Joseph Stack Wasn’t a “Tea Bagger”…
…He was an angry, suicidal maniac. Nothing more. And for the record, I do believe what he did an act of domestic terrorism.
The fringe left, demonstrated on sites like Daily Kos (read the article and comments!) and the Huffington Post, would have you believe that since Joseph Andrew Stack III – the software engineer from Austin, Texas, who flew his private plane into an IRS office building yesterday – ranted against the tax code and the government, he was a “tea bagger”. This is disingenuous and libelous. (Michelle Malkin also has a “nice” list of the “kind” words from our lefty friends.)
First, you must understand their terminology. “Tea Bagger” refers to one who espouses the “Tea Party Movement“, and is meant to be derogatory and condescending. The term was ascribed to those by none other than David Shuster on MSNBC. It also has a rather hideous sexual connotation, which I will not repeat here. (Go here if you want to read about it.)
The passage they want to point to is from Stack’s suicide note that he posted on his website:
Return to the early ‘80s, and here I was off to a terrifying start as a ‘wet-behind-the-ears’ contract software engineer… and two years later, thanks to the fine backroom, midnight effort by the sleazy executives of Arthur Andersen (the very same folks who later brought us Enron and other such calamities) and an equally sleazy New York Senator (Patrick Moynihan), we saw the passage of 1986 tax reform act with its section 1706.
Earlier in his letter, he admitted that he engaged in an exercise to practice “what the big boys were doing”: i.e., cheating on their taxes. He said in his note, “The intent of this exercise and our efforts was to bring about a much-needed re-evaluation of the laws that allow the monsters of organized religion to make such a mockery of people who earn an honest living”. Apparently it didn’t work, because in a couple of sentences down he says, “That little lesson in patriotism cost me $40,000+, 10 years of my life, and set my retirement plans back to 0″.
Stack railed against pretty much everyone in his letter, against those he perceived were “cheating” him. The list includes, but not limited to, the federal government, George W. Bush, the Catholic church, and even his wife. Business after business he started, failed, and he kept moving around the country until he settled in Austin.
No, Joe Stack wasn’t a member of the Tea Party movement. He was just an angry, little old man who failed at trying to cheat the system. And in that realization, he took a cowardly way out by trying to kill those who he perceived wronged him. No one wronged Joe Stack but himself.
And for those on the Daily Kos and the Huffington Post, take a look in the mirror. Some of the things Stack said in his letter are exactly what some of your members believe. Be careful when you try to pigeon-hole someone – it may come back to bite you.
(To read Joe Stack’s screed, go here.)
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