It was right down the street from my home. An unhinged man in a single-engine airplane crashed into an Austin office building. The Internal Revenue Service had offices in that building. I was in those offices not long ago for a compliance check on a non-profit I run. I got passing grades, by the way.
I have just returned from driving through the area. I stopped at the local bookstore and grocery store on the way home. Workers there said they didn't even know it happened until some customers told them and they saw crowds gathering outside. Smoke still hangs in the air. There's a chemical smell to it.
I'd watched news coverage of the tragedy earlier in the day. It's a strange sensation. Full of the virtual reality of television coverage one minute. Present at the real-world scene the next minute. Most people are going about their business. Buying books. Buying groceries. Going home from work.
Americans are discussing whether the attack by Andrew Joseph Stack and his airplane is an instance of domestic terrorism. He was angry, angry at all kinds of people, angry at the government, especially at the IRS. This we know from the note he left behind. Does it matter whether we call the attack a crime or an act of terror?
Historians have made much of the terrible fact that the 20th century brought with it much greater acceptance of civilian targets in war. It's not that civilians hadn't perished before. Certainly Native Americans learned that bloody truth. But there was a difference in scale in the 20th century as the fields of techno-war bloomed with terrible new weapons. Think Dresden. Or Hiroshima.
All terrorism is aimed at unsettling people, whether it is undertaken by political zealots or a tormented psyche or both.
My question is this: Did the civilian blood of the 20th century helped lead to this era of terrorism, of crimes against innocents by individuals? Are individuals, twisted as they might be, led to do what nation-states did before them? Did Nagasaki give Timothy McVeigh and Joe Stack permission? The sentence looks preposterous. But is it? If it's not, what is to be done?
I had all these thoughts while driving by the rubble of Stack's attack on an Austin building near my home. School buses full of children were headed home from school. The UPS man waved as he passed me like he always does.
There are many in the world who have dealt with such attacks close to home. In the aftermath, the quick return to normalcy is, in some ways, healthy. But in other ways it is damned eerie. And it's the normalcy of these events that worries me as I stop to let the older man and his Cocker Spaniel cross the street.
Follow Glenn W. Smith on Twitter: www.twitter.com/glennwsmith
IRS Is a Likely Target in Austin Plane Crash
Andrew Joseph Stack suspected in Austin plane crash
Andrew Joseph Stack suspected in Austin plane crash
Joseph Stack and Right-Wing Terror: Isolated Incidents or Worrying Trend?
What I mean by social injustice is when the average American can't afford the home they live, or afford to go see a doctor, or millions won't be able to find a job for years to come.
I am not saying this type of violence is every justified - only that you will see it happen.
And the answer is not to create a military state - or repress a free society by locking up anyone who disagrees with your corporate policies. I think the only answer is to work toward a culture and a world where these is less social injustice - where for example - 1% of Americans owning more than 90% of the wealth is not an actual reality - or that 17% of Americans now live in poverty - more than any other rich country in the world.
Behind anger is pain. And there is a lot of pain happening right now in this country. And other countries. Using violence in attempt to resolve violence just perpetuates and compounds the problem.
He used an aircraft as a weapon - just like al - Qaeda.
He crashed the plane into a building - just like al - Qaeda.
In the act of plowing the plane into the building, he killed himself - just like al Qaeda.
Why there's a debate as to whether this man was a terrorist , I have no idea...
also there are over a hundred photos (all outside shots) where it appears most of the plane remained outside the structure .. including the engine - it must have rolled down that stone waterfall structure to its resting place (or was moved by a crane - operation not shown) .. I will continue to wonder the exact strike point, the exterior materials and wait for the reports
innocents, who were just going about their everyday job. Must have been nice for him to play God like that.
I also find it interesting how you thrust this Stack guy in with McVeigh and how many comments left here took the bait and are blaming the Right. You fail to report that in his 12 page rant Stack railed against big business, Bush, The Catholic church and the ending where he quotes the Communist creed “to each according to his ability etc” to the capitalist creed “To each according to his gullibility to each according to his greed” now that does not sound at all right wing to me!
There will always be crazies look at Amy Bishop (a staunch Obama supporter by the way) killed more people then Stack did, the parallel here is they both felt entitled to something. It makes me think maybe it is the culture of entitlements we should be aware of?
Sir I do understand what you are trying to convey that the military targeting civilians during WW2 might have made certain people act out their frustrations on civilians. Or is it not just the act but because of the advent of motion pictures did to WW2 bringing the act into our homes wasn’t it the same as the advent of still photography what that did to the Civil War? So if that is the case wouldn’t the burning of Atlanta or the constant artillery attacks on civilians in Richmond fuel the KKK movement giving them license to commit violence and vengeance on innocents also? Wouldn’t that be considered the same thing?
My point is this man’s inhumanity towards men is a timeless act as in the Israelites battle of Jericho what the cute song does not say after “The walls came a tumbling down” was that the Israelites killed ever man, woman, child, animal and even some of the trees. A military killing civilians has historically been a tactical objective to instill fear in a civilian population. Causing in some cases acts of vengeance though out history not just today.
Panel four
"I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."
Original Passage:
"I am certainly not an advocate for frequent and untried changes in laws and constitutions. I think moderate imperfections had better be borne with; because, when once known, we accommodate ourselves to them, and find practical means of correcting their ill effects. But I know also, that laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also, and keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the same coat which fitted him when a boy, as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."
-- to Samuel Kercheval, July 12, 1810
on the plane - I'm wondering when/if it was to be repossessed .. seems he was not destitute
on the Echelon Bldg - I'm betting the exterior was a surface called Drive-It, a newtech stucco of styrofoam and plaster .. which is why (maybe) the building burnt so black and with such explosive force .. would like to see interior pictures and plane strike/resting photos .. ie the low body count inside - I think it was horrific outside only - (me thinks)
on the IRS angle - I have been googling for building plans (photos) and office placements, and do not find an answer .. is the office a sub-contractor doing business for the IRS?
another I Believe everything is as it seems in the 1 dimension - but I hope the guy was awake behind the wheel of the plane - that there was not a red wifi box with a beeper finder behind the steering wheel .. that a 4th dimension is Not at work here
finally good additional coverage - I've done abit myself - opening up the discussion of this new mindset .. the middle-easterns brought here to undermine "turn the other cheek" religion and to taking matters into vigilante justice .... baby steps all - You
Some middle Eastern religions can certainly be claimed as being pacifist. Islam is a very new religion on the block. Many Eastern Religions predate it. It is also like Judaism & Christianity an Abrahamic religion and is more alike than different from them. There are fanatics everywhere - and there are people who have lost touch with reality.
Your suppositions are interesting tho.
You tell me what group of people in this country should have more hatred for their government than African Americans.
With that said, you don't see AA's for the most part, setting out to do harm to hundreds of people at one time because they're mad at the government. If you're so mad and angry, kill your dayum self, but let others live! It's that selfishness, entitlement, all about me mentality. SICKO!!!
I don't feel sorry for him or his cause one bit, and we should stop feeding into his nonsense.
because of the destruction of the rule of law...... by the Bushies, 25 years of GOP De-regulation. Why isn't Cheney on trial for sedition for declaring Obama will a one term president and the GOP on trial for sedition for not upholding their oath of office.
--slavery
--the Tuskegee Airman experiment
--denial of right to vote
--segregation
I'm with you--everyone has to pay taxes. That's why I find it inexcusable when people make a choice to hurt others because they have to pay them.
If anyone finds themselves so fed up with the system, they should feel free to kill themselves and put themselves out of their misery, and let other people live their lives.
In his rationalization for the Stack Attack, Joe charted his frustrations with a double standard that enabled the powerful to repress and extract wealth from the powerless. Then, incongruously, Joe chose to become that which he supposedly despised. Joe believed his wife and child’s lives were his property to do with as he saw fit. He didn't set his house on fire, with two sovereign souls therein, and fly his plane into a building full of innocents for god and country, or the promise of umpteen virgins. Joe’s actions demonstrated that he actually embraced repression and the destruction of life. So apparently, Joe took exception to the fact that he was a victim and not an insider, one of the elite.
In the face of an emerging oligarchy, many white males are enraged by the realization that they are relatively powerless to contain their economic decline. Yet, instead of reaching out to their fellow Americans, joining their demand for equality, folks like Joe are abandoning democracy, and demanding that their erstwhile privileges be restored… or else. Joe’s actions represent what many know to be on the hearts of these men. Sadly, their struggle to evolve has devolved from problematic to deadly.
MyFoxAustin.com reported that a 12-year-old girl and a woman were rescued by a neighbor from the $236,000 home. The station reported that the girl is believed to be Stack's stepdaughter. Other media reports indicated that these individuals may have alerted authorities to Stack’s actions.
I suppose next you'll tell me that he didn't really mean it.
His murder and maiming of innocents was the heinous act of a self-absorbed coward who "... had enough." He is neither a 'martyr' nor a dissident - he is a criminal (like all who act out their rage at perceived "injustice" with outward focused violence toward others.) His suicide serves no purpose other than to draw attention to his pathological self-loathing and personal failings.
So, if you really want to draw attention to your 'sick to the depth of your bowels' movement - set yourself on fire in the middle of your town square. Maybe someone will try to save your life. In all likelihood, any on-lookers will simply take out their cell phones and make haste to twitter the tragedy and snap a few shots to post to their FB pages (or sell to freedomworks)...