Texas Pilot: Democrat rhetoric, not tea party
By Brian Kirwin | Friday, February 19th, 2010 | PolicySomehow the mainstream media isn’t reporting much about the political leanings of the killer who slammed his plane into an IRS office in Texas this week.
Somehow, if this guy was a tea partier, I’m sure it would be full-column headlines and subject to hourlong stories on everything from the View to Larry King. Instead, they’ll all talk about Tiger Woods.
The press is simply saying that he was furious at the IRS and government, implying that he was some right winger. But as it turns out, the killer pilot’s manifesto sounds like it could’ve been culled from Democrat speeches from the last year and a half. Check this out.
“Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they cripple, and this country’s leaders don’t see this as important as bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies.”
(Ahh, an advocate of Obamacare and the health care reform movement!)
“Yet, the political “representatives” (thieves, liars, and self-serving scumbags is far more accurate) have endless time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the “terrible health care problem”. It’s clear they see no crisis as long as the dead people don’t get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in.”
(Ahh, those evil profiteers in health care! Which Party uses that rhetoric?)
“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”
(He’s practically quoting John Edwards. All he didn’t say is “The baby is mine.” But then again, until recently, neither did Edwards.)
“The recent presidential puppet GW Bush and his cronies in their eight years”
(I’m not sure, but I think that’s straight from Obama’s State of the Union speech, if not in letter, definitely in spirit)
He wraps up with this dandy quote!
“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.”
So, this psycho who slammed his plane into an IRS building was not a part of the anti-tax tea party movement, much to the disappointment of MSNBC. If he was, it would be all they’d write and talk about.
But no, he was a leftist! Let’s watch and listen to how this isn’t reported.
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About the author
The right wants to jeer him. The left wants to censor him. Moderates usually want both. Brian Kirwin is a political consultant and public relations strategist in Virginia Beach with a lightning-rod flair. Brian also serves on the VB Arts & Humanities Commission and frequently appears on Hampton Roads theatrical stages, if only to prove that all actors aren’t liberals. Kirwin’s columns stir up debate and hit the political scene with no punches pulled.
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19 Responses to "Texas Pilot: Democrat rhetoric, not tea party"
Having read the entire manifesto, not just the quotes you chose to cherrypick, it’s not quite that simple. There is some leftist stuff, as you say, there’s also a lot of anti-IRS, “the tax code is so complicated nobody can undertand it” rherotic that comes from the right. (The left knows that if you can do fourth grade math and read at a sixth grade level, a federal tax return isn’t much of a challenge). Add to this, the fact that the guy was an engineer ( an occupation prone to oddball politics for some reason). I’d say he was Libertarian. From the left side of the libertarian spectrum, no doubt. Not a Tea Party guy, for sure, but also not the liberal Democrat Brian would like to paint him.
A forensic analysis of this manifesto to pick out nuggets of left or right wing ideology isn’t going to enlighten us as to his twisted reasons for trying to kill as many Americans as possible.
The manifesto was his declaration of war on our government and his weapon of choice was flying a plane into the side of a building.
Whether it was the 9/11 hijackers on a religious jihad or this manifesto, the hate resulted in using the same types of devastating weapons to attack our American financial center in the case of 9/11, and in this case, the US Government.
He was and is a criminal and out his mind… It is shameful to try to make a political points concerning this nutcase.
Like Bill Clinton blaming Oklahoma City on conservative talk radio?
Steve Vaughan, I take personal offense that you would insult our secretary of the treasury so. No less than Tim Geithner has admitted under oath that even he cannot understand the tax code, and that was with the help of Turbo Tax.
As for the “rhetoric” about “the tax code is so complicated that nobody can understand it”, what planet are you on? Seriously? Tens of thousands of accountants work late into every night from February 1 until April 15 precisely because nobody can understand the tax code. Not to mention the litany of special refunds and credits and exemptions and deductions used by the writers of the tax code to award favorable treatment for specific activities (buy a house) as wells as specific groups (unwed mothers).
Oh well, since I’m an engineer, you can probably write off my criticism to “oddball politics”. But that doesn’t change the fact that you took to a blog forum to defend the income tax code. Remarkable.
Hey Brad,
I’m not an engineer. Liberal arts grad. I can do my own tax return though, not a problem.
If you make less than a million a year and you pay somebody to do your taxes, you’re a sucker.
Given Geitner’s complicity in the Wall Street screwup, I’m not surprised he doesn’t understand the tax code.
I’ll stick by what I said, if you can do 4th grade math and read at a 5th grade level, you can do your taxes.
If you can’t Brad, I don’t want you engineering anything for me either.
Really, stop reciting talking points and an look at a tax form. It’s really not that hard to understand.
[...] at Bearing Drift Brian Kirwin skewers the media for ignoring the political leanings of Stack. So, this psycho who [...]
Steve, you just lost big points with me when you compared that nut case killer to Libertarians. Dude! Re-read this quote of his:
****************************************************
“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.”
*************************************************************
Libertarians love capitalism! We love free markets! We sure don’t support Obamacare. I don’t paint insurance companies as the healthcare villain. Who does that again?
Well, sure, I criticize Bush like that sick bastard did, but I and most fiscal conservatives give Bush credit for being his own fool. This guy refferred to Bush as a “puppet”. That implies a puppet master, sorta like…..I dunno……DICK CHENEY. Who hates Dick Cheney as much as they hate their new anti-christ Sarah Palin? Democrats talk about puppet masters and Dick Cheny. We just talk about “Big Government” “Borrow & Spend” Bush. Democrats need some sort of intermediary, some sinister fiend behind the curtain. We blame Bush and Obama directly.
Lastly, Libertarians are supposed to take an oath. It isn’t to party loyalty. You simply state that it is wrong to initate FORCE in the pursuit of meeting political ends. This guy advocates violence, we don’t.
Oh, I understand the discomfort of having this guy being said to be in your group. I mean, you just did that to Libertarians. Sorry, Steve, Libertarians won’t take credit for that defender of communism and it’s creed.
“I’d say he was Libertarian. From the left side of the libertarian spectrum, no doubt. Not a Tea Party guy, for sure, but also not the liberal Democrat Brian would like to paint him.” – Steve Vaughn
Btw, I’m a Libertarian and a Tea Partier. Clearly, you understand neither.
Party like its 1773
http://hrteaparty.com/index.php?option=com_gcalendar&view=event&eventID=MGw0M2lyamp1NTFrbnFxZjVsZmNmNDBka2MgaGFtcHRvbnJvYWRzdGVhcGFydHlAbQ&start=1267225200&end=1267239600&gcid=2&Itemid=82
It’s not left v. right. He’s just psycho-populist.
FWIW, I’m an engineer as well and I have not done my own taxes since 1997 when I still qualified for the 1040EZ form. today I have multiple properties, investments and own a company with employees in VA, MD, DC, and PA. not sure if my 4th grade math would suffice for my taxes anymore and I definitely do not make anywhere close to $1M per year.
Brian:
Spot on again. This is scary that you are becoming a real conservative!
I try to do my own taxes but in the last few years I “make too much” and have to deal with the AMT. I tried last year to reduce my productivity (which is what I think the liberals want me to do based on their tax program) yet still surprised myself and made too much again subjecting myself not only to the immoral progressive rate system but also to the AMT. I even dropped to four day work weeks and it didn’t help. Maybe if I drug myself I will be able to be less productive and help contribute to the national problem instead of being part of the solution. If that doesn’t work, I will be forced to stop working to avoid the taxes.
I love how y’all on the right are always trying to foist terroristic acts inspired by rabid and illogical anti-government rhetoric off on something other than the extreme political right – I’ve had more than one person try to tell me that Timothy McVey wasn’t an extreme right winger he was either a) an extrme left winger or b) a muslim extremist – apparently Glenn Beck and some other nuts have tried to claim that he was involved with Jose Padilla. It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad.
Now y’all can’t run quickly enough from this nut – however in this case there was a Facebook page – which was later removed when Facebook learned about it – created by a few self-professed Tea Party members supporting this terroristic act as “refreshing the tree of liberty” – never mind the fact that none of these idiots seem to understand the context of that quote (Mr. Jefferson’s support for the excesses of the French Revolution) – the bottom line is clear: there are at least some anti-American morons who claim to be aligned with the Tea Party movement who support terrorism. But then, with all the conspiracy theory insanity claiming that our President is illegitimate/ a communist/ Stalin, etc being spewed by Glenn Beck, Fox News, Limbaugh, World Net Daily and a host of other idiots, what did they expect would happen?
Mark, how do you make the leap from anything on the “Right” or “Left” in our politics to someone flying an airplane into a building and killing himself in an attempt kill a lot of others?
Those who are trying to connect those dots are one step away from the paranoia this sick and selfish bastard chose as his way out. His goal was to be a martyr for his hate and his ramblings don’t mean squat.
Those who attempt to associate Americans or groups of people in our country with this suicide bomber should seek help for their self loathing and need for attention, or leave and go train in Yemen with people who really hate us.
I love how y’all on the left are always trying to foist terroristic acts inspired by rabid and illogical anti-capitalist rhetoric off on something other than the extreme political left.
****************************************************
“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.”
*************************************************************
What do I expect. You guys endlessly try to “foist” a certain leader of the National Socialist party that instigated genocide and a world war on the Right.
Oh, and nice going citing something that has been “erased” as evidence.
Britt Howard,
Do not try to claim libertarian ownership of the Tea Party movement. I will admit the libertarian position is at least somewhat related to the positions of the Tea Party movement, both want everything for nothing. No to big government until government guarantees and provides what you want. You are not in favor of the chaos of no government, you just want the big government to further what you are in favor of.
Thanks for the insult, Steve. I can think of a lot of things worse than being called a “sucker” by you. I never said I couldn’t do my own taxes, you idiot.
Truth is, you have no idea what you’re talking about, unless your earnings match those of somebody with a fourth-grade education (actually, I’ve got no good reason to think they don’t). I could and did do my own taxes when I had a paper route and a single checking account. But now, among other things, my wife an I own one rental property, a single-family home. I’m not saying I’m unable to depreciate the house (but not the land) on a straight-line 29-year depreciation schedule, plus figure in all the other paper losses and recapture deductions associated with earning income in something other than a job, but the fact is it’s just not worth it to me to do my own taxes.
Besides that it costs me less to pay somebody to do my own taxes than my hourly earnings at my job, I just don’t want the hassle or the uncertainty or the liability of doing my own taxes and potentially getting them wrong and potentially getting audited. You see if I pay somebody else to do them, even if it is the Statue of Liberty guys, then they’re on the hook if they mess up. Not me. Their insurance will pay for a lawyer to defend my case and explain any errors. They won’t cover my unpaid taxes, but they’ll take care of it. Hope you get the picture, “it’s really not that hard to understand”.
You see there’s more at stake than what you’ve considered – “could I do my own taxes”. Which, by the way, is a completely different question than what we began with – “can anybody understand the tax code?” If you own anything of value, and if you would be sad if the government took it away, then it is worthwhile to explore where some of your ill-considered decisions will take you. It’s really not rocket surgery, you moron.
You criticize my perceived lack of engineering skills, but I can’t for the life of me imagine what of consequence you would be involved in for me to engineer (and I’m not talking about driving a train – maybe that’s what you were thinking?), so thanks for saving me the trouble of firing a client.
And as for talking points, I actually do have a special one in mind just for you. But I won’t risk my activity on this board by sharing it.
Britt,
I understand that one can be a Tea Party activist and a Libertarian. I also understand that Libertarians are not all of one mind. That’s why I said the guy was from the “leftist” end of the Libertarian spectrum. While Libertarians do like free enterprise, many have no more love for corporate greed than this guy.
However, I didn’t really mean to say that what this guy did had anything to do with what Libertarians believe.
Whoever called him a “psycho-populist” above had it called pretty well.
I wans’t trying to insult Libertarians. I’ve occasionally voted Libertarian.
Brad:
Get back to me when you figure out how to do your taxes. You might start with the realization that 98% of the tax code only applies to about 2% of the population. If you mean by “no one can understand the tax code,” that no one has the whole thing memorized, that’s true. But its’ easy enough to find the instructions to deal with the parts of it that you need to use at any one time. The whole “the tax code is so complicated” meme is pushed by people who a) want the rest of us to believe we don’t know enough to discuss the issues involved.(Your example of Geitner probably fits here) or b) want to make some change in the code that will benefit themselves or the people they are advocating for and want you to believe there’s something in it for you.
[...] at members of Congress – both Republican and Democrat, they need not to worry about the leftist rantings of the IRS plane bomber, and, most importantly, conservatives need to not perpetuate any hostile acts against [...]
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