New twist on the Twinkie defense
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“Lawyers for a man convicted of a terrorist plot to bomb a Kansas apartment complex are blaming President Trump for stoking their client’s fiery rhetoric about Muslims.
Attorneys for Patrick Stein — who was found guilty of planning to kill Muslim residents of Garden City, Kansas — claimed that Trump’s “brand of rough-and-tumble verbal pummeling” contributed to Stein’s homicidal thoughts.
“The court cannot ignore the circumstances of one of the most rhetorically mold-breaking, violent, awful, hateful and contentious presidential elections in modern history, driven in large measure by the rhetorical China shop bull who is now our president,” the lawyers wrote in a sentencing memo filed on Monday.
The lawyers are asking for a lesser sentence in part due to the argument that Stein was a Trump supporter and the president inflamed Stein’s anti-immigrant hatred — ultimately influencing the man’s attack plans.
“A person normally at a 3 on a scale of political talk might have found themselves at a 7 during the election,” the lawyers wrote.
“A person, like Patrick, who would often be at a 7 during a normal day, might ‘go to 11.’ See SPINAL TAP. That climate should be taken into account when evaluating the rhetoric that formed the basis of the government’s case.”
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To be fair, this is no different than the main stream media’s simultaneously blaming Trump for the pro-Trump mad bomber down in Florida and the rabid anti-Semite, anti-Trump murderer in Pittsburgh, but it’s certainly another indication of Trump Derangement Syndrome. If (most) polls are to be believed, next Tuesday will see a return of control to the Democrats, but if lightning were to strike and the Republicans keep the House and Senate, oh my, oh my: grab the popcorn, and a helmet.