Breaking: Small Plane Crashes into Austin Building

[Luposapien]

Crazy. I work just about 8 miles south of the building that he targeted. I'll be driving within a mile or so of it on the way home. Very curious to see how this gets spun. It's hard to say based on his "manifesto" exactly how much of his tax woes were based in honest misunderstanding versus his intentionally trying to game the system as best as he could, but I can't say that I disagree with what seems to be his overall assessment of a system that will bend over backwards to throw money at the "too big to fail" crowd when they do their damnedest to fail anyway, but have an entirely different type of bending over in mind for those who are small enough to fail.

I do, however, have a serious problem with the way in which he ultimately decided to register his dissatisfaction. Whatever the eventual outcome of this sad situation, I think it's a safe bet that it won't be sweeping tax-code reform. Much more likely is that he's just provided another brush that can be used to paint those with legitimate complaints against the tax system as potentially dangerous lunatics.

Also, don't think I've seen anyone else comment on this aspect of it all, but that NY Daily News article that Jack posted earlier seems to imply that he set fire to his house with his wife and kid still inside, which adds an entirely new level of fucked-upedness to the tale.

[beeline]

C'mon, this angry guy's lil' 9/11 show is a reasonable protest?

Hmm. I thought some of us had been moping around town because we figured the U.S. population would never get angry enough to grab the pitchforks. Well, this is what it looks like when they do.

And I told you...our natives are getting restless here....I don't see much distinction between the flash mobs of disenfranchised teenagers facing chronic unemployment and underemployment and what this guy did (I wanna be / An anarchy")...both are pissed off enough to act out violently...granted, Stack had a particular bone to pick with a particular agency, and the mobs of teens are attacking passerby, not government agencies....what if this dude had tapped into that font anger...shit....

[dbcooper41]

does anyone know if the cia was also in that complex?
this headline says so but then offers no proof.

http://www.businessinsider.com/fears-ra ... cia-2010-2

Pilot Intentionally Crashes Plane Into IRS, CIA, And FBI Complex In Austin, TX

[norton ash]

granted, Stack had a particular bone to pick with a particular agency, and the mobs of teens are attacking passerby, not government agencies....

I don't think the teens are killing the passersby, and the receptionists, maintenance workers, couriers, and all the poor schmoes working or doing business with the IRS (edit: CIA-FBI) in Austin today aren't government agencies, they're largely innocent brothers and sisters, and they don't deserve to die as part of anyone's "protest."

[Nordic]

Yes, this guy went about it all wrong. The fish rots from the head.

From another thread:

Case Study #1

A senior al-Qaida operative, known to have masterminded a major terrorist attack in the United States (killing 700 U.S. citizens), is in hiding in Sudan. The CIA learns from intelligence sources exactly where he is, and has the capability of inserting an assassination team into Sudan. Other options, such as kidnapping or extraditing him, are excluded for operational and political reasons. Would it be morally acceptable for the CIA to assassinate this terrorist inside Sudan?

One of the heads:



I've never understood this "shooting into a crowd" thing of registering your anger. Stupid.

[barracuda]

It's called desperation, Nordic, as you are well aware.

[Nordic]

It's called desperation, Nordic, as you are well aware.

Yeah, okay. I call it "snapping". Sometimes I wonder what my snapping point is. Good thing I have kids or my snapping point may have already occurred. Although I like to think not, but sometimes that's all that keeps me going.

There's a lot of this out there. Just under the surface.

The LA riots made me keenly aware of how tenuous and fragile civilization actually is.

[barracuda]

He's a Facebook hero already.

[Nordic]

He's a Facebook hero already.

Jesus Christ. Don't you think that's gotta be agent sabateur stuff?

Not even sure I want to click on that one ......

[JackRiddler]

That page looks like FBI flypaper.

[jingofever]

Here's What's Insane: LOTS Of People Are Defending Joseph Andrew Stack:

We didn't think we were being remotely controversial earlier when we characterized Joseph Andrew Stack's manifesto as insane.

Well, LOTS of people disagree, and if you look in the comments of that post -- or in our inbox -- you'll find plenty of Stack fans out there.

Anger at the IRS and the bailouts holds tremendous resonance, clearly, if even a suicide plane bomber isn't seen as "insane" by plenty of folks.

Such is the climate of American politics right now.

[nathan28]

Here's What's Insane: LOTS Of People Are Defending Joseph Andrew Stack:

We didn't think we were being remotely controversial earlier when we characterized Joseph Andrew Stack's manifesto as insane.

Well, LOTS of people disagree, and if you look in the comments of that post -- or in our inbox -- you'll find plenty of Stack fans out there.

Anger at the IRS and the bailouts holds tremendous resonance, clearly, if even a suicide plane bomber isn't seen as "insane" by plenty of folks.

Such is the climate of American politics right now.

WTF? Someone please read Barracuda's comment about having $65,000 in back taxes over $48,000 in income. That's "really bad." There's nothing insane about it. Joe Stack was aging, politically disenfranchised and financially compromised. Politically-motivated suicide makes sense. What's "insane" is sitting in your well-heated office in a soft chair eating potato chips being unable to understand why anyone would act violently on political judgment in combination with adversarial circumstances.

[Luposapien]

This from a Yahoo news article:

The blaze at Stack's home, a red-brick house on a tree-lined street in a middle-class neighborhood, caved in the roof and blew out the windows. Elbert Hutchins, who lives one house away, said the house caught fire about 9:15 a.m. He said a woman and her teenage daughter drove up to the house before firefighters arrived.

"They both were very, very distraught," said Hutchins, a retiree who said he didn't know the family well. "'That's our house!' they cried. `That's our house!'"

So maybe he didn't set fire to the house with them in it after all, which would restore at least a little bit of my sympathy for him.

[Sweejak]

he Georgetown airport was temporarily evacuated Thursday because an object was found in a hangar and authorities wanted to make sure it is not a bomb.
The Georgetown airport is at the center of an investigation in a plane crash in Northwest Austin.
It’s believed the pilot of the plane stored his plane at the airport.
Investigators were brought in to make sure the object is not explosive. The area was cleared, according to Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo.

http://www.kvue.com/news/local/Georgeto ... 23852.html

[JackRiddler]

Here's What's Insane: LOTS Of People Are Defending Joseph Andrew Stack:

We didn't think we were being remotely controversial earlier when we characterized Joseph Andrew Stack's manifesto as insane.

Well, LOTS of people disagree, and if you look in the comments of that post -- or in our inbox -- you'll find plenty of Stack fans out there.

Anger at the IRS and the bailouts holds tremendous resonance, clearly, if even a suicide plane bomber isn't seen as "insane" by plenty of folks.

Such is the climate of American politics right now.

Seriously: When was it different?