of me knows that these people are self-pitying assholes.
Just. Like. Trump.