After someone almost assassinated Donald Trump last weekend, you know who I've been waiting to hear from? John Hinckley Jr., the man who tried to kill Ronald Reagan in 1981!
"Violence is not the way to go. Give peace a chance" is good advice … but rings a little hollow given that this man tried to murder a president (while also paralyzing James Brady, the White House press secretary, and wounding a police officer and Secret Service officer in the process).
Hinckley was 25 years old at the time of the attempted assassination, and was suffering from acute psychosis (he said he was trying to win Jodie Foster's heart). In 1982, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity and was ordered to stay in a psychiatric hospital. In 2016, he was given conditional release, which was lifted in 2022.
And apparently, he is all about peace now, with The Guardian reporting:
Since his release, Hinckley has tried to forge a new life as a folk musician and a painter. In March, he told a Connecticut radio station: 'I stand for peace now.'
Pity his last name isn't Biden, otherwise he'd be a best-selling artist already.
Look, it's good that Hinckley stands for peace.
But here's the thing:
The vast majority of us were pro-peace without ever having to almost murder a president and spend decades in a mental institution to work that out.
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