ST. LOUIS - Local resident Gary Hinkle, a 34-year-old self-described "free thinker," faces a conundrum that has left even the most open-minded community members scratching their heads.
After spending the last year expressing his "sympathy" for figures like Osama Bin Laden and more recently Vladimir Putin, Hinkle is now lost in a moral maze, struggling to decide which global terrorist deserves his misplaced compassion next.
"It's a tough choice, really," Hinkle sighs, while carefully dusting his collection of controversial leader figurines. "Each of these men had a dream, a vision—misguided, sure, but who am I to judge? There are two sides to every coin!”
Hinkle's quandary is emblematic of a broader, more disturbing trend in today’s society where segments of the population, disenchanted with conventional politics, have veered dangerously close to the edges of extremist ideologies.