My mother taught me it's not nice to point at crazy people.
But this photo is going viral because the woman in the center insisted on making this pose with her body. The photograph was taken by Chicago Tribune photographer E. Jason Wambsgans (@ejwamb), and the person on the left is confirmed as Michael Joseph Garza (@ampersandcastle). The tweets tell the story:
@KnowlesAdkisson @ejwamb I am the man on the left, and she openly Hailed Hitler. And held the stance gladly.
— Michael Joseph Garza (@ampersandcastle) March 12, 2016
@GtfoPodcast @ejwamb @Rose_Redrum I was astounded. Still tried to get her to leave, for her own safety at that point.
— Michael Joseph Garza (@ampersandcastle) March 12, 2016
@DanAmira @ejwamb I asked her to leave down the path we cleared for her, this was her response.
— Michael Joseph Garza (@ampersandcastle) March 12, 2016
I think it's important to point out that obviously, this person is not representative of anyone but herself. The sad thing is not that crazy lady did crazy, but that crazy lady felt that her crazy was entirely welcome and appropriate at a Trump rally. It's not that she represented them, they and their leader represented her.
Donald Trump has triggered what Driftglass calls "The Great Un-buckle-ing," where all the overeaten stuffed racism and fascism in America's white stomach is finally allowed to flop on the table. This woman just let it out, let her fascist worship of great white man Trump go full bore. She didn't become this person this week or this election cycle. But now a major US political party, the Republican Party under Trump, has become home for her.
It's a tragedy.
