Act of terrorism

If someone flew an airplane into a building full of people to protest the Afghan war, it would be called an act of terrorism.

However, when Joe Stack flew his plane into an IRS building and killed people, the news media calls it "the accident" and "the incident." The local Texas prosecutor declared that Stack was not a terrorist.

But what should you call it when a man pens a manifesto proclaiming, violence "is the only answer," then kills people because they work for the government?

The simple fact is this: Joe Stack was a suicide bomber. Even though his name was Joe, and not Mohammed, and even though he was protesting taxes, not Israeli foreign policy, Stack was a murderer of the innocent.

So why does the media avoid the T-word when referring to him? Because anti-tax politicians are powerful. When Massachusetts' new senator was asked about the plane attack, he yawned, "No one likes paying taxes," according to numerous blogs.

That sentiment is popular, as so few news outlets see fit to interview the families of Mr. Stack's victims or even print their names.

Apparently, if you are killed because you work for the IRS, your name is not even worthy of a line in the newspaper.

Anti-tax activists regard the murdering of IRS workers as a legitimate protest tool. On "Good Morning America," Stack's daughter called her father a hero, adding, "Now maybe people will listen."

No, that's not the Palestine Liberation Organization talking, or al-Qaida. Rather, those words came from a nice white lady sitting on TV saying that the murder of innocent people was justified, because it drew attention to her political agenda. The show's host passed over the remark as if the woman was reciting a cookie recipe.

There's now a popular video game that enacts Stack's murderous flight, and the public doesn't see anything wrong with that. What if there had been a video game enacting the 9/11 flights? Imagine the outcry.

— Arthur Plum, Los Angeles

Editor's note: Federal Times' Feb. 22 story, "Plane crash puts spotlight on anti-government sentiment," went to press before the names of the victims were known.