Now, take a few seconds to come up with a general character sketch in your mind of the typical person calling in death threats to elected officials. I'll be watching video of wakeboarding monkeys while you do.
HA! The monkeys think they're people.
OK, then… So what did we come up with?
Angry white male? Yyyep. Gun fanatic? Of course. History of mental illness and spousal abuse? Very good!
Here's a brief suspect profile from the story:
The FBI says the caller was a 70-year-old resident of Shuler's North Carolina district with a history of mental illness and a cache of guns. In the weeks before calling Shuler's office, the FBI says, the caller beat and choked his wife. She told the FBI that she'd tried to clear her home of guns — and that she went to bed at night with a can of mace tucked under her pillow.
OK. So the guy isn't necessarily succeeding at this whole "life" thing, but before we write him off as "capital K" KA-RAZY, let's hear his motivation behind making the call. Perhaps there are several more layers to be peeled back. Again, from the story:
"When agents showed up at the man's door, they asked him why he'd threatened to kill Shuler.
'I was trying to work the political scene,' he said."
Haahahaha outstanding.
'I was trying to work the political scene,' he said."
Haahahaha outstanding.
Yes. "Trying to work the political scene". You know, in the tradition of John Wilkes Booth. Or Sirhan Sirhan. A reeeeal savvy strategist, this guy. Fucking classic. But if you can believe it, the story only gets better from there. Let's meet the the Darwinian hiccup that produced threats on the life of Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan:
In February 2009, a man left voice mail messages for Stabenow in several of her Michigan offices.
"We're gonna (expletive) get you," he said in one message. "We're gonna get you with a lot of (expletive) bolt action. Like we did RFK; like we did MLK. We know who you are. We'll get you."
"We're gonna (expletive) get you," he said in one message. "We're gonna get you with a lot of (expletive) bolt action. Like we did RFK; like we did MLK. We know who you are. We'll get you."
And a little background on the caller:
"FBI agents tracked the calls to a 54-year-old Texas man who lived alone — and who at one time had owned a 20-gun arsenal of handguns, shotguns and rifles."
Hmm.
I seeee...
But again, let's not just jump to conclusions and assume this man's threats - as misplaced and disturbing as they are - aren't coming from a place of legitimate ideology and real passion/concern for his country. Let's read on:
According to the (FBI) documents, he told officers that he was "really, really drunk" when he made the calls. He said he was just "venting" — taking out his frustrations after hearing a discussion of the Fairness Doctrine and becoming concerned that the government would attempt to abolish the radio shows of Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh.
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1 comment:
I would have guessed white, male, possibly Southern but not necessarily, Republican along the lines of Tea Party, and owns guns with possibly own ranch/lots of land.
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