Friday, July 01, 2005

Delusions of the Damned

Reading about the chilling testimony of psychopath and sexual deviant Dennis Rader (he seems to enjoy being referred to by his self-dubbed, acronymic nickname so I won’t do him that honor) this week as he matter-of-factly boasted about the details of his heinous crimes inevitably causes people to wonder how such individuals can live with themselves after committing such acts. I couldn’t begin to understand what is going on inside his twisted mess of a mind, but a very good story in the SJ-R today by Sarah Antonacci reveals how other less deranged but still despicable individuals cope when faced with the consequences of their actions.

The appropriately named Doris Lush came before the judge to accept sentencing for killing a woman in a traffic accident in which a soused Lush (tautology acknowledged) ran a red light. She didn’t come to court to accept blame.

In a letter to the judge she portrays herself as a heroic figure who overcame substance abuse and now stands martyred before the court. She is a victim, in her mind, of incompetent traffic engineers, unreliable eye-witnesses, false lab reports, the health industry’s failure to define moderate when advocating the health benefits of red wine, and the victim’s disregard for vehicle safety apparatuses. This tangle of seemingly random events have conspired to take away her freedom.

I have little doubt that Lush feels that she has been wronged, with the trauma of the case contributing heavily to her warped view of reality. The trauma to her, however, wasn’t that she caused the death of another person, but that she is facing extended prison time. To some, compassion is wasted on others.

To take another, more famous case: How does O.J. manage to swing a golf club with such ease when the weight of two murders are bearing down on him? The weight isn’t there. I honestly believe that he honestly believes that he didn’t do it. The mind is a very strong thing but can be a deceptive arbitrator of truth when the facts threaten to overwhelm the individual to whom it owes allegiance. Contributing to the cause in O.J.’s case was the situation in which several very intelligent people, his attorneys, fought long and hard to convince a jury of his innocence, repeating over and over that Mr. Simpson isn’t responsible (the glove don’t fit). At some point, he believed them.

I would say that a convicted person’s denial of responsibility is inconsequential as long as justice is served. But such denials cast indignity upon the victim’s family and are seen as treasonous to the bonds of humanity by most everyone. Antonacci did a good job of demonstrating that point in her reporting and I’m sure that it stirred a lot of emotion within readers today.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Big mistake to even attempt to understand the thought process of those like O.J. and Ms. Lush. You and I are in no way like them. The more you are around people like that the more you will understand what I am saying. I have heard of people being arrested for drug possession claiming that the pants the drugs were found in, and that the person was actually wearing, did not belong to them! How sick is that? If you want to mingle with these type of people just go hang out at either Wal-Mart for about a week and you will come away with a real understanding of what the word "twisted" means.

JeromeProphet said...

Oh, they know they did it.
They just don't care!
Call them what you want, sociopathic, self absorbed, sinners, scum.

uknowme78 said...

From someone who knows the guilty.. What do you call twisted, what do you call sick?.. When someone in fact don't take blame for there actions.. Is that sick and twisted?...When someone to this day doesnt think they are guilty ..that is what you call sick and twisted?..Someone who is not in there right mind nor near their right state of mind and to you and I is that sick and twisted?..You are however right there is no excuse for this behavior but in fact there is reason for it.. When in fact does anyone see a mental illness that needs to be addressed ??? "NO
(you say?) Who in there right saine mind comes up with that kind of answer to a judge. a letter to the judge ... Who would protest there innocents to a judge..saying wine is ok..who in there right mind would say that when someone has died... I will tell you from exsperience a mentaly sick person not a twisted person..
As the second comment goes ..Yes in fact they know they did it..or do they???????????
I wondered that fact myself until one day i had my own self convinsed that i didn't do something that I in fact had done.. all again in the head games within yourself of a mentaly sick person..Put blame where you will and how you will but.. in fact look at everything around you weighing the case in itself...why would anyone stick to the reasoning even facing that long of a sentence.."because they actually believed it wasn't going to happen"..not a hope that it wouldn't, but a realism they thought in their own mind that it wasn't going to happen .. "I didn't do it", so their for if i don't admit to it i won't be found guiltly... where in fact they where guilty all along ...but the mentaly ill's mind don't work that way...hopefully someday education will be spread with the blogs of others exsplaining exactly what mental condition this is.......
BECAUSE IT IS REAL AND IT IS OUT THERE...THIS IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF SOMETHING YOU DON"T READ OR LEARN ABOUT IN THE NEWS..or blogs..HELP AWARE YOURSELF not to give excuses for the mentally ill but to educate yourself what... "SICK AND TWISTED" realy means...........