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I don’t think that the Alexandria shooter had political motives for taking up arms. His choice of target was obviously political. Definitely political. Indisputably political.
But it’s more likely that he was primarily suicidal, determined to go out in a blaze of glory, taking out as many “evil GOP” as he could. There’s no way he expected to survive that spree. Were he merely interested in picking off politicians, he could have set up a sniper nest (he had time) or constructed a bomb or taken other measures to permit him to escape, such as the DC snipers did.
He didn’t. He was just another total loser who’d decided to Exit Famous, and his political leanings and agitations pointed him to Beltway GOP.
Which means that the rhetoric didn’t push him over the edge — he was headed there anyway, for reasons internal to his disordered personality.
Very insightful commentary by Mr. Dougherty. Thank you.