One Man’s Anger
The fellow who flew his plane into the IRS office building in Austin, Texas might well have predicted the response to his action if he had thought it through. Considering the rage that seems to have overcome him to cause him to burn down his house and launch his suicide flight, it’s hard to know how far he thought it all out.
According to one eyewitness near the scene of the crash, he seemed to be lying back – resigned, perhaps – as he headed the plane to his death. Whether he was feeling satisfaction for the mayhem he would create or relief that his pain would be over, one can only speculate.
And speculating is what a great many people are doing apparently. Or perhaps they’re not speculating at all. Many seem to be choosing up sides, making this man a villain or a hero to suit their own perceptions
Having read a page of the man’s final letter, I felt considerable empathy for his fury, outrage, and despair. But he went over the edge. Too many rats in the box, maybe? Certainly a horrific failure of government to serve the needs of the people. Also alarming in that his anger likely mirrored that of literally millions of Americans, albeit not at the same level.
Those who palaver over whether he was a domestic terrorist or a patriot miss the point and underscore the problem. Too much of politics today is about defending a narrow bit of ideological turf at the expense of the common weal. People of both left and right are more focused on showing their colors than in collaborating to do what’s best for our nation.
There is dangerously too much unbridled angry in our country today. Much of it unfocused. Those who would exploit it instead of defuse it are enemies of our future.
Little will have been gained from this man’s action. Another was killed, several were injured, documents were destroyed, lives were upended, costs were added to the taxpayers’ bill. Surely there was a better way. We owe it to posterity to find it.
©2010 SetonnoteS
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