While the Tea Party movement started out with normal, conservative people with legitimate gripes about the way the US was going, now it seems to have been taken over by the fringe who worship nutball self promoters ranging from Beck to Palin. There have already been calls by some wacko TeaBaggers to kill the President, so I wonder if they’ll make Stack their patron saint and we’ll see more of this kind of thing as they get madder at Obama and the government.
Seven Deadly Traits: Decoding the confession of the Austin plane bomber
Joseph Stack spent months on his manifesto. He was adamant about convincing us—or himself—why flying his plane into an IRS building was an act of charity.
The five-page rant the software engineer wrote before his performance murder is illogical, hysterical, hyperbolic, and deeply dishonest. Stack’s convoluted arguments explain nothing, and the thumbnail sketch of his impoverished life is absurd. And that’s exactly why it’s so revealing. The software engineer tried to con us with a deceptive self-portrait, but the real Joseph Stack reveals himself in the way he concocts it.
I’ve spent 11 years studying routes to mass murder, in particular for a book on the Columbine school shootings, and it’s startling how similar all the manifestos sound. Many of Stack’s passages were practically lifted right out of the diatribes of Eric Harris, the Columbine mastermind. Yet while the notes are the same, the tune is not. Harris was a textbook psychopath, and Stack doesn’t read that way at all.
[…]
I spoke with several experts in mass murder Thursday, and we identified seven deadly traits of impending danger in Stack’s manifesto.
Read the article to find out what they are.
man all of you missed it… truly you have…
this guy was nothing more or less than insane… period.
anyone who makes him out to be anything else is just as wacko…
#32, that’s what I took from it, too. The house is the key, he’s simply a suicidal narcissist.
The IRS building is a lot more damaged than it was superficially described
Still the guy was a nutcase
Should of been a web designer or software programmer for the internet
He could of lived in his own little world and seldom come up for air
Tea-Partiers, give it up and stop arguing. The Lefties have already won the war on this one. The truth is unimportant compared to winning the political war.
—1. they’re Tea Partiers.—Nonono, they are TeaBaggers, because this kind of protest often involves sending teabags to the Congress…the doe-eyed innocents at the networks have no idea what else the term might mean. What do YOU mean by saying it’s bad…please explain to our network audience.
—2. Name one.—Careful, he might name an arrested Tea Partier (who was probably reported by real Tea Partiers who called the cops to get him away from their group). In todays world, a single tainted member (no matter for how short a time) of a group on the right instantly represents the entire group fully. Only a nutjob on the left can be an isolated case of unavoidable craziness.
The article was reasonable and well written.
The person who tried to use it for character assassination against Beck, Palin, and the Tea Party movement may not be as sick as the guy that flew his plane into the office building but he is obviously into gratuitous character assassination.
The author compared Stack to the Columbine mastermind:
“…Stack’s passages were practically lifted right out of the diatribes of Eric Harris, the Columbine mastermind. ”
But the author did not back this up in any way. I don’t see the same traits between Stack and Harris.
>> # 18 BmoreBadBoy said, on February 21st, 2010 at 10:58 am
>> 5. No, it is not greedy to keep 100% of what you worked for. You earned it, you deserve it. Why should you be forced to give any percentage of it to greedy, corrupt politicians? You should keep 100% for you, and there is no need for any rationalization.
You never need a police officer or national security? Ever have to sign a contract? You never drive on a road or get anything shipped to you on roads? You never listen to the radio or drink tap water? You never take a drug or buy meat or buy anything imported? Do you hold a title to a home or a piece of property? Did you go to public school or hire anyone who did? Do you use the services of someone who went to public school? Do you burn gas or heating oil or use electricity? Do you ever need to know what time it is? Ever fly on an airplane? Use any products flown on an airplane? Do you eat any grain or food that requires irrigation water or pesticide or where traded in commodities markets? Do you use any product or service from a corporation? Do you live in a house made with wood? Ever use a product that was patented, copyrighted or registered? Do you have any money in the bank or any cash at all?
All of these, and more (a lot more!), require some level of government service.
Yet, conservatives have this zany idea in their heads that government services but they should magically be available but cost NOTHING.
It’s astounding how little thought they have actually given to this issue.
>> Todd said, on February 21st, 2010 at 12:33 pm
>> “There have already been calls by some wacko TeaBaggers to kill the President”
>> Name one.
Daniel Knight Hayden
(It took me about 30 seconds to Google this BTW.)
Does the T in T-Bag Party stand for Taliban?
Uncle Dave – back to his old liberal tricks of creating a story out of whole cloth (utterly without foundation in fact, completely fictitious).
#40
No, the T in Tea Party stands for “Taxed.” The TEA in the Tea Party is an acronym for “Taxed Enough Already.” Look it up. Google is your friend.
#38 Greg Allen – If all these things are so great, why does the government have to force you to pay for them? Ever heard of supply and demand? If there is a demand, someone will supply. The only difference here is government makes itself the monopoly. Therefore, if I don’t like the way public schools are being run, I have to pay for it anyway, even if I have to pay extra to send my child to a private school. Police officers spend more time enforcing laws for victim-less crimes and only arrest true criminals after the deed, they don’t protect anyone. I could list all kinds of problems with all the so called government services you listed. But the fact is that without government there wouldn’t be a monopoly on those services, and we would have a choice as to who provided those services and how those services were provided. Not to mention all the money that is squandered due to incompetence and corruption. The difference between what we have now: a government monopoly, and what we could have: a free market, is when a government messes up, it can tax and go into debt. Businesses have to make a profit by catering to its consumers or they go out of business to competitors. And fyi, I listen to podcasts, not the radio.
Now, I don’t propose that government could go away overnight. But there are steps that could be taken tomorrow that would cut government (and taxes) in half and set this country on the path to liberty.
Oh, and I’m no conservative either so don’t try to box me in your little false dichotomy. I don’t need no stinking leaders or laws – that’s b.s. Ever heard of the non aggression principle? Everyone should be free to live their lives as they see fit as long as they don’t harm another or infringe on their property. It’s really as simple as that.
Joe Stack was just another poor soul who cracked and convinced himself his particular brand of insanity was rational. I wouldn’t place him as a card carrying member of the TEA party or any other group. He wasn’t charasmatic enough to start his own Lemming party. Yeah I know there are those who think anyone who doesn’t cheer what the Progressives are doing is insane or worse.
@Greg Allen
Federal income taxes are applied to the interest on the national debt.
Your future labor is the collateral that allows the federal government to borrow money from the federal reserve.
#43–Bboy==liberty: The right of poor people and rich people alike to sleep under bridges at night. You sir are a well spoken idiot.
“Freedom” in your little equation is apposite to what exactly? And recall, that anyone who thinks “paying taxes” is an assault on liberty is an idiot.
Good people can argue about the rate and applications of taxes according to their efficiency, goals, outcome, pragmatism, but when the conversation gets red herring overed to “liberty” then the idiots have escaped the assylum. Sadly, so many have, they have formed the party of no. No to reality, no to progress, no to change.
A pox on you unless you can explain your position in a way that does not condemn you.
#25, tea party neoconservative
Only someone who doesn’t understand what is going on in this country would even consider associating those two groups.
The Tea Party grew out of disdain for the neocons.
It really saddens me that people cannot think outside the square.
Although this guy may have shared some of the same feelings as those in the Tea Party, he also shared a lot of the same feelings from the D’s — a hatred of “big business” (which the Tea Party doesn’t like either, in its current incarnation). Does that make D’s Tea Party, too?
#46 Bobbo – A pox on me? What are you, Dvorak’s age?
Yes, go ahead, call me an idiot for wanting to do away with what is essentially government sanctioned extortion. Yes, taxation is extortion. If you pay your taxes like a good little citizen, you get to live under whatever arbitrary laws your so called representatives pass under an increasing police state. If you don’t pay, you get thrown in jail and your possessions are taken away from you. I may be an idiot, but even an idiot can see extortion for what it is.
Good people can live in a society where you aren’t forced to do anything you don’t want to do. Good people can interact with each other on a voluntary basis. Good people can take advantage of the free market, where goods and services are exchanged according to supply and demand without the interference of the government and its arbitrary regulations.
#25 LibertyLover – There is a difference between what Tea Partiers dislike, which is called corporatism, and what Democrats dislike, which is free enterprise or the free market. The D’s have demonized the free market and continue to hamper it with unnecessary regulations. Only businesses big enough to get around those regulations can succeed, and those that can’t, perish, eliminating competition and giving us the situation we have today. Then they have the nerve to say, “Hey, look, the free market failed. Let’s pass more regulations to reel it in!” What a load of bull!
#48–BBAD==AS stated: “when the conversation gets red herring’ed over to “liberty” then the idiots have escaped the asylum.”
Very clever to switch to “government sanctioned extortion”===NOT!!
So, indeed, you remained “poxed.” Silly little libertarian==I would think Greenspans public embarrassment would give you pause to think.
Guess not.
To rephrase: when you make an argument that is purely rhetorical as in “taxation is bad because it is government sanctioned extortion” you have done nothing but repeat your conclusion.
A tautology. No “logic” all emotion. No explanation. Just hysteria.
All societies TAX. So if you want to be a part of the real world and be part of any solution, state WHY the tax policy should be altered, what alternatives should be put in place. True, “do away with the tax entirely” will be appropriate but not when that is the response to every tax idea.
Thats why the Repugs themselves are getting skittish over becoming known as the party of No–as in no ideas.
“There have already been calls by some wacko TeaBaggers to kill the President, so I wonder if they’ll make Stack their patron saint”
If anyone representing the Democratic party, dared to foment such anarchy against a Republican Prez’s life. They’d be roundly and justifiable eviscerated by the press and law enforcement. But… apparently this ISN’T the case with someone posing to be a republican faction, threatening a Democratic president. Or more honestly, threaten a black Amercian’s life, for daring to fill the highest office in the land. Why none of this is being denounced by the media, is rather telling. As well as why the press isn’t labeling this as racial hatred, disguised as political. There were no such death threats against Clinton. During the eight years he was in office. And no one blamed the Oklahoma City bombing of the Murrah Federal Building, on any of his policies.
Actually the bombing, back in 1995, was in response to actions taking at Ruby Ridge and Waco, by the Bush Administration, some years earlier. Timothy McVeigh just didn’t get around to blowing anything up, until after he got out of the Army. Which happen to be when Clinton was in office.
Joseph Stack’s “manifesto” alluded to some Congressional act, The Tax Reform Act of 1986, on engineers. As well as slamming the actions of the FCC, George W. Bush, and the “bailout politicians” (again, mainly Congress and Bush), and the major corporations accepting the bailouts. Apparently Stack was highly disturbed for how is career and business opportunities were destroyed, for failing to file a tax return and pay $126,000 in liabilities. In other words. He wasn’t “too big to fail.” And he despised all those special deals, big business got to skip out on their debts.
To blame all this on Obama is stupid. The trigger for all this happened at least one administration ago. If not several. And on the heads of both parties of Congress, how approved all these bailouts, and reforms that mostly effect small businesses. But it’s not too surprising to me that the Republican “teabaggers” and other factions, choose to divert the blame away from themselves, and their idols. And onto a new president, who’s barely had a year in office. If Obama had managed to fix everything Bush and Congress has screwed up, in just one year. He’d been a miracle worker. And I’m certain the Republicans still would have had their gripes.
#49, #50 Bobbo – First of all, i thought lunatics populate an asylum. Idiots are free to roam in this society, even become president, or be shills for the government.
Ok, I see your arguments are very well laid out==NOT!!! In Merriam-Webster – Extortion: the act or practice of extorting especially money or other property; especially : the offense committed by an official engaging in such practice.
Just because the government passes laws justifying extortion and calls it taxation doesn’t make it right or acceptable. Those being extorted need to stand up against it or it will continue in perpetuity.
Greenspan’s policies do not represent the free market. The federal reserve is a collection of privately owned banks which use the government’s monopoly of printed money to control interest rates via fiat.
Societies do not tax. Governments tax. Everyday, when you go out into society, you interact with everyone else on a voluntary basis. You go to the supermarket and buy of your own free will. You do business with people who want to do business with you. Then the government steps in like a bully to push you around without any provocation on your part.
At one point, the “real world” was flat, and it was the center of the universe. It is only your perception of the real world where taxes extracted by force at the point of a gun are necessary. Read “A Market for Liberty” – free at http://freekeene.com/free-audiobook/ – if you’d like to expand your mental capacity beyond the false dichotomy presented to you by your precious two party system.
pull this “uncle dave” character off the site.
His “description” of this article is the exact opposite of what it actually is as well as full of lies about any tea party member calling for the death of the president. Liberalism apparently IS a mental disorder
>> BmoreBadBoy said, on February 21st, 2010 at 6:46 pm
>> #38 Greg Allen – If all these things are so great, why does the government have to force you to pay for them? Ever heard of supply and demand?
We’ve all heard of “supply and demand” but the anti-government crowd hasn’t spent two minutes thinking about it.
For example, how does the principle of “supply and demand” solve the problem of having a public street in front of your house. Are you honestly ready have a tool booth at the end of your driveway?
Are you ready to have cash ready for the private firemen when your house is burning? Will you be happy when the neighbor’s flaming house sets fire to yours because HE didn’t pay the private fire company?
How does “supply and demand” stop cheap Chinese baby food from killing your child? Or cheap sub-quality insulin from killing your grandma?
Of course, “supply and demand” ENCOURAGES killer products on the markets.
How does “supply and demand” prevent unregulated electricians from mis-wiring your house and killing your whole family?
Honestly man, if you think “supply and demand” could ever replace the government, you need to live in rural Pakistan for a couple of years where there is no effective government. Only effective, progressive government prevents a place from turning into a total hell hole and death trap. And that government costs money. But conservatives want it for free.
>> BmoreBadBoy said, on February 21st, 2010 at 6:46 pm
>> Ever heard of the non aggression principle? Everyone should be free to live their lives as they see fit as long as they don’t harm another.
But who prevents them from harming others?
The government. And that costs money.
In my previous post, I mentioned Pakistan for a reason. That place is an anti-government dream. There are places that have no traffic laws, no enforced laws at all. And no taxes! It’s a hell hole, I tell you.
If you anti-government types tried you live there, you’d be begging to fly to Sweden in a week.
Looks like Uncle Dave reached out for his Bifocals and accidentally put on his partisan blinders.
>> Breetai said, on February 22nd, 2010 at 7:03 am
>> Looks like Uncle Dave reached out for his Bifocals and accidentally put on his partisan blinders.
I read enough of the “manifesto” to realise that Stack had a serious screw loose — and wasn’t just your average teabagger. (egged on by teabagger rhetoric, however.)
But Uncle Dave isn’t being partisan to point-out that a number of conservatives are siding with this terrorist.
You don’t have to look far to prove Uncle Daves point! I checked their first Dvorak entry for this event.
Check out this post:
>> Anon said, on February 18th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
>> Good to see people are getting angry and upset and taking action, I hope this hits a boiling point soon.
>> I wish he had picked a better target, but kudos to him for having the balls to stand up and do something, even when he understood that he wouldn’t be able to change business as usual.
Or how about this comment, also from this blog:
>> Micromike said, on February 19th, 2010 at 3:28 pm
>> If Americans don’t start to recognize the importance of freedom fighters like Joe Stack they are doomed to be tax slaves forever.
There are others. My guess is that A LOT of teabaggers seen Stack as a “freedom fighter” or at least are sympathetic to his cause.
#54, Mr. Strawman strikes again.
#55, But who prevents them from harming others?
The government. And that costs money.
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
Yeah, right. How many people were murdered last year? Raped? Robbed?
So much for that idea.
The only thing that stop those from happening are people willing to defend themselves. Murder is down so much in the last few years due to the increase in the number of CCPs that
the government is considering releasing even more freedoms wrt to self defense.
I hope someday nobody breaks into your house and tries to kill your family. You’ll die wondering why the police weren’t there to “protect” you.
#48–BBAD – I don’t know how old bobbo is, but its pretty clear who’s read his Shakespeare and who hans’t.
#59 LibertyLover – You took the argument right from my tongue, man! Thanks! Essentially, government attempts to preempt crimes from occurring with the threat of punishment after the fact, but as you said in your post, it isn’t very effective. Instead, the government passes laws that only disarms the victim. A law banning firearms isn’t going to stop criminals from getting them. And in the end, the victim gets no restitution. Instead, the victim has to not only pay by being victimized by the perpetrator, he is victimized a second time by having to pay for the jail cell the perp is being held in. How is this justice???
#60 tcc3 – Touche.
#54 GregA – I’ll be back later to answer those questions and more…