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Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building

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Re: Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building

#12

Post by mbrubeck »

lliiffee wrote: post #11

I urge everyone not to read this. We should not reward murderers (or attempted murderers) with out attention.

Fortunately - and not surprisingly - it's barely readable anyways. I read most of it and I still don't have a clear picture of what made this guy so mad.

[Edit: While I don't agree with lliiffee, I think it's a valid point of view and I wouldn't vote it down. I wavered between wanting to understand this person's state of mind, and not wanting to "reward" him with attention. But even if he were alive I don't think he'd get any satisfaction from people's reactions to this meaningless, incoherent screed.]

Re: Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building

#14

Post by wartaxresistor »

dkarl wrote: post #8

Tragically naive, but naive in a self-serving and narcissistic way. Childish, I guess one would say. Hard to sympathize with for that reason. It's one thing to take a naive and idealistic look at government with the intent of improving it; it's another thing to take that approach to your own taxes.

What would you think of germans that tried to weasel out of paying their fair share during the nazi years?

Naive and narcissistic?

I guess the real deal is if you're not going to pay your taxes, or otherwise chisel/wiggle, just do it. Don't brag about it.

Keep cash around, have people you trust for title to cars and property, and generally be prepared to live low on the food chain.

The key to happiness is low expectation, which clearly the author of the article didn't have.

Re: Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building

#16

Post by blackguardx »

The Department of Homeland Security released a statement calling this a criminal act, not terrorism. I am confused. A few years ago everything was considered terrorism and now nothing is.

This guy wasn't targeting individual people in the IRS, he was targeting the whole establishment. This is akin to the Oklahoma City bombing. If that was a terrorist incident and 9/11 was a terrorist incident, this is too. He even has an IRS hate manifesto.

I think it is a shame that the government uses certain words to its advantage, but I guess propaganda is just the nature of the beast.

Re: Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building

#17

Post by dangrossman »

colinplamondon wrote: post #6
nym wrote: post #3

Summary?

Guy dicks around with forces he doesn't have the free cash available to dick around with, blames IRS. Later finds himself losing work due to working in aerospace as Air Force bases are closed in the 90's, leading into 9/11 and a meltdown in his ability to generate personal revenue. Blames IRS. Runs out of money, blames IRS. Flies plain into IRS building with the intent to indiscriminately murder anyone who happens to…

This is currently the only story the TV news networks are covering.

Re: Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building

#19

Post by volomike »

colinplamondon wrote: post #6
nym wrote: post #3

Summary?

Guy dicks around with forces he doesn't have the free cash available to dick around with, blames IRS. Later finds himself losing work due to working in aerospace as Air Force bases are closed in the 90's, leading into 9/11 and a meltdown in his ability to generate personal revenue. Blames IRS. Runs out of money, blames IRS. Flies plain into IRS building with the intent to indiscriminately murder anyone who happens to…

I tell you, I can be sympathetic to a letter such as his, to some of the things any of us can easily see are wrong right now in the USA, but of course I do not condone his extreme by any means.

However, here was the kicker for me: "But here I am with a new marriage and a boatload of undocumented income". Let me get this straight -- he was in love and married. Forget all the money stuff, tax liens, unemployment, whatever it was. He was so in love that he just got married. And then what does he do? He pilots a plane into the IRS building. I also read somewhere that he burned his house down before doing that. It's probably anyone's guess that his wife was at work while all this was going on. So this troubles me that a man focuses so myopically on purity principles such as anti-corruption, that he would block out one of the purest principles at all, which is love.

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