Joe Stack, the man who steered a plane into the Austin offices of the IRS, is not a hero. He does not even come close to the definition of being a hero. I don’t have to see his side of things. I don’t have to listen to his complaints. I don’t have to devote any thought at all to his goodbye note. I don’t have to have any sympathy for his plight. I don’t care about his problems, his grievances or his hard-luck life. When one decides to burn his house down and fly an airplane into a crowded building, that person forfeits their right to expect any leniency or understanding. He’s dead. I’m glad. Case closed.
Stack’s attack on the IRS office in Austin, TX hits close to home for me, because I used to drive by that building a lot when I lived in Texas. I have a very good friend who lives a block away from it, and know several people who work near that complex. So, naturally, I get a little hot under the collar when I think about it. However, what infuriates me are the legions of intellectually-challenged nitwits who are holding this thug and terrorist up as a hero and martyr. Shame on you.
What’s funny about these people, and there’s very few funny things that can be found in terrorism, is that the same people who say Stack is a hero are the same that don’t do anything to improve the situation, or, barring that, do what Stack did. They’re content to sit back and laugh at attempted murder. They’ll nod approvingly as someone else does their fighting and dying for them. They will pretend knowledge of the intentions of the founders of this nation, but they won’t roll up their sleeves and actually put in any work to change things in the system those same founders created. They’ll whine and wah over the state of the nation, but then they’ll celebrate while one of its offices burn down. They will continue to be hypocritical cowards while buildings collapse and families mourn. For people who claim to love America, it makes you wonder what side they are really on.
It’s true that we are living in a world of extremes. It’s also true that you, me and pretty much everyone else in the country has had a problem with the government at one point or another. Yet, I refuse to accept that those problems now require terrorist actions, and that’s what Stack engaged in. He’s no different in practice than the terrorists who took out the World Trade Center on 9/11. However, some will give Stack a pass on that label because their politics and his coincide in some sick way. That’s just wrong.
Further showing that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, Stack’s daughter, Samantha Bell, has picked up the crazy torch, calling her father a hero, saying that her father’s actions were “inappropriate,” but she hopes people will listen to his message. I can accept and endorse family loyalty, but that’s ridiculous. Bell does not get to have it both ways. Her father’s actions were not “inappropriate.” They were homicidal. If she really approves, why not just own it? It’s not like that family tree can look any worse at this point.
The really sad part of this whole sad affair is that the people Stack targeted were not policymakers. They were workers just trying to get by. Stack was so screwed up inside, he couldn’t tell who his “enemies” really were, so he decided to try and kill those on the low end of the totem pole. If he really wanted to make a point, he should have just shot himself outside that office. Then, no innocent lives would have been lost. But no. He had to make a point using the lives of others. If that’s not terrorism, then I don’t know what is.
There were heroes that day though - one living, one dead. IRS employee Vernon Hunter was a retired Army officer and Vietnam veteran who served two tours. He lived a life of honorable service to this nation, which was cut short by Stack. That’s a real hero, as is Robin De Haven, a 28 year old glass worker who served two tours in Iraq. De Haven was driving by the building when Stack hit, pulled off the highway, grabbed the ladders off his truck and started to rescue people trapped inside. That’s heroic.
So, I really just have one final thought for those who believe that murder, that terrorist, that traitor Stack is a “hero.” If it were your loved ones trapped in a building that just got hit by a guy who wasn’t smart enough to figure out how much he owed in Taxes, or refused to pay them, would you think it was “heroic” then? Would you think it was justified then? Would you ponder his points then?
Think hard, because terrorism by any other name is still the same.
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Joe Stack, the man who steered a plane into the Austin offices of the IRS, is not a hero. He does not even come close to the definition of being a hero. I don’t have to see his side of things. I don’t have to listen to his complaints. I don’t have to devote any thought at all to his goodbye note. I don’t have to have any sympathy for his plight. I don’t care about his problems, his grievances or his hard-luck life. When one decides to burn his house down and fly an airplane into a crowded building, that person forfeits their right to expect any leniency or understanding. He’s dead. I’m glad. Case closed.
Stack’s attack on the IRS office in Austin, TX hits close to home for me, because I used to drive by that building a lot when I lived in Texas. I have a very good friend who lives a block away from it, and know several people who work near that complex. So, naturally, I get a little hot under the collar when I think about it. However, what infuriates me are the legions of intellectually-challenged nitwits who are holding this thug and terrorist up as a hero and martyr. Shame on you.
What’s funny about these people, and there’s very few funny things that can be found in terrorism, is that the same people who say Stack is a hero are the same that don’t do anything to improve the situation, or, barring that, do what Stack did. They’re content to sit back and laugh at attempted murder. They’ll nod approvingly as someone else does their fighting and dying for them. They will pretend knowledge of the intentions of the founders of this nation, but they won’t roll up their sleeves and actually put in any work to change things in the system those same founders created. They’ll whine and wah over the state of the nation, but then they’ll celebrate while one of its offices burn down. They will continue to be hypocritical cowards while buildings collapse and families mourn. For people who claim to love America, it makes you wonder what side they are really on.
It’s true that we are living in a world of extremes. It’s also true that you, me and pretty much everyone else in the country has had a problem with the government at one point or another. Yet, I refuse to accept that those problems now require terrorist actions, and that’s what Stack engaged in. He’s no different in practice than the terrorists who took out the World Trade Center on 9/11. However, some will give Stack a pass on that label because their politics and his coincide in some sick way. That’s just wrong.
Further showing that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, Stack’s daughter, Samantha Bell, has picked up the crazy torch, calling her father a hero, saying that her father’s actions were “inappropriate,” but she hopes people will listen to his message. I can accept and endorse family loyalty, but that’s ridiculous. Bell does not get to have it both ways. Her father’s actions were not “inappropriate.” They were homicidal. If she really approves, why not just own it? It’s not like that family tree can look any worse at this point.
The really sad part of this whole sad affair is that the people Stack targeted were not policymakers. They were workers just trying to get by. Stack was so screwed up inside, he couldn’t tell who his “enemies” really were, so he decided to try and kill those on the low end of the totem pole. If he really wanted to make a point, he should have just shot himself outside that office. Then, no innocent lives would have been lost. But no. He had to make a point using the lives of others. If that’s not terrorism, then I don’t know what is.
There were heroes that day though - one living, one dead. IRS employee Vernon Hunter was a retired Army officer and Vietnam veteran who served two tours. He lived a life of honorable service to this nation, which was cut short by Stack. That’s a real hero, as is Robin De Haven, a 28 year old glass worker who served two tours in Iraq. De Haven was driving by the building when Stack hit, pulled off the highway, grabbed the ladders off his truck and started to rescue people trapped inside. That’s heroic.
So, I really just have one final thought for those who believe that murder, that terrorist, that traitor Stack is a “hero.” If it were your loved ones trapped in a building that just got hit by a guy who wasn’t smart enough to figure out how much he owed in Taxes, or refused to pay them, would you think it was “heroic” then? Would you think it was justified then? Would you ponder his points then?
Think hard, because terrorism by any other name is still the same.
