I read about
Joseph Stack and his crashing a plane into an IRS building. I also
read his manifesto. We're here.
This was a reprehensible act by a coward, striking at people who had nothing to do with his problems. Nothing out of this should be glorified nor used as an example. It's also an amazing trap for the conservative zealots. Just like you can't blame Israel or our Foreign policy for 9/11, you can't blame the government for this. As unfair as taxes are right now, it is not cause for murder.
I expect Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh to reveal themselves as the anti-american dirtballs they are by implying that this was justified, and that there will be more.
I likewise expect anti-liberty professional politicians to blame this on the "Tea Baggers." They would be equally mistaken. People speaking out against the government is exactly the sort of thing that EASES tensions like this. It doesn't mean however that they won't try to curtail our liberties more as a response to this.
There is a contract between men that we call the rule of law. Without the rule of law -- without the guarantee of liberty and equality of opportunity -- there is no justice. There is certainly a time and place for civil disobedience, but the key word is civil.
I fear however, this is the spark to something really nasty, unless we all speak out. So here's my bit:
I think that government has gone astray, but I respect the constitution and the rule of law. We must reform the country, but we must do so peacefully, and within the rule of law. If we cannot do so without violence, then the system we think we are defending is gone, and there is nothing worth fighting for.
