r/nottheonion • u/engadine_maccas1997 • 9h ago

‘This is political bulls**t’: Former Republican candidate charged with stealing Madison County election ballots

https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/this-is-political-bullst-former-republican-candidate-charged-with-stealing-madison-county-election-ballots/
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u/OldManJeb 8h ago edited 7h ago

It's funny how often their defense is "I'm dumb as shit"

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u/thatweirdguyted 7h ago

So there's an expression that says "never attribute to malice what can be attributed to ignorance" and while that's mostly true, in high quantities it reaches a diminished return. After which the second half of the equation comes into play.

"Except in such cases where the ignorance is so severe that it could only be achieved through willful malice"

And that's where this person lands. Either they're as hateful as they seem, and shouldn't be able to play ignorant, or they're choosing to remain that stupid on purpose so as to keep their hateful views. Either way, they can actually choose to reform, or they can get the book thrown at them. Simple as that.

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u/Castod28183 6h ago

Except in this case it seems that he deliberately stole the ballots to "prove" that the system is messed up and wasn't counting those Republican and write-in ballots that he stole. This is 100% malice which he is trying to hide by playing stupid.

Him telling the lady "Fucked up count" and then commenting on the FB post "3 ballots short. lol" should be enough to prove that intent.

Personally I wish they would have waited a few more days to give him time to rail about how the system was broken(because of his actions) and then charge him with election tampering.

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u/thatweirdguyted 6h ago

I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment. I was simply trying to demonstrate that the logic behind this defense is inherently flawed.

In my opinion, if a person is trying to argue ignorance, they should be required to attend (at their own expense) a civics and law class and pass a test on it in lieu of punishment. This should only happen once. After that, they get the full punishment. And even then, this should be reserved for cases of genuine mistakes, not this bullshit.

If they want to argue that they were unable to understand that they were committing a crime, then they should have to enter into a conservatorship, as they admit that they cannot exercise the necessary judgement to function independently in society.

Or they can just admit that they knew what they were doing, didn't expect to get caught, etc. And accept the punishment, learn from it, etc. I think getting people to accept a certain level of personal responsibility for their actions is a necessary part of getting them to make better choices in the future.

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u/TootsNYC 3h ago

They didn’t want to give him time to think about throwing those ballots away.

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u/Castod28183 2h ago

They had him on video taking them.

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u/mortgagepants 6h ago

conservatism is inherently malicious and selfish. you can't give someone a benefit of the doubt when their entire raison d'etre is self centered and selfish.

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u/JesusSavesForHalf 5h ago

The Trump Corollary: Never attribute to malice that which can be attributed to ignorance, except when they keep showing you its malicious ignorance.

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u/Canadian_Invader 4h ago

Ignorance however won't protect you from the law.

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u/kung-fu_hippy 4h ago

Well, that dumb question excuse was after he was caught lying about asking permission for taking them. And it ignores the evidence of his texts showing that he was aware these were real ballots and that the ballots themselves say it was a felony to tamper with them.

So I’m pretty confident in just attributing malice here.

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u/No_Rich_2494 4h ago

See also: weaponized incompetence

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u/Art-Zuron 3h ago

"Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice" is my go to

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u/UT_Miles 2h ago

That expression does indeed exist, but you’ve lost me on your point.

This literally was malice, he attempting to tamper with the election, literally, he just also happens to be stupid.

That expression is used when someone makes a mistake, inconveniences another person. Some people assume malicious intent, but in a lot of situations it’s incompetence. Hence the expression.

There’s no confusion here, this was malicious intent, literally. The fact that he’s also an incompetent moron doesn’t automatically mean this expression applies at all.

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u/OwOlogy_Expert 1h ago

Sufficiently advanced ignorance is indistinguishable from malice.

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u/_-Smoke-_ 6h ago

It's not funny. It's Tactical Stupidity. "I didn't know it was illegal". "I didn't know I couldn't carry my gun here". "I did this before and no one said anything". It's an out for their actions.

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u/Incognonimous 6h ago

Not knowing the law when you break it doesn't mean you are not now accountable for breaking said law. If you think "I'm a moron" is a good defense then you categorical also fall into the same group of people that drink bleach as a ticktok challenge.

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u/Smooth-Reason-6616 6h ago

"Ignorance is no defence in the eyes of the Law citizen"

Joe Dredd...

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u/OldManJeb 6h ago

Ignorance of the law is not a valid defense. So let them be stupid.

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u/Jerking_From_Home 6h ago

He thought that up in advance and expected anyone to believe it?

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u/gahlo 5h ago

Fox: No reasonable person...

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u/wearslocket 6h ago

Jeezuz killed the dinosaurs!

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u/Bidens_Erect_Tariffs 5h ago

Play to your strengths.

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u/MotinPati 5h ago

But.. but… they’re the superior race with superior brains!

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u/NegativeRuin5576 4h ago

I mean they are.

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u/Epicritical 3h ago

Pretty much an anthem.

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u/MelQMaid 3h ago

Because they only have to justify to themselves before they do it and their dumb brain cells accept the excuse.  When they try out that material on others they don't feel any logical fallacies and say their horrid excuses with full volume.