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
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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 perpetuate
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 interestin
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 entitlemen
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 frustratio
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 historical
Panel four
"I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constituti
Original Passage:
"I am certainly not an advocate for frequent and untried changes in laws and constituti
-- to Samuel Kercheval, July 12, 1810
on the plane - I'm wondering when/if it was to be repossesse
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/res
on the IRS angle - I have been googling for building plans (photos) and office placements
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-eas
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 & Christiani
Your suppositio
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
I don't feel sorry for him or his cause one bit, and we should stop feeding into his nonsense.
because of the destructio
--slavery
--the Tuskegee Airman experiment
--denial of right to vote
--segregat
I'm with you--every
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 rationaliz
In the face of an emerging oligarchy, many white males are enraged by the realizatio
MyFoxAusti
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-absor
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