After watching the recent documentary about the Weather Underground, regardless of how one may judge their activities, one cannot help but be struck by how articulate, concise and straightforward their message was. When they issued their communiqués, they didn’t waste your time with rambling nonsense that only they could understand. They didn’t feel sorry for themselves; they knew that if they chose to, they could lead successful lives free of conflict, far away from urban misery. They viewed the world as corrupted by injustice, but they didn’t see themselves as the victims; they were putting their otherwise comfortable existences on the firing line in the cause of aiding those they viewed as members of the oppressed class.

On the other hand, people like Joe Stack have more in common with the likes of Timothy McVeigh and other right-wing extremists. These are people who internalize bad fortune or bad judgment into a conspiracy against themselves. The IRS, federal agents, the government—they are all conspiring against them personally to destroy their lives. These people are self-involved and self-pitying—so much so that they disdain life, and not just their own. These are people who would complain that no one will pay any attention to the injustices that have been inflicted upon themselves by agents of oppression unless they go out in a blaze of conflagration—and take as many people with them as possible. McVeigh, of course, hoped to escape his evil alive.

Many millions of people have also suffered in their lives, but they realize that sometimes it is due to poor decisions or living beyond their means. I’ve referenced my own fiscal situation and its consequences in an oblique fashion a few times here, but I’ve chosen to take a Dickensian view of the situation; after all, it makes a more a interesting story when you experience difficulties and talk about them in the hopes that someone might learn from your mistakes, rather than ramble on about what “they” did without explaining what exactly “they” did—or being purposefully vague about what you did to get yourself into misfortune.

Anyways, I read a PDF file of Stack’s “suicide e-mail,” and found it to be confused, disingenuous, and a bit nutty. Like all such sob-sister (or rather, sob-brother) harangues, it was fairly short in the detail and logic department. It is one thing to rail against corporations, politicians, and taxes; but it is wholly another thing to whine endlessly and pointlessly about personal travails without actually giving people a clue about how this your life was specifically undone by the forces of oppression.

He does give us some tidbits of information, but what little there is tells against him. What’s this about “undocumented income?” Didn’t he know that if you make early withdrawals from your IRA, it is subject to tax penalties? The only sense that we can make out of all of this is that perhaps there was financial hanky-panky going on that he was unable to face his wife and kid with. The specific tax law he referred to appears to be aimed at closing a loophole which allowed temp workers to claim that they were “independent contractors” or businesses for tax purposes.

No doubt Fox News and the rest of the right are going to find ways to judge this an indictment of Obama and the Democrats; what it may really be about is how the propaganda of the right resonates in minds of self-pitying sociopaths of the Tea Party/Patriot movement type. The “mainstream” media, meanwhile, has been loath to call this incident what it is, perhaps because its own failure to hold itself to even minimal levels of responsible reporting, allowing right-wing extremists and purveyors of paranoia and fear—even within its own ranks (see Fox News)—to drive public debate. This was a suicide attack on a specific target with the intent to kill as many people as possible; as Stark himself wrote in his statement, no one will pay attention to his “problem” unless the “body count” is big enough. It was an act of domestic terrorism by a white man. This is why the Sarah Palins, Tom Tancredos and Glenn Becks of the world who feed into and off this insanity are so dangerous. Tiger Woods’ private life is not the single most pressing issue facing the country today (or any day), as CNN and its corporate masters would prefer you to think.

Speaking of golf, the only thing that benefits from Woods' prolonged absence is the bruised egos of his fellow golfers. The longer he stays away, the more the game returns to its past status as a third-tier sport of little or no interest to the average sports fan, and with it loss in television share and decreasing revenue to fill the players’ pot. Golf owes Woods more than he owes them.

re: Mark K re: Amy Bishop: Her family was probably rich and influential. They get away with almost everything. Rich people pay poor people to clean-up their messes.

"Did you hear the one about the misguided protester?...he laid down in front of a think tank." - anon

I find it troubling that two people like Thom and Bernie who constantly talk about democracy, rarely seem to discuss how antidemocratic our Constitution is or how our system may be behind the increasing dysfunctionality in Washington and the disengagement of the People from politics.

What’s the point of elections if a candidate REJECTED by the People was imposed upon the nation by the Electoral College? And the Senate is SO malapportioned, that about 18% of the US population now gets about 52% of the seats! Is there any wonder it has developed such bizarre rules like the filibuster? What kind of "democracy" allows for minority rule?

As if being anti-democratic wasn’t bad enough, the Constitution is virtually reform proof. Worst, the Senate is protected by an additional poison pill that it no state can be denied equal suffrage without its consent. A simple amendment may not suffice, only a constitutional convention can change this… though there may be a backdoor to get around this:
http://reinventing-america.blogspot.com/2010/02/reforming-anti-democrati...

It's in the very nature of US federalism that prevents any discussion on democracy. Bernie may believe in democratic principles in his heart, but he's also representing the tiny state of Vermont... and no small state wants to give up power it would lose in a democratically apportioned system. Sadly, even with Bernie, one of the best Senators we have, all talk of true democratic reform seems off the table. This is tragic since our system is NOT working, and demographic trends are making the Constitution more and more antidemocratic.

Why couldn't the military offer free clinics or even hospitals in major metropolitan areas and in rural areas without coverage? I heard an NPR story on Monday about new Medical Schools opening up in the United States, I think the story said the first time new schools have opened up since the 1960s. If the military could train doctors and nurses themselves, the nurses, interns and doctors could work at these new clinics or hospitals as part of their service duty. This would assist Americans in overall healthcare, make it easier for Americans to go to medical school, and could, in theory, decrease the amount of Doctors we have to hire from abroad.

People do not buy stocks in a corporation to make a statement. People buy stocks in a corporation to make money.

@Charles: but some people (whom I admire tremendously) buy stock so they can go to the meetings and vote their conscience.

Errata: the quote i previously used: "Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana." was originally uttered by Groucho Marx, not Townes Van Zandt.

@ harry - and the ones who voice their conscience are silenced by those that check the proxy box.

@ Mark K - The persons the corporation is speaking for are the shareholders, not the employees. If the employees want a say, they would need to form a union.

@harry: Even further, put up a video of a fire, crackling sound and all, then have a "person" of the corporation, since corporations are simply "made up of people" yell fire on behalf of the corporation!

@Charles: Bingo! The people the SCOTUS said who make up the corporations are the people working to help the corporation make a profit that the shareholders who own the corporations receive. Most of the owners of said shares aren't people at all, simply other corporations that are made up of people working to make them a profit. I think I made my head explode!

@Charles:

"@ harry – and the ones who voice their conscience are silenced by those that check the proxy box."

Yeah, but attending the meetings and speaking-up can make others in the room aware of the issues.

"Do you have blacks, too?..." -- George W Bush, to Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso

@Mark K - Just to be clear, you'll NEVER see Daffy Duck at Disneyland - Daffy works for Warner Bros. Disney's Duck is Donald. :)

@harry ashburn - Not a contradiction, IMHO - Aren't Den Mothers the ideological leaders of Cub Scout packs?

Oops, edit:

Heather Higgins is making the case for private healthcare by claiming that a government run program would base care on affordability. When she realized what she was saying she quickly hid behind “choice”.

Choice is not a choice if you cannot afford it.

Oh, I get it now. Its not the choice of 1300 insurance companies offering a myriad of policies to choose from; its the choice of insurance or food and shelter.

@harry -

In
My
Humble
Opinion

Perhaps, as opposed to being an ideological leader, Ms. Schlafly is more of a scatological leader? :)

IMHO, I find acronyms overused and confusing. Texting is destroying our language.

Thom was talking to----------HARD - HEARTED - HEATHER - HIGGINS. She's harder than the hubs of hell. She's lower than a snake. Meaner than a jukyard dog. If she only had a British accent. I'll bet that gal was smoking hot. I only say that because Thom's a little shy around smoking hot gals.

@harry ashburn -

The only thing the neocons want to do with the shoes of the poor is wear them out faster, so they'll need to be replaced more often,

I'm beginning to think that Marie Antoinette was the ORIGINAL neocon, in that her famous quote pretty much sums up how well the rich in this country relate to the poor - "The people have no bread? So, let them eat cake!"

Now there's ideological leadership for ya! :)

@mstaggerlee: where'd ya get the smiley?

@ harry ashburn

Have mine :-0

:-)

Al Jolson in the "Jazz Singer"? :-0 :-D

I've always been hesitant to use smileys cause..how do you know if they're over 18? You might get a Smiley Cyrus.:)

Hey, listen up!! It's friday. Pour a tall one. Have some wine. Relax. Enjoy some herbal remedies. Delta-9 Tetrahydrocannibanol might have some soothing effects on your over-worked brains.

Warren Levine,

Unfortunately, the Senate is an exclusive club where, if one is to survive, he must form allegiances with others, often to the detriment of the "people back home." Bernie is still a good guy. I think we could cut him a little slack.

@mstaggerlee; RE;"i always *^&# up"

Me too....especially after the herbal remedies.