Fascinating

I have watched the documentary on Ted Bundy on Netflix a couple times.  I don't know what I find so fascinating about his story - he truly was a monster.  But I listen to the tapes that were made while interviewing him in prison, and all I can hear is him talking about himself, how good he was, how stupid everyone else was. Yet, he was the one who was caught, and frankly, it was his own arrogance that probably got him convicted.  Based on the documentary, it appears as though a stronger defense team (i.e. without his involvement) would have been able to get him acquitted on the first trial.  The second trial was a tougher one, but I digress.

It strikes me that we had in Bundy a charismatic guy, who was able to use his charisma and his good looks to evade serious suspicion for as long as he did.  Even after he was arrested and put on trial for the conviction that ultimately earned him his death sentence, he had fangirls going to trial to see him, and people continued to believe his innocence all the way up to when he started confessing.  It's a fascinating character study.

Comparatively, we now have an Oval Office occupant who enjoys unbelievable support among his base, who will ignore all transgressions committed by him, and who take any criticism as some form of liberal agenda - a sentiment shared by the occupant himself.  I'm astounded at the level of projection he displays ("you're the puppet," "his kids are corrupt," "where are the e-mails," etc.).  Additionally, the current president cannot avoid an opportunity to make almost anything about him.  A journalist dies, and she was never nice to him.  North Korea continues testing missiles and he should have gotten the Nobel Prize.  He accepts someone else's Purple Heart, and I guarantee he couldn't give you the name of the man who gave up the medal that was earned.

One was a murderer.  The other is on the take.  Both demonstrated sociopathic narcissistic behavior, and both had/have huge followings.  It's astounding.