John Hinckley Jr, the man who tried to assassinate US President Ronald Reagan, is to be released from a psychiatric hospital next month after 35 years.
Mr Reagan and three others were injured in the shooting outside a hotel in Washington in March 1981.
Mr Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity but was sent for treatment to a Washington hospital.
Source: BBC News
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hinckley_Jr.
https://twitter.com/NPR/status/758283971092443136
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Would-Be Reagan Assassin John Hinckley to be Freed
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(Score: 3, Funny) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Wednesday July 27 2016, @10:26PM
If he could give Trump a try, that'd be mighty fine.
(Score: 3, Touché) by tangomargarine on Wednesday July 27 2016, @10:27PM
I say whichever one wins.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday July 27 2016, @10:37PM
You beat us all to the punch. There are almost two thousand minds here thinking the same thing. Though shooting people isn't exactly "fine", I can understand the feeling. And at least he didn't pick Sarah Palin for VP.
Tally ho!
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Wednesday July 27 2016, @10:41PM
I'm pretty sure there are more than two thousand SN subscribers.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday July 27 2016, @11:09PM
Sorry, a small transposition of numbers swirling in my head. Good thing I'm not a banker [soylentnews.org], eh? OTOH, Maybe I could have worked things out more in everybody's favor...
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @12:44AM
Whereupon President Pence shall bring down the Lord's tribulation. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:17)
(Score: 2) by Dunbal on Thursday July 28 2016, @01:02AM
“Dragon kind was no less cruel than mankind. The Dragon, at least, acted from bestial need rather than bestial greed.” ― Anne McCaffrey, Dragonflight
Oh I'm sorry, I thought we were quoting from fantasy books.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @12:53AM
Political debates are so emotionally driven always. So when I say this I hope you won't just dismiss me as a Trump supporter, because I assure you? I'm not.
I'm not saying I support Clinton either, because honestly? I don't support anyone in this election.
However, over the past couple months I have seen people scream I hate trump from practically every comment section and rooftop I'ver seen. It almost feels like everyone's fucking virtue signaling for hating the guy.
I'm a proponent of anonymous discussion, which tends to diminish identity politics. But honestly, I have to ask: do you have to make comments like this? Is it just so you can improve your standing on this website and feel good about yourself?
God damn it, people. Even on SN people are fucking doing this shit. I'm getting tired. I get, you don't like the guy. Keep it to yourself and keep discussion factual, shall we?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @01:03AM
Triggered, bro? [bbc.co.uk]
(Score: 4, Interesting) by SomeGuy on Thursday July 28 2016, @01:57AM
It really is a sad state of affairs when almost everyone hates BOTH of the presidential candidates. And this is turning in to quite a bit of frustration for people, so it probably can't be helped that it overflows in to places like this.
This election really has turned in to a Simpsons-esq "Kang Vs Kodos" decision. Perhaps people should literally write-in "Kodos" so they can honestly display a "Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos" bumper sticker.
Agree or disagree with him, at least Obama was a more or less likable guy. So was Reagan, since that is the topic.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @02:24AM
Why do we need a likable guy? Why can't we have another quiet recluse like Calvin Coolidge?
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Thursday July 28 2016, @03:11AM
What a clever comment! This brief biography explains it: http://millercenter.org/president/biography/coolidge-impact-and-legacy [millercenter.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @03:40AM
Dude bro, like, Calvin Cool was too Mellow for Murica.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @01:24PM
My take from that is he was "meh" not like the presidents who did great things.
Despite his personal integrity, he offered no sweeping vision or program of action that the presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson had led the public to associate with presidential greatness.
In contrast nowadays you bunch and the rest of the world are just hoping your presidents wouldn't be too awful or even start a global nuclear war.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @03:17AM
That shows discriminating taste.
(It bothers me when people say "discrimination" when they mean "prejudice"; it confuses the meaning of the former.)
Cheating Donald [commondreams.org] is fundamentally a dishonest individual[1].
He has thousands of outstanding court cases where people have done work for him and he didn't pay them.
He takes pride in saying that he never settles a court case.
This means that a bunch of small businessmen will go out of businessmen while Trump drags out those cases.
[1] ...not to mention Trump's narcissistic personality disorder.
The fact that someone from The Working Class would think Trump is presidential material is astounding to me.
...then there's Hillary whose idea of supporting women is to take away more of their safety net without doing anything to make sure there are jobs for them.
...and putting more of their men ("superpredators") in prison so that those guys will lose their voting rights and any chance of a decent job after they get out--for the offense of doing the same things that college boys do all the time (carrying a joint in a pocket).
When the glass ceiling is broken (first female president), I'm still hoping it will be by someone who isn't a Neocon (even more of a chickenhawk than Obama; there are never too many cops) AND a Neoliberal (Wall Street's best friend; bailouts for failed Capitalists).
Obama was a more or less likable guy
...if you like guys who make bunches of promises they have no intention of keeping.
...and guys who have bombs dropped on wedding parties.
.
Oh, and if you run into Hinckley, you shouldn't mention that Jody Foster is a lesbian.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Thursday July 28 2016, @07:51AM
It is my understanding that the US has more than two political parties.
If most everybody hates both candidates on offer, maybe it is time to research the smaller parties.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Thexalon on Thursday July 28 2016, @11:31AM
It's worth noting that the smaller parties are polling at somewhere around 15%, led by the Libertarians and the Greens in that order. That's much better than they've ever polled before. Whether either of those parties can translate their increasing support into actual political power somewhere remains to be seen - there are right now no Libertarian governors, state legislatures, or congressmen, for example.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @12:15PM
What we need is the ability to vote "NONE OF THE ABOVE".
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Thursday July 28 2016, @04:41PM
I was going to say you can spoil your ballot, by you people use voting machines :P
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @01:28PM
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday July 28 2016, @03:48PM
If I were the strategist for either Libertarian or Green Parties, I'd:
1. Pick a small state friendly to their party philosophy, e.g. Montana for the Libertarians or Vermont for the Greens.
2. Concentrate all their efforts in that one state, not just for president but for state legislature, governor, mayors, councilmen, etc. Win hearts and minds by doing the hard work of campaigning.
3. Take over a state and show that their philosophy works well on a state-level scale.
The Libertarians have already kinda started to do this with the Free State Project, but they'd be really catapulted onto the national scene if Johnson/Weld actually won electoral votes in New Hampshire.
My view on the least-bad outcome right now is: 1. Clinton wins the majority of electoral votes, so Trump is kept out of the presidency (I see him as a lot more dangerous than Clinton). 2. The Libertarians and/or Greens pick up enough popular votes and ideally some electoral votes so major media can't help but at least acknowledge that they exist, and the Democrats and Republicans both have to recognize and respond to the threat. In other words, move the minor parties from being ignored to at least being a punchline.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @08:19PM
we only do what the TV tells us to do. It hasn't told us to do that yet.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday July 28 2016, @03:44PM
It really is a sad state of affairs when almost everyone hates BOTH of the presidential candidates.
Almost everybody on the internet. We get a bit of a skewed perspective here on the tubes. The 16 million [realclearpolitics.com] Democrats that voted Clinton in the primaries (compared to Sanders' 12) clearly don't hate Clinton.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @11:20AM
As an AC, I have to confess, I hate Trump. And not with a normal hate, like hatred of Barney the Purple Dinosaur. No, this is a hate that burns white hot, in fact, almost supremely white hot. He is ethnically German. Grandfather ran a whorehouse in a goldrush town in Washington State. Made his money (if there is any actually) by borrowing from family. I know people like this. They are not to be trusted. In fact, they are to be hated.
So, delusional AC who "claims" to not be a Trump supporter, I now hate you as well, for even bringing the topic up. This makes things difficult, since I too am an AC. But I am not a Trump supporting AC, thank goodness to God, Kaine, and Pence, and Falwell. Oh, and Graham, Cracker Graham. So I hate Trump, but it is not an irrational hate. It has reasons, really good reasons, like Trump is from New York. Everyone in the rest of American hates New York, and so everyone hates Trump. Are you from New York, AC?
And so, we should have some relevance to the topic of the thread: No one should kill anyone, Billionaire Lives Matter, even ones with really small hands. This is where America has gone wrong what with it's "kill this person" program, sometimes called the "War on Error". It should not be in the power of any government to intentionally kill any person (including capitol punishment), and so it cannot be in the power of any citizen of such a government to take a life, no matter how much they think it may be necessary, or even if Jodie Foster is watching. I mean, that is just crazy talk.
We are watching you, AC. Careful.
(Score: 2) by weeds on Thursday July 28 2016, @11:44AM
I don't think so...
I'm a proponent of anonymous discussion...
There's a reason that the anonymous is called Anonymous Coward. AC invites flames trolls and true non-sense in a discussion.
Keep it to yourself and keep discussion factual...
This isn't the news, this is the comments section. The whole idea is to get opinions. If you don't like them, too bad. Feel free to respond. But you must be kidding when you say "keep it to yourself."
Get money out of politics! [mayday.us]
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday July 28 2016, @03:38PM
However, over the past couple months I have seen people scream I hate trump from practically every comment section and rooftop I'ver seen. It almost feels like everyone's fucking virtue signaling for hating the guy.
Now, this may be a radical notion, but, have you considered that maybe people just don't actually like the guy?
This message approved by William of Ockham
(Score: 2) by bradley13 on Thursday July 28 2016, @05:38AM
You (probably) meant that as a joke, but at least one person has already tried, and I am quite sure there will be more. Add in the trail of mysterious deaths that follow the Clintons around, and, well...
It's a sad comment on American politics, when the individual voters dislike the opposition candidate this much. You are a deeply divided country, on the threshold of serious violence. Once that genie is fully out of the bottle, it's called "civil war". Given all the directions your country is split (black/white, urban/rural, religious/progressive, etc.), that will be an ugly, ugly thing.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @10:31AM
More specifically, what's wrong with the USA is its media.
The Powell Memo of 1971 said that if rich Right^Wrong Wingers wanted to take back the gains made by The Working Class during the New Deal Era, they needed to buy up all the media.
In 1987, Mark Fowler, Reagan's FCC Chairman, stopped enforcing the Fairness Doctrine.
David Cay Johnston notes that when he was coming up as a reporter, the Forth Estate was made up of people who had a hard scrabble background and were used to hard work.
He notes that the current generation of talking heads in media are pampered aristocrats whose daddies paid their kids' way through college.
He notes the dearth of insightful, hard-hitting follow-up questions in interviews (assuming there are any follow-up questions at all) and the lack of depth and life experience in the personnel which leads to that.
You also won't see Progressives in Lamestream Media.
Ralph Nader has a list of smart folks who are typical of those on the blacklist. [googleusercontent.com] (orig) [counterpunch.org]
.
...and isn't it interesting how there are personal military weapons everywhere (mandated) in Switzerland and there aren't mass murders there?
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Thursday July 28 2016, @10:46AM
You (probably) meant that as a joke
Not really...
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday July 27 2016, @10:54PM
Mentally unstable man held for 35 years after he injured 4 people.
Wanna compare with some people who actually intentionally committed crimes affecting a lot more people?
I'm glad he gets to never be treated like a normal citizen again, it'd be a shame if 35 years of free room and board had actually rehabilitated him.
(Score: 3, Funny) by aristarchus on Wednesday July 27 2016, @11:09PM
I've said it before, and I will say it again:
it'd be a shame if 35 years of free room and board had actually rehabilitated him.
NEVER try to out-hyperbole super bob, you just can't do it!
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday July 28 2016, @12:01AM
Mentally unstable man held for 35 years after he injured 4 people.
And? Are we supposed to let him run around and shoot more people? Mental illness is not something that gets fixed on a prompt time table. While it is possible here that Hinckley was held for longer than he should have been, he did have some serious mental problems and he almost killed two people. I don't see that the duration is necessarily severe since the point of this is not punishment, but treatment/rehabilitation.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 27 2016, @10:56PM
Mr. Hinckley (or what's left of him after all those years of "treatment") would appear to qualify to become president, himself. The fact that he's "no longer considered a threat to himself or others" is very appealing to me. "He has already been spending 17 days a month at his mother's home in Virginia," the story says. He should have campaigned!
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday July 27 2016, @11:14PM
Maybe he is managing the man's campaign... You can do a lot on the internet from home these days.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @12:20AM
Hmm, he was diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder. You may be onto something.
(Score: 2) by Dunbal on Thursday July 28 2016, @01:08AM
narcissistic personality disorder.
Get him a cell phone and an instagram account he will fit right in to today's society.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @10:54AM
You can do a lot on the internet from home these days.
... just ask the JIDF [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 27 2016, @11:04PM
No, wait, never mind, that was Ralph Hinckley.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @01:03AM
Who's Ralph Hinkley?
(Score: 4, Informative) by Jiro on Thursday July 28 2016, @01:25AM
As people have a habit of not explaining jokes and thinking it's funny to say "ha, ha, this is an in-joke you won't get", let me explain it straight.
Ralph Hinkley is the name of the main character in "The Greatest American Hero", a TV show from 1981. When Reagan was shot, the makers of the show decided that they had best stop using the character's name. They then changed his name to Hanley. A lttle while later, they changed it back, apparently realizing how stupid it was to think the audience would confuse a real-life person named Hinkley with a TV show character that didn't even share the same first name.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Thursday July 28 2016, @01:59AM
Who's Ralph Hinkley?
Can't you read? He is the Greatest American Hero.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @02:15AM
Not without the suit he's not. Without the suit he's just another Special Ed teacher.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @02:51AM
(Score: 1, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @01:40AM
Because it provides one more encouragement for depressed or whacked-out people who might be contemplating pulling off something similar today.
Maybe I can get out of prison before I'm too old.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Beryllium Sphere (r) on Thursday July 28 2016, @02:10AM
Insanity defenses are a lot harder to use than many people believe.
Lawyer and blogger Ken White suggests "I doubt 35 years of forced treatment and confinement is the sort of lenity that leads anyone to violence".
https://www.scribd.com/document/319454730/Hinkley-Order [scribd.com] has the judge's full reasoning.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @01:45PM
And it makes sense. It's the crazy ones, the serial killers or mass murderers you'd be worried about.
The other murderers who kill just one person they hate, rarely kill again even when they get out. Especially the ones with a zero track record of violence to others. They only wanted to kill one person in the world and they've done that and it's likely they won't want to kill again.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @02:12PM
He got 35 years because the President was one of the victims. I doubt he would have got that long if it was you that took the bullet.
(Score: 2, Disagree) by Snotnose on Thursday July 28 2016, @02:42AM
Kill the guy 30 years ago this wouldn't be an issue. As it is, I can't believe he's being let out of his 6x10 cell for more than 20 minutes, let alone forever.
Guy tried to kill a president, killed James Baker (albeit years later), his bones should be in an unmarked grave.
Fuck this judge.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @02:53AM
Make the judge responsible for his actions going forward. When his mother passes he gets to move in with this judge.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday July 28 2016, @02:55AM
Wrong James: Brady was the one who died, not James Baker, who's still alive.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday July 28 2016, @03:26AM
With hindsight, I think we'll be saying "had he succeeded, he'd have kept this world from going down a very, very dark path." Have you forgotten that 35+ years of that senile fool's voodoo economics are the reason we're in this state?! It's sad, it's awful, but sometimes murder is the answer.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @03:39AM
had [Hinckley] succeeded, he'd have kept this world from going down a very, very dark path
You assume that the ruling class wouldn't have found another useful idiot.
...and don't you remember how things went when Bush41 (Reagan's VP) did get the top gig?
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday July 28 2016, @07:26AM
I was 3 at the time, if you're referring to the 1988 election cycle, so no, not personally.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by butthurt on Thursday July 28 2016, @04:24AM
The kinds of policies Reagan effected had long existed: in 1896, William Jennings Bryan said:
—https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Cross_of_Gold_Speech [wikisource.org]
Why Reagan should be blamed for the continuation of such policies long after he left office is unclear to me.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday July 28 2016, @07:25AM
He could have stopped the cycle. He didn't.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @03:53AM
The way the law reads, in order to stand trail, the defendant has to understand the charges and be able to participate in his own defense.
Remember Hinckley's motive?
He thought this would attract movie star Jody Foster on whom he had a crush.
The dude was living in his own reality.
...or are you one of those who supports summary executions?
(I've seen from your history of comments that you are a Reactionary; I'm just wondering where you draw the line.)
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @11:27AM
in order to stand trail,
And here I thought, that in order to stand on a trail, the hiker had to have feet, and like, boots or something. When did we change the subject to outdoor sports?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Beryllium Sphere (r) on Thursday July 28 2016, @06:52AM
Capital punishment for going crazy?
Here's how one lawyer looks at it: https://popehat.com/2016/07/27/john-hinkley-jr-and-the-rule-of-law/ [popehat.com]
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Thursday July 28 2016, @08:18AM
Brady died in 2014. Had Hinckley been killed in 1991 as proposed, his victim would have still been alive. The U.S. does have the death penalty, but currently it isn't exacted for attempted murder.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_v._Louisiana [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Thursday July 28 2016, @11:51AM
If anyone needs to be gassed and dumped in the same place they dump sewage solids, it's you.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday July 28 2016, @06:36PM
This is why we need the death penalty - Kill the guy 30 years ago this wouldn't be an issue.
30 years ago we had the death penalty! And yet, here we are.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @03:53AM
(Score: 1) by AssCork on Thursday July 28 2016, @04:56AM
Apparently she was, she went full Democrat right after that.
A shame Brady didn't get a quick death though - I wouldn't wish anyone a decade of wheelchair-bound drooling on themselves (despite the very HHGTTG-esq justice of a politician being shot in the spine even being possible).
If only his wife had been there that day, then maybe we wouldn't have had to suffer through +30 years of reactionary feel-good gun-control legislation that has been amazingly effective at stopping crazies from doing mass-harm to innocents.
Just popped-out of a tight spot. Came out mostly clean, too.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @09:29AM
She was always a typical Hollywood Progressive.
Now, a significant change for her was coming out as a carpet muncher.
a decade of wheelchair-bound drooling
Ah. Another Reactionary passing judgment on whose life is worth living.
The brain is amazing in its ability to rewire itself.
He got some motor function back and appeared to be happy that he had that.
Above all, Jim Brady never lost his sense of humor.
30 years of reactionary feel-good gun-control legislation
You got the pieces, but you assembled them poorly.
The control part was done by the Donkeys.
That was effective in reducing harm (relative to doing nothing).
Specifically, weapons of war that were meant to kill large numbers of people rapidly and which have no place in a civilian population were banned.
The Reactionary part was when the sunset dates on those laws came along and Republicans wouldn't re-up those laws.
Look at the mass murders lately: All with assault rifles.
Thanks, "Party of Lincoln".
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 4, Touché) by deimios on Thursday July 28 2016, @05:58AM
He got off easy. Now imagine if he had pirated a music track. He'd get 2 times the US national debt as a fine, 3 lifetimes and 2 executions.