Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute.
“In my lifetime I can say with a great degree of certaintythat there has never been a politician cast a vote on any matter withthe likes of me or my interests in mind. Nor, for that matter, are theythe least bit interested in me or anything I have to say.”—Joe Stack.
OnThursday, Feb. 18, 2010, 53-year-old, financially strapped softwareengineer Joseph Stack crashed a small plane into an IRS office buildingin Austin, Texas. He left behind a wife, a stepdaughter and a suicidenote he had posted on his software company’s website. By the followingday, the various media pundits on the right and left had alreadydismissed Stack as a fringe lunatic, and anyone who agreed with Stack’sdiatribe against an unjust government was labeled a crackpot. However,while you can–and should–disagree with the method of Stack’s madness,Americans shouldn’t be too quick to discount the source of hisfrustrations.
Clearly, Stack is neither a hero nor a martyr. Nor is he technically aterrorist. Rather, he is the end product of a system that pays littleheed to the disaffected, discontent and voiceless. And while Stack mayhave been alone in the cockpit of that Piper Cherokee plane, he is notalone in his discontent and frustration.