May 6, 2021: Lawyer Says Watching Fox News Made His Client Sick

 

5/6/21: As a liberal in good-standing, I know our side produces a healthy crop of idiots, just as the conservative side does. I am happy to say, however, that our leaders are rarely racist idiots. Nor can I think of any conspiracy theory on our side as farcical as the QAnon movement, an absurdity from first claim to last.

 

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“Foxmania” and “Foxitis” made a rioter ill.

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In any case, the Republican Party has coughed up another hairball in the form of idiot Ohio State Sen. Andrew Brenner. 

During a recent Zoom call he wanted it to look like he was working from home, not driving somewhere, endangering other drivers and random pedestrians he might squash. The “giveaway?” 

See if you can guess.

 

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FOUR MONTHS have elapsed since the Capitol Hill riot. The search for all the Antifa types who supposedly led the attack continues. In Right-Wing Fantasyland, these imaginary figures carried out all the cop-killing, did all the “Hang Mike Pence” chanting, swung all the door-window-and-skull-busting baseball bats and hockey sticks, and launched a left-wing assault on the U.S. Constitution. 

Since that fateful day, however, you could have read more than 400 indictments and kept tally of how many rioters have left-wing loyalties (one, maybe two, out of the records I’ve checked). 

Or you could keep a list of those who have acknowledged fealty to Rejected-President Don (scores) and to various right-wing extremist groups (dozens). Throw in the dupes and dopes who believed in QAnon (scores again), and those who insisted they came to Washington D.C. to “Stop the Steal” (more suckers), and you have a cross section of the Trump base. Ill-informed and able to swallow any nonsense, the most rabid rioters convinced themselves that anything the Liar-in-Chief said was true.

 

The lawyer for at least one arrestee has now offered up a novel defense in court – with a germ of truth at heart. As the Washington Post explains:

 

In the six months leading up to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Anthony Antonio spent his days watching Fox News — a habit that actually made him ill, his attorney told a D.C. federal magistrate judge on Thursday.

 

His ailment? “Foxitis,” his attorney said. “He became hooked with what I call … ‘Foxmania.’”

 

In the virtual hearing, which went awry when another alleged Capitol rioter interrupted with obscenities, Antonio’s attorney, Joseph Hurley, claimed that Fox News’s decision to regularly air then-President Donald Trump’s false claims of mass election fraud contributed to Antonio’s decision to participate in the insurrection.

 

Hurley went on to say that Antonio “started believing what was being fed to him.” An unhealthy diet of empty calories, heavy with cholesterol-causing half-truths, covered in fattening rage. 

As the Post noted, his client’s hearing, via Zoom, was repeatedly interrupted by yet another defendant. 

Landon Copeland, 33, who is charged with several federal offenses including assaulting officers and throwing a metal fence at law enforcement, went on several obscene and belligerent tirades.

 

When Hurley mentioned “Foxitis,” Copeland yelled, “I object.” The Utah native later said, “F--- all of you,” “I don’t like you people” and “You can’t come get me if I don’t want you to,” according to the Daily Beast. The judge ordered Copeland evaluated for mental competency.

 

Mr. Copeland is, of course, a right-wing type, himself, allegedly captioning pictures he posted on social media the day of the attack with the phrase: “the beginning of the libertarian right.” 

As for Mr. Antonio, he can be seen in video from the day of the riot, garbed in a bullet proof vest, carrying a “Three Percenter” patch, and shouting, “You want war? We got war. 1776 all over again.” 

A second story about Copeland notes that he is a veteran and served in Iraq, where he was apparently wounded. He may suffer from Post Traumatic Shock Disorder as a result, and may deserve a break. 

Currently out on bail, he proved defiant during the call, shouting at the judge, 

I’m going to tell you what you’re going to do. You’re going to give me what the (expletive) I want! You’re going to do what the (expletive) I tell you to do! I’m in the middle of the desert! You can’t (expletive) find me! You can’t (expletive) come get me! You’re going to give me what the (expletive) I want.

 

What he wanted was to remain free on bail. What he did was make the case that he should be locked up quick. The judge was kind and scheduled a hearing on May 18, to assess Copeland’s mental condition.