I Wish Joe Stack Had Not Killed Himself!
By Chuck Baldwin
All of us are now aware of the Texas man who flew his private
plane into a 7-story Austin office building. Apparently, he intentionally
crashed his plane into the building to target the IRS offices that were
housed inside the facility.
As I wrote this column just after the event took place, there was
not a lot of time for the major news media talking heads to spin
the story. By the time this column is released, however, I'm sure
we will have been inundated with copious references to this man, Joe
Stack, as being "off his rocker," or similar assertions. Perhaps our friends
at DHS will label Stack a "right-wing domestic terrorist." However, Mr.
Stack apparently left behind a "suicide manifesto" explaining his actions.
After carefully reading Stack's manifesto, I am quite convinced that he was
not crazy, and he was not a "terrorist." However, he was angry.
A lot of us are angry--and for many of the same reasons that Mr. Stack was
angry! While I would certainly take exception to some of the things Stack
says in his manifesto, he said things that many of us are feeling.
Stack began his manifesto by saying, "If you're reading this, you're no
doubt asking yourself, 'Why did this have to happen?' The simple truth is
that it is complicated and has been coming for a long time."
He goes on to say, "Sadly, 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. We are further brainwashed to
believe that there is freedom in this place, and that we should be ready to
lay our lives down for the noble [principles] represented by its founding
fathers. Remember? One of these was 'no taxation with representation' . . .
These days anyone who really stands up for that [principle] is promptly
labeled a 'crackpot,' traitor and worse."
For the most part, he's right about that, of course. It has been a long time
since the average hardworking American has been represented in Washington,
D.C. By and large, the politicians in DC represent only Big Money interests.
Just try talking with your congressman or senator and see how much personal
interest he or she takes in anything you have to say. As for emails,
letters, and faxes, unless they number in the tens of thousands, they are
mostly used as kindling for the fireplace.
Obviously, Mr. Stack had long felt the frustration of being ignored by these
pimps in Washington that we know as congressmen. He wrote, "While very few
working people would say they haven't had their fair share of taxes (as can
I), in my lifetime 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. Nor, for that matter, are they the least bit interested
in me or anything I have to say."
I suppose that just about every American could say the same thing.
Then, regarding our current tax system, Stack wrote, "Here we have a [tax]
system that is, by far, too complicated for the brightest of the master
scholars to understand. Yet, it mercilessly 'holds accountable' its victims,
claiming that they're responsible for fully complying with laws not even the
experts understand. The law 'requires' a signature on the bottom of a tax
filing; yet no one can say truthfully that they understand what they are
signing; if that's not 'duress' [then] what is. If this is not the measure
of a totalitarian regime, nothing is."
He also wrote, "However, this is where I learned that there are two
'interpretations' for every law; one for the very rich, and one for the rest
of us."
However, I think a better way of putting his statement would have been,
"There are two interpretations for every law; one for the GOVERNMENT, and
one for the rest of us." And only the most naïve among us would not
understand that statement.
According to Stack's manifesto, he earned an engineering degree with the
goal of becoming an "independent engineer." He said this about working his
way through college: "I was living on peanut butter and bread (or Ritz
crackers when I could afford to splurge) for months at a time."
I know that feeling! My wife and I married between my sophomore and junior
years of college, and for months we had a grand total of $15 a week to spend
on groceries. And believe me: that did not go very far--not even in 1974.
How many politicians on Capitol Hill do you think could even remotely relate
to Mr. Stack?
Stack later said, "I decided that I didn't trust big business to take care
of me, and that I would take responsibility for my own future and myself."
Wow! What a revolutionary idea: taking responsibility for yourself! Now I
know that practically no one on Capitol Hill can relate to Mr. Stack!
After quoting a portion of the tax law relating to Section 1706 (Treatment
of Certain Technical Personnel), Stack wrote, "The bottom line is that they
may as well have put my name right in the text of section (d). Moreover,
they could only have been more blunt if they would have came out and
directly declared me a criminal and non-citizen slave."
His manifesto clearly reveals bitterness and resentment toward the IRS, the
tax system, the banker and Big Business government bailouts, and the
emergence of police-state attitudes and actions in the aftermath of 9/11. He
expressed disdain for "the monsters of organized religion." He talked about
his move from California to Texas. He referred to a divorce and the way his
savings and retirement had been wiped out after a career of working
"100-hour workweeks."
Stack also noted, "The recent presidential puppet GW Bush and his cronies in
their eight years certainly reinforced for all of us that this criticism
rings equally true for all of the government." I can say "Amen" to that.
Stack's conclusion: "I have had all I can stand."
In what was obviously a reference to what he was about to do, he wrote,
"Nothing changes unless there is a body count."
Then, later he said, "But I also know that by not adding my body to the
count, I insure nothing will change. I choose to not keep looking over my
shoulder at 'big brother' while he strips my carcass, I choose not to ignore
what is going on all around me, I choose not to pretend that business as
usual won't continue; I have just had enough."
Stack wrapped up his manifesto by saying, "Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man,
let's try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well."
See Joe Stack's manifesto at:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,586627,00.htmlMy heart goes out to Joe Stack! The sentiments expressed above are shared by
millions of Americans who are also fed up with Big Brother. We are fed up
with our country being turned into a burgeoning police state, under the
rubric of "national security." We are fed up with the harassments of the
IRS. We know the "war on drugs" is merely the government's way of cutting
out the competition (this is exactly what more than one retired federal law
enforcement agent--employed in the drug war--told me). We know the "war on
terror" is nothing but an excuse to trample our constitutional liberties. We
are fed up with the voracious vampires known as the Federal Reserve sucking
the lifeblood out of the veins of America's hardworking Middle Class. We are
tired of the CFR, CIA, and America's State Department manufacturing
perpetual wars that cost trillions of dollars and thousands of American
lives for the benefit of the global elite. We are fed up with an arrogant
and oppressive federal government that is strangling the life and freedom
out of our states. We all share Joe Stack's pain!
I really wish Joe Stack had not killed himself, however. We need each other.
By taking his life, he reduced our strength. The global elites delight in
our demise. As we grow weaker, they grow stronger.
But the fight is not over; the battle is not lost! Rumblings of freedom's
revival can be felt across the length and breadth of this nation. The
clanging of liberty's resolve can be heard in hamlets and villages from
Montana to South Carolina. There are still millions of us--from virtually
every walk of life--who will not surrender our liberties without a fight!
And we have not yet begun to fight!
So, to the rest of us Joe Stacks out there: let's not fly our planes into
buildings. Let's not end our lives prematurely. Instead, get mad; get
organized; get educated; start equipping your heart, mind, and body for the
battle ahead. Let's fight; let's study; let's prepare; let's make every
would-be tyrant on Capitol Hill and Wall Street know that we are not going
to sit back and let them steal our country. Let's send a message, in no
uncertain terms, that if they want our pound of flesh, they are going to
have to come and get it--and if they do, it's going to cost them a whole lot
more than a pound of theirs!
Oh, Joe! I wish you had not killed yourself.
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http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/donate.php(c) Chuck Baldwin
NOTE TO THE READER:
Chuck Baldwin is a syndicated columnist, radio broadcaster, author, and
pastor dedicated to preserving the historic principles upon which America
was founded. He was the 2008 Presidential candidate for the Constitution
Party. He and his wife, Connie, have been married for 37 years and have 3
children and 7 grandchildren. See Chuck's complete bio at:
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/sketch.html
