Henry Hamilton, Key West resident distraught over election results, kills himself

[AlphaCentauri]

Source: WPTV

A Key West resident who police say was distraught over the presidential election results and worried about his business has apparently killed himself.

Police say they found Henry Hamilton's body in his bedroom Nov. 8, along with a living will with handwritten words "Do not revive! (expletive) Obama!" Two empty prescription empty pill bottles were in the dining room.



Read more: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/political/Henry-Hamilton-Key-West-resident-distraught-over-election-results-kills-himself

[Journeyman]

1. Man of conviction. . .

[EC]

2. This is on the RW scream machine...

Be very afraid is all they know. They are still doing it.

[freshwest]

75. Fear can be addictive. There's a cascade of brain chemicals that are aroused by media.

All the symbols, hyperbole, moving images and arousing or suspenseful music go straight to the subconscious. They bypass the part of the brain that buffers decisions based on logic and reflection to analyze the flood of emotions.

The reason they keep going back to Beck and Fox is an instinctive need to get their fear high, like a person on a sugar high has a let down. It's designed that way, they keep them in a low level of stress all the time as mind control.

Because under prolonged stress, reasoning ability can deteriorate and people seek to find a pack to protect them. In the case of wingnut media, these are cults.

Whenever someone gives them data that conflicts with their cult, or they are denied their fix, they don't feel they are alive or part the world so they go back for more.

Or finally take that jump off the cliff from unbearable stress as the only way out.

Just my humble opinion, not an expert.

[Kyad06]

76. I agree

Very well put. I work with some of these deluded fools. They don't say "did you hear what Limbaugh said Obama is going to do" They say "Did you hear what Obama is going to do, I heard it on Limbaugh"

[freshwest]

77. Pack mentality. Don't think. React. Your life is in danger. Hard to break through.

We had a Beckhead up here who went around the bend and started threatening people over their votes for the ACA. It was obscene, really.

Finally he was arrested. He thought that blocking his caller ID would make his threats, made over and over, anonymous. But anyone who knows anything about telecommunication knows there is no such thing.

To verify that it was really him and that he was a threat, as he said he was armed was going to shoot the elected offcials, their spouses, kids and grandchildren, an undercover trooper went to visit. As they chatted, he ascertained that he made the calls, was armed, etc.

In coverage later, his sister related that she and him used to listen to Glenn Beck every day. She had become very fearful, began to stock up food, gold and supplies for the coming collapse, martial law, police state, etc. She was so scared she could hardly think.

She decided to turn off Beck. After a few days out of the conservative entertainment fake news and analysis bubble, she realized she'd been conned out of a lot of money. She begged him to turn it off and think again.

He refused. He thought Obama was going to take away his Social Security and Medicare. So now, he has fulfilled part of his prophecy. Prison inmates don't get SS, and can only get Medicare if they pay their premiums.

http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/259/~/social-security-benefits-while-in-prison

I attribute this insanity to media consolidation into the hands of the worst groups possible to control the means of mass communication. Beck, Rush and others, are the modern day version of Joseph Goebbels, JMHO.

[Andy Stanton]

3. What an idiot! n/t

[Bucky]

16. No, the man was hurting, and obviously mentally ill.

When Thomas Jefferson proposed reforming Virginia's law codes in the 1780s, one of his first reforms was removing "murder" as a cause of death when someone committed suicide. In the 18th century he still had the wits to conclude that "it ought to be considered as a disease." If they could get that back then, without the benefit of 14 decades of modern scientific exploration of the workings of the diseased psyche, surely we need to be compassionate rather than petty toward people who sink to these depths in our society of today.

Certainly this man was suffering other real forms of distress--whether environmental or just chemical inside his own head. If you're going to scorn anyone, get angry at the right wing noise machine that irresponsibly eggs on this man and people like him, driving wide swaths of the American public deeper into dispair, heedless of whatever harms may come to the loyal, gullible audience--and do so solely for the chance to sway a few votes and scare up a few more fundraising dollars. They may not have made him suicidal, but they sure as hell exploited his illness and sucked off his fears to drive him to the edge.

[Andy Stanton]

26. But to blame Obama for his problems?

That's the same type of thing many idiot Rethugs do.

[AlbertCat]

48. But to blame Obama for his problems?

Darwin Awards

[struggle4progress]

56. +

[daleo]

80. Well said. N/t

[msongs]

4. one less repub vote in 2014 and 2016 nt

[russspeakeasy]

5. Henry, Henry, Henry.

At least your will is living.

[geek tragedy]

6. Addition by subtraction. nt

[iandhr]

7. This guy had deep physiological problems unrelated to politics.

[olddad56]

46. I think he was suffering from FNS. (Faux News Syndrome)

[AAO]

55. That's my take. He may have even have had a Limbaughdectomy.

[Bucky]

60. If he did, the treatment came too late.

Some malignancies never stop spreading.

[DBoon]

81. The personal is the political

This person may have been severely depressed regardless of the political environment.

The overheated rhetoric of the right wing may have influenced his untimely demise

[graham4anything]

8. moron. At least he didn't have a gun and take out innocents like the rightwing usually does

[notadmblnd]

10. I wonder if he was a pro-lifer?

[madaboutharry]

11. How sad for him.

There are real victims of Fox, Limbaugh, Beck, all of them.

[libodem]

12. Maybe Faux

Should whip up a little more fear and hopelessness, in their base.

Poor sad, fuck. RIP.

[Enrique]

13. his industry will be hard hit by the demographic shift

Cossey says Hamilton was anxious about his tanning business. Police say Cossey found Hamilton's body after returning home from a night of playing cards with friends.

Read more: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/political/Henry-Hamilton-Key-West-resident-distraught-over-election-results-kills-himself#ixzz2CEhrhkBE

[BVictor1]

14. Oh well...

One less republican vote to worry about in the future.

And it's Florida!

Psh...

[liberal N proud]

15. Guess he doesn't need to worry about his business.

Sorry to be so cold!

[KansDem]

17. Although I believe suicide to be a personal choice...

...I would at least wait until I was certain my business was affected before making this decision.

[DollarBillHines]

40. No kidding. Those tanning salons are hyper-sensitive.

[on point]

18. These delusional fools are wound so tight they are just going 'POP' when faced with Reality

[eggplant]

19. I'm saddened by the lack of basic human feeling in the responses here.

This person was mentally ill. My sympathies go out to his family and friends.

[geek tragedy]

20. Do we have a clinical diagnosis of that?

Or is it just a case of Fox Newsism taken to the extreme?

[AlbertCat]

49. My sympathies go out to his family and friends.

No one on here has said anything about his family or friends.

He's dead, and past sympathy.... and suffering. Plus using Obama as an excuse to kill yourself doesn't inspire compassion.

[davidthegnome]

21. It's a damn shame

No matter what political party we're from or how we feel of the man's political views... it is a tragedy whenever someone takes their own life in such a way. For such a reason, too... how could anyone really hate or fear Obama that much? I may not have liked Romney, but I could have survived if he had become President.

Some of the comments here... they're really making me blink. One of the reasons I'm a democrat is that I believe in compassion - in empathy, I believe in helping others when we can. I'm not terribly fond of most conservatives or conservative ideals in general... but this is a human life (and death) that we're talking about. Who might this man have become? Political points of view are not written in stone, many have changed over the years from one party to another. What a damn terrible waste.

Perhaps it's necessary to have been down that road before, or to be close to someone who has... to have empathy in a situation like this. Well, I admit without shame that I have been, in crisis centers, even in the hospital for wanting to do what this man did - for trying and failing when I was younger and believed everything was hopeless.

I may be a democrat - but it is at least in part because I believe in helping people like him, in caring for them, in showing them that not everything is hopeless. It could have been me, in years past... it could have easily been me. No, I won't sneer, or smirk, or laugh. I am sorry for this man and his family and his friends... I wish he could have found another way, that he could have found help before it was too late. May he rest in peace.

Seriously... some of the comments here make me wonder....

Being republican and/or holding strong conservative political views does not make someone a monster. They are still people, like you or I, who laugh and cry and bleed and love. This lack of empathy... this lack of any sympathy troubles me deeply. Maybe I'm on the wrong forum, if this is really how many people feel about such a tragedy.

[AAO]

62. Another previously normal human being

After being indoctrinated by Hannity, Limbaugh, Beck, and who knows what other crap. He became psychologically crippled by fear and hatred of the muslin. Then as he saw the possible loss of his business, all the talk made him realize that now that the muslin was re-elected, everything was doomed. There are people out there that really know this stuff to be "true". It's scary to wonder how many more like this are out there that don't have a dying business. They would probably use violence against others.

[truthisfreedom]

22. Once again, crazy person is crazy. No offense to crazy people everywhere... please seek help.

Undiagnosed depression is the leading cause of suicide.

[davidthegnome]

28. Crazy?

You're going to suggest that mentally ill people (those with undiagnosed depression) are crazy... and then say no offense? Really? Being a diagnosed crazy person then, I think you use that word far too lightly.

[truthisfreedom]

57. I'm a diagnosed crazy person as well.

[Quantess]

30. If that was his genuine reason for suicide,

then clearly the man had mental illness, more than just depression. However, it is tactless to use the term crazy when you mean mentally ill.

[louis-t]

23. It was only a matter of time.

Beck, Limbaugh, and every other crazy repug who has been using fear to get what they want-they are equally responsible for this.

[Squinch]

29. I agree. The guy clearly had problems, but the right wing infomonster gave structure to his paranoia

[AlbertCat]

50. other crazy repug who ....

DON'T USE THE WORD CRAZY!

[Crunchy Frog]

24. Wow, that's really kind of sad.

I mean, I disagree with the guy's politics, obviously, and I'm sure that I would not find him to be an agreeable person, but it's still really sad that anyone would take their own life over the results of an election.

I feel that the extreme RW media has alot to answer for. They're the ones who have been making this into some sort of "end times" event.

[Lefta Dissenter]

59. +1

Well said, Crunch.

[JackN415]

25. Sad for his mental health, for his loved ones

[BlueJazz]

27. So Obama caused this man to die.? George Bush caused millions to die.

[Eddie Haskell]

31. He's a model for the rest of his ilk.

If you got em, use em.

[davidthegnome]

67. Really?

It has always been my understanding that one of the things that we, as progressives, value most... is compassion. This man was mentally ill and could see no way out but to take his own life. If that isn't reason for a little compassion, I don't know what is.

A lot of right wing fanatics, I suspect, are mentally ill and undiagnosed. To treat them with such a complete lack of compassion is likely only to ensure that they never change their minds and start giving a damn.

Your callous attitude is shocking and unworthy of you, I beseech you to discard it and consider the greater implications. What might have brought this man to this point? Someone who was mentally ill, yes, egged on by the likes of Limbaugh, Beck, Ann Coulter - rabid fanatics who would certainly never have the least amount of compassion for us.

We have to be better than the opposition, otherwise we cannot offer ourselves as a better alternative.

[A Little Weird]

69. If I could recommend your post I would.

There are many people I bitterly disagree with, even people I consider to be enemies, but I would not be glad about their suicide.

[Eddie Haskell]

79. I don't believe he was ill.

It was hatred killed him.

[BigDemVoter]

32. Idiot!

I hope the poor thing has found some peace.

[Rob H.]

33. I read about this earlier today

It sounds as if he had some serious mental health issues. Best wishes to his partner and their families in coping with their loss.

[Sky Masterson]

34. I wonder who put those ideas in his head?

Maybe Right wing media.

[vilify]

35. Good bye - Right wing psycho!

I'm just glad he only killed himself and didn't go on a shooting spree.

[Moosepoop]

36. This is truly sad.

I wish he could have gotten the help he needed instead.

[PlanetBev]

37. I thought about this before the election

I had a hunch someone was going to do this. My biggest fear it would be some nut that would take out his entire family, wife, kids, pets, and all.

If we had been on the losing side of the election, we would have done what we always do: Get depressed, pick ourselves up, and live to fight another day.

[man4allcats]

38. Chalk up one candidate for

the Darwin Awards.

[DollarBillHines]

39. "worried about his tanning business"

Yeah, those Pres Elections are tough on tanning salons.

[PlanetBev]

41. Melanoma Machines

Like there isn't enough cancer in Florida already.

[nichomachus]

58. A tanning salon in Key West? The sun was more of a threat than Obama.

[tomm2thumbs]

42. shall we check nielsen ratings for his home to see his FoxNews watching ratio?

I can't imagine someone killing themselves over election results, but it is terribly tragic.

[valerief]

43. Pardon my coldness, but I can't help thinking, One less idiot in the world. nt

[davidthegnome]

51. One less mind in the world, in any event

I wonder how many people here at DU are former conservative republicans who changed their minds and their hearts? I wonder how many once listened to Limbaugh, Savage, Coulter and Beck... and found a way to escape the hate machine? Are they idiots? Perhaps, but as a reformed idiot myself (though for different reasons) I've recently graduated to imbecile and I don't think what you said was cold.

On the contrary, I think it was quite heated. Whether he was an idiot or not is quite beside the point - as human beings we always have the potential to change for the better, I am living proof of this. There is one less mind in the world that might have done great things in time.

I do not believe in casting out, or hating severe right wing fanatics, rather, I believe in opening their eyes. Such a lack of basic human decency for a man who killed himself seems to me to demonstrate a basic lack of empathy. Then again, I am an imbecile, perhaps I am mistaken...

[valerief]

70. I offer the same level of empathy he offered the 99%. nt

[Lucky Luciano]

44. Darwin Award!!! nt

[teewrex]

45. I think some of the blame should fall on the shoulders of all the RW fear mongers

[davidthegnome]

53. Freedom of speech

Unfortunately, we can't force the RW fear mongers to stop without violating their rights. They have the right to be as hateful and as cruel as they wish - just as we have that same right here. It is being demonstrated here tonight that we are just as capable of callousness and cruelty.

[valerief]

72. Indeed. Their constant yelling of "Fire" to unengaged Americans should be a crime. nt

[sigmasix]

47. nothing new

It's always a bad thing when someone has an illness that takes their life- whether it's cancer, diabetes or mental illness. But this is nothing new from the RW; doesn't anyone else remember some time ago when a teabagger killed his whole family and himself over Obama being the president?
Millenial conspiracy theories are always attractive to the teabagger-mind-set that refuses to accept the truths of the world when they don't reflect religious or partisan dogma. I hope his family and children recover from his suicide and continue to live their lives, guided by the lesson that extremism and closed-minded partisan dogma are unhealthy ingredients for anyone that wants to lead a happy and full-filling human life.

[mark eagledove]

52. this is why I call them Re-blame-icans

nothing is ever their fault. personal responsibilty is for Democrats only.

[cloudbase]

54. Self deportation.

Extreme version.

[GETPLANING]

61. I blame the Conservative Entertainment Complex

[Ash_F]

63. Was he gay? And he was that broken up about Romney loosing? /nt

[JI7]

68. i think it was more about this Tanning BUsiness not doing well, i know a few stupid people

who blamed obama for their business not doing well when i could have pointed out to them simple reasons why it wasn't doing well and why Obama or anyone else had nothing to do with it.

the fact other businesses around them ARE doing well should have been a clue to them.

but they keep going on with the "if we get another president".

as others pointed out with this guy's tanning business. the change in demographics could be hurting him. more people are learning about the dangers of tanning these days so might either avoid it or get it cheaper and safer from a bottle.

and for some if they are going to harm themselves they might as well get the tan while lying out at the beach rather than go to the salon.

[sakabatou]

64. The "crazy machine" of the Republicans can kill people.

[SemperEadem]

65. well, thank god he didn't load up his semi-automatic rifle

and go shoot up a school yard.

This is what happens when lies come home to roost--white conservative males can't seem to handle the truth. They can only function while living inside of an impenetrable fabricated bubble which tells them only what they want to hear and believe.

Like Rachel said about that Obama win: "That really happened". The country was not skewing like Rassmussen and Gallup said they were. The country wasn't tacking hard right like fux noose said they were. The country wasn't throwing in with mittiot like limpfuck said. The sooner these bozos get with the fact that the train is moving forward--sit down and take out your tickets or get off the train and get out of way lest you be run over by it--the better off they'll be.

We are not returning to the 1930's. Fuck what you heard..

[crim son]

66. There is a surprising lack of compassion in evidence

in this thread. Committing suicide isn't a "stupid" act, it's a desperate one. The fact that he blamed Obama in his suicide note was a sign of his illness. Sure, it's a very good thing he didn't go postal, but he is dead nonetheless and that's no joke. It would be very interesting to learn if he was a POX Snooze watcher, or a Beck devotee.

[DCBob]

71. I would blame Faux news and RW media for this.

They have exaggerated and misrepresented everything the President stands for. Its sickening that so many people believe the crap they spew even to the point of suicide. They should be ashamed and held accountable.

[fascisthunter]

73. mental illness and propaganda

[treestar]

74. I'm sure that this suicide

is about a deep and long seated depression and that the election has little to do with it - that's just a parting shot. Shame on the M$M for having so little compassion for this person and to use his suicide to make political hay and get attention.

[BadGimp]

78. he was doing it wrong imo

May God embrace and keep his soul.

[desertduck]

82. utterly tragic. damn the conservative idiocracy cult machine. grrrrrrr!!

[JoeyT]

83. My heart goes out to his family and friends.

It's a crying shame he couldn't get the help he needed before it came to this.

[OverBurn]

84. Please all you crazy ass right wingers, step up don't let him be the last, form a line!