Thoughts on Joseph Stack

Yesterday we all watched in shock as news reports came in about the one-man attack on the IRS offices in Austin, Texas by Joseph Stack. As fighter planes scrambled and the building burned, first thoughts were whether or not this was a terrorist attack with more to follow, an accident, or a planned act of violence.

When news of Stack's multi-page manifesto and its wild ramblings and rants against "big brother" and others, it became apparent that this was indeed a planned attack on a specified target.

After all the investigations are finished, we will learn that Stack was plagued by financial set-backs, employment difficulties, and other woes that helped him reach the point of ending his own life, and going out in a big way.

How many more like Joseph Stack are among us? How many have been pushed by the current economic climate to the point of considering acts of desperation?

No doubt, with the previous thought in mind, our all-knowing legislators will soon decide on new laws and regulations intended to sooth the public fears and gain a bit more control. This knee-jerk reaction should be tempered by the knowledge that people who have lost all hope act out of desperation.

The leaders of our country, spurred on by the progressives, are taking more and more of our liberties and rights away. As our country sinks into a bottomless pit of debt while taxes grow overwhelming and opportunities shrink, more people are becoming desperate.

Suicide rates are bound to increase, as they did during The Great Depression. Only now, more among us may decide to go out like Joseph Stack.