The mainstream press isn't above using a sad case of a man's suicide in an attempt to marginalize the opponents of the progressive Obama administration.

On February 18th a man by the name of Joseph Stack, a 53-year-old software engineer; crashed his Piper Cherokee into an Austin Texas IRS office building. It didn't take long for several mainstream media outlets; the New York Magazine and Time to name just a few to attempt to connect the dots between Joseph Stack and the T.E.A. Party movement. The most audacious of these was a Washington Post blog. 

Essayist Jonathan Capehart opened his online article with

"But after reading his 34-paragraph screed, I am struck by how his alienation is similar to that we're hearing from the extreme elements of the Tea Party movement."

Of course, to prove his point, this journalist, and I use the term loosely, had to quote Joseph Stack completely out of context in a desperate attempt to make the connection.

A portion of what Mr. Capehart described as Joseph Stack's 34-paragraph screed, says

"I saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different. I am finally ready to stop this insanity. Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let's try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well."

This specific quotation which came close to the end of Joseph Stack's last published statement is purposefully chosen by the author to support his contention of how "his alienation" is similar to the "extreme" elements of the T.E.A. Party movement.

Mr. Capehart wants us to associate a plainly disgruntled, clearly disturbed, suicidal middle aged man possessing delusions of persecution with the T.E.A. Party movement, which is almost single-handedly derailing the President's premeditated plans to remake the United States of America.

But the phrase, like most quoted by the progressive left, is taken out of context. The entire ending of Joseph Stack's "screed" is repeated here.

"I saw it written once that the definition of insanity was repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different. I am finally ready to stop this insanity. Well Mr. Big Brother, IRS man, let's try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well.

- The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

– The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed."

Joe Stack (1956 – 2010)
2/18/2010

A real T.E.A. Party slogan if I ever heard one. Please! It reads more like something from Saul Alinski or Karl Marx than from Ronald Reagan or Thomas Jefferson.

Read Joe Stack's entire final post and you will find a person who literally describes his life; detailing one situation after another to illustrate how rich corporations, the legal system, the government, and the IRS have joined in a vast conspiracy to "keep" him down. Granted, this is the writing of a clearly disturbed individual. However; in my estimation, this is also descriptive of a clearly progressive individual; disturbed and progressive being one in the same, don't ya' know?

He begins with

"…starting at early ages we in this country have been brainwashed to believe that, in return for our dedication and service, our government stands for justice for all."

and continues with

"I have spent the total years of my adulthood unlearning that crap from only a few years of my childhood."

These are not the complaints of a T.E.A. Party activist. This is yet another example of the "Where's the social justice?" rant that continually spews from the progressive left. There's no deliberate vengeance in a T.E.A. Party rally, but there's plenty of vengeance to be found in between the lines of this composition.

He continues by lamenting that

"…I can say with a great degree of certainty that there has never been a politician cast a vote on any matter with the likes of me or my interests in mind."

So, this poor fellow believes that he's never been "represented" by his government. I wonder just whom he may be pointing that finger toward? Joe probably didn't bother to check any sources before typing that statement. Well, we'll not make that same mistake here.

From 1956 until 2009 democrats ruled the Congress, with the exception of the decade between 1995 and 2005. That's 43 out of the 53 years of his entire life. In the Senate it's a little better, but only slightly. The Democrats ruled for almost 40% of that time. So, which side of the political spectrum do you think this person really has a bone to pick with, hmmm?

He complains about there being

"…two interpretations for every law; one for the very rich and one for the rest of us."

Nothing like a little good old fashioned wealth envy to fire up a T.E.A. Party activist before a public demonstration, huh?

He recalls a college friendship with a poor widow who, of course, had been "screwed" out of her dead husband's pension by some wealthy corporation; and their debates over whether his peanut butter & cracker diet was better or worse than her tins of cat food. Oh please, not the old "widows eating cat food" argument again; really? I still remember from living away at college the recipe for "Engineer's Soup"; just add two ketchup packets to one cup of hot water, stir vigorously, salt and pepper to taste, and enjoy while still steamy. Cat food indeed!

Joe rails against the tax code and its inherent mistreatment of his particular condition of employment. I can personally identify with his lament. I've been deliberately missed by each and every monetary incentive or welfare program ever conceived by the Congress since I began my working life. I've been to plenty of T.E.A. Party rallies, but never once contemplated piloting a plane into a building a la Islamic Jihadists.

His history highlights at least three occasions where, supposedly, his accumulated wealth was decimated by the IRS, the economy, or some other nefarious set of characters. I've been forced into financial hard times myself on a few occasions. However; I've still not got around to even the first draft of my personal "blame everyone but me" suicide note. A person's income fluctuates quite a bit during the course of a business career. My personal bad times oddly seemed to always coincide with liberal administrations. That doesn't mean I'm contemplating sending any chemically encrusted postcards to a certain Plains, Georgia address.

During the closing portion of his "statement" he brings up the tried and true

"…they just steal from the middle class (who doesn't have any say in it, elections are a joke) to cover their asses and it's 'business as usual'. Now when the wealthy ***k up, the poor get to die for the mistakes…"

I know, I know; progressives across the nation are now wringing their hands and saying; "If we'd only fully pressed the agenda of social justice sooner and harder! Poor Joe Stack wouldn't have had to die because of the incompetence of the Bush Administration!" Somehow, it's always George's fault, ain't it guys?

No one has yet been able to connect Joe Stack with any conservative T.E.A. Party group in the country. But a close read of his entire final commentary reads like a laundry list of the progressives' reasons for "fixing" what they believe is wrong with America.

In my estimation, Joe Stack may be awarded posthumous tenure in that often talked about 20% of the loons that occupy the "kool-aid" drinking fringe of the progressive political left. There has emerged no evidence that anyone can point to that pegs him to any other ideology. If anything; Joe's lament is more akin to a complaint regarding the inability of the progressive agenda to "mend" his particular complaint by "screwing" those nasty rich people that took his money. (Pout here for maximum effect.)

So, once again we find the scales in balance. The Right has "Joe the Plumber" the Left has "Joe the Bomber." I've stated in previous postings to IC that those on the progressive left are "Ideological Jihadists" who are just a step away from entering RNC Headquarters wearing a C-4 vest and carrying a dead man switch.  It seems as if a few of them may have access to aircraft as well.