A Georgia attorney who joined the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and then went on social media to brag about breaking into then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office has been sentenced.

A Georgia attorney who joined the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and then went on social media to brag about breaking into then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office has been sentenced.

  • cassetti@kbin.social
    18·
    1 year ago

    This lends evidence to my hypothesis that being a republican really is a mental illness.

    I had to search for his name, and wow what a doozy: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/18/us/W-McCall-Calhoun-Jr-georgia-capitol-riot.html

    It’s a long read but here’s a preview:

    Over the past three decades, as the state around him turned ever more resolutely Republican, W. McCall Calhoun Jr. remained an outspoken and unwavering liberal. He gave money to Democrats, ran for office as a Democrat and zealously championed Democratic policies in social circles that were far from sympathetic. If friends admitted they voted for Donald J. Trump, his reaction could be blistering.
    “He was hard core, there’s no doubt about it,” said Dr. Michael Busman, a physician who has known Mr. Calhoun for years. “He wouldn’t even want to talk to you if you were Republican.”
    But last year, as the progressive movement in Georgia was on the cusp of historic electoral triumph, Mr. Calhoun, a small-town lawyer whose family had long roots in the state, suddenly abandoned the Democrats. And not only that, he pledged to kill them.

    • kent_eh
      111·
      1 year ago

      He wouldn’t even want to talk to you if you were Republican.”
      But last year, as the progressive movement in Georgia was on the cusp of historic electoral triumph, Mr. Calhoun, a small-town lawyer whose family had long roots in the state, suddenly abandoned the Democrats. And not only that, he pledged to kill them.

      That sort of dramatic 180 feels a lot like some form of mental health issue.

      Assuming the account in the article is accurate.

      • LeadSoldier@lemmy.world
        6·
        1 year ago

        Yeah but somebody who won’t even talk to Republicans maybe the indicator of a long-standing mental health issue. I have been arrested protesting and have been in three wars and I’m very liberal about my constitutional rights. But I still talk to my republican neighbors.

    • cmbabul@lemmy.world
      4·
      1 year ago

      I don’t want to downplay the stupidity of republicans but the assumption that the act of becoming a lawyer makes on intelligent is also just untrue. There are a bunch of stupid lawyers

      • cassetti@kbin.social
        6·
        1 year ago

        Did you read the article I linked to? This guy was NOT a loyal republican. He was a hardcore anti-trump long-time democrat.

        Apparently something “clicked” in his head back in 2019 and he made a HARD right turn which totally shocked everyone who knew him.

        • cmbabul@lemmy.world
          1·
          1 year ago

          No I agree with you, both in this specific instance and the GOP is brain rot, I just think the instant intelligence we as a society generally assign to people in difficult careers(doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc) is something we should try to correct. Skill and intelligence in one area doesn’t make one intelligent in general. Sorry, more of a tangential point than anything