A kid I knew was killed this morning. Granted I only knew him in the tangential way that you know the older brother of your best friend's girlfriend. But I live in a small town and we all know each other at least a little.

He was a bright kid. A bit prone to railing on about the injustices in the world but bright nonetheless. He was a skillful and caring hunter. His dad and he didn't get along very well. He adored his little sister. Who adored him even more.

He voluntarily served his country in a war which he did not believe in. Unlike the Vietnam Veterans, he came back to flags, fanfare and a hero's welcome. and a minimum wage job with no real future.

He was angry with the way he had been used in the gulf war. He was angry with the way our government treated certain bizarre religious sects. He was angry with the way our government treated people who were paranoid and afraid of the government(I interrupt this otherwise terse monologue to remind you that just because you are paranoid doesn't mean you are wrong). He was angry at the way small farm families were being treated at the hands of the corporations who actually had influence with our government.

He was just plain angry at a lot of things. Then he did something stupid. He let that anger fester into a rage while he waited for somebody else to do something about the things he was angry about. "They", to noone's surprise, didn't do a damn thing.

Then, to the surprise of practically everyone who ever knew him, he murdered 168 or so people.

There are, however, some things to remember on the event of "we the People"'s retribution:

Our government is still guilty of everything that he accused it.

there are lots of other angry ragefilled wackjobs out there

most of them have good justifications for their rage

we, the common people still have little or no access to government even at a local level(don't believe me? go down to your local school board and try to get a copy of their bylaws and policies without going through hours of paperwork and eventually having to threat a FOIA suit)

most of us would agree that it is better to effect change in a manner which does not kill people, but it only takes one person to screw it up for the rest of us.

our federal agents are fortunate that with the current administration's new focus on removing the first and fourth ammendment rights of U.S. citizens that they will be less likely to meet an untimely death at the hands of a very scared fourteen year boy. Fans of the first and fourth ammendments tend to be less heavily armed that do fans of the second.

No matter what the media and other related spin doctors say, Timothy McVeigh was not a White Supremacist Christian Identity wackjob. Whatever kind of wackjob he was, he was one of the most vehemently antiracist people I've ever met.

p.s. lest any of you readers worry about my state of mind. Don't worry!! I'm not angry or going to blow anything up. Not only do I have a wife and three kids to care for, but in my old age I find that I am too feeble to carry on Rage for enough time to listen to a Ministry album all the way through let alone plan anything destructive.