Abused.

Editor,

It sounds to me like Mr. Perry was physically abused as a boy by his father who beat him with a belt. It therefore isn't hard to understand where his cruelty and lack of empathy -- for death row inmates of questionable guilt, for example -- come from. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was similarly abused and is similarly proud of his utter lack of compassion for suffering human beings. This is a common story and demonstrates transparently how feeling hurt and scared translate into arrogant bravado and phony tough-guy revenge directed toward any person or animal who is similarly weak and abused.

Re: "Paint Creek, the Town Perry Left Behind" (9/19/2011)